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Michigan Assistant Prosecutor Resigns After Calling For Baltimore Protesters To Be Shot

Michigan Assistant Prosecutor Resigns After Calling For Baltimore Protesters To Be Shot
Kate Abbey-Lambertz
By 

On Assignment For HuffPost

A protestor walks away as police in riot gear advance on the crowd after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect in the wake of Monday's riots following the funeral for Freddie Gray, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A protestor walks away as police in riot gear advance on the crowd after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect in the wake of Monday's riots following the funeral for Freddie Gray, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

An official in a Michigan prosecutor's office has resigned after writing a Facebook post that said violent protesters in Baltimore should be shot, according to The Detroit News.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Teana Walsh resigned Friday, according to a spokeswoman for the prosecutor, whose jurisdiction includes Detroit.

"During her tenure in the office Teana Walsh has been known for her great work ethic and her compassion for victims of crime and their families," spokeswoman Maria Miller said in an emailed statement. "Her post was up online briefly and she immediately took it down. The post was completely out of character for her and certainly does not reflect the person that we know."

According to Fox 2 Detroit and The Detroit News, Walsh posted the comment to her personal Facebook page Monday evening, as heated and at times violent protests were taking place in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray, who died last month of a spinal injury sustained in police custody. Walsh's post, an image of which was shown on Fox, read:

So I am watching the news in Baltimore and see large swarms of people throwing bricks etc at police who are fleeing from their assaults ... 15 in hospital already. Solution. Simple. Shoot em. Period. End of discussion. I don't care what causes the protestors to turn violent...what the "they did it because" reason is...no way is this acceptable. Flipping disgusting.

The post was later deleted.

Miller confirmed to The Huffington Post that the text of Walsh's Facebook post has been accurately reported.

Six Baltimore police officers will be charged in Gray's death, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Friday. Mosby also said that Gray, 25, had been improperly arrested.

Lonnie Scott, executive director of liberal advocacy group Progress Michigan, said in a statement Friday that Walsh's comments represented "a mentality that has to be purged from the criminal justice system as a whole."

"These remarks are particularly dangerous and irresponsible in light of protests taking place right now in Detroit in the wake of yet another shooting death of a young black man by law enforcement,” Scott also said in a separate statement.

Walsh posted her message to Facebook the same day that Terrance Killom, a 20-year-old black man, was fatally shot in Detroit by a federal immigration officer involved in a fugitive task force. The incident is being investigated. Detroit Police Chief James Craig initially said Killom was wielding a hammer as a weapon when the officer shot him, but Killom's father said his son was obeying orders and was empty-handed.

Detroit residents demonstrated in protest of Killom's death Tuesday. The protests were peaceful, though at one point protesters shouted and yelled profanities at police, according to WXYZ.

Walsh's former employer will soon be prosecuting its own police misconduct case. A police officer in Inkster, Michigan, was charged with assault last month in connection with the beating of an unarmed man at a traffic stop.

Before You Go

Students from Baltimore colleges and high schools march in protest chanting "Justice for Freddie Gray" on their way to City Hall April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore remains on edge in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, though the city has been largely peaceful following a day of rioting this past Monday. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 29: Students from Baltimore colleges and high schools gather before a march to City Hall April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore remains on edge in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, though the city has been largely peaceful following a day of rioting this past Monday. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
A member of the National Guard stands outside Baltimore City Hall as marchers protest the death of Freddie Gray, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Protestors march Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. Hundreds of protesters, many of them students wearing backpacks, marched through downtown, calling for swift justice in the case of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered critical injuries while in police custody. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A protestor raises his fist outside of Baltimore City Hall as marchers protest the death of Freddie Gray, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
A member of the National Guard stands watch outside a neighborhood next to the Mondawmin Mall, scene of some of Monday's riots following Freddie Gray's funeral, as a mother passes with her children, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. Schools closed Tuesday because of the mayhem, but reopened Wednesday, after the city's first night of a curfew went off without the widespread violence many had feared. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Students from Digital Harbor High School chant "We Love Baltimore" as they march outside City Hall April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore remains on edge in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, though the city has been largely peaceful following a day of rioting this past Monday. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Protestors march to City Hall on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. Hundreds of protesters, many of them students wearing backpacks, marched through downtown, calling for swift justice in the case of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered critical injuries while in police custody. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 29: Students from Baltimore colleges and high schools march in protest chanting "Justice for Freddie Gray" on their way to City Hall April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore remains on edge in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, though the city has been largely peaceful following a day of rioting this past Monday. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
A man raises his fists during an outdoor concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in support of the community in Baltimore, Maryland on April 29, 2015. Riot police in the US city of Baltimore enforced a curfew into the early hours of Wednesday and called it a success, emptying streets scarred by a spasm of rioting and looting. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)
People participate in a rally for the family of Freddie Gray outside the Maryland state's attorney's office on April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
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