Support surges for AG to review fatal 2018 Shelby Twp. police shooting of unarmed man

Video of a 2018 Shelby Township police shooting in which 25-year-old Kanwribir Malhi was killed, surfaced the second official day of the police chief's return from an unpaid suspension.

"My heart was devastated because it shows this man didn't have a weapon and this was under the regime of the same leader, Chief Shelide," said activist Rev. W.J. Rideout III.

Shelide's detractors took to the police station in protest Monday.

The township board of trustees suspended Chief Robert Shelide for 30 days June 17. It was for tweets he posted encouraging the use of force against protesters. He called a group of men wild savages and subhumans, adding they would have been killed had he been there when they were seen in a video attacking a couple.

That incident took place after a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest against police brutality in Rochester, New York.

"I know my comments have been viewed as insensitive to some and I acknowledged that," he said. "My comments were directed at rioters, they were not peaceful protesters."

These protesters were and remain unmoved by Shelide's apology. The 2018 video cemented their stance against the department.

Activists recently acquired the video and provided it to FOX 2.  It shows the fatal confrontation between officers and Malhi.
 
Police said he had stolen his mother's car, was using drugs and according to investigators, said he would not be taken alive and mentioned suicide by cop if police were called. 

Some protesters believe Malhi was not given a chance to surrender to police. An officer shot him just moments after he got out of the vehicle, after he seemingly reached into his jacket.

But police say Malhi did not comply with their repeated commands to show officers his hands. 

At one point, you can hear one of them ask if he is armed.

Officer on video: "You got a gun?  Let me see your hands. He says he's got a gun." 

Two minutes later, Malhi gets out the car after police put away a Canine unit that was brought out.

The Macomb County Sheriff's Office investigated the shooting and found no gun on Malhi's person or in the car. The officer who shot him was not charged.

"And now we're asking that Attorney General Dana Nessel will reopen this case and bring possible charges against this department and against this chief and that there will be justice for the family.

The Shelby Township Police Department said in a statement:

"We had an officer involved fatal shooting in November, 2018. The matter was immediately turned over to the Macomb County Sheriff's Department for investigation. Their completed investigation was then forwarded to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office where it was reviewed and closed without charges being issued."