Corunna Police Chief Fired After Video of Arrest Goes Viral
"I love good police, but I won't stand for tyrants."
Corunna Police Chief Nick Chiros was fired earlier this week after a video posted of an arrest went viral. The video was filmed by Bennington Township resident Matthew Wrosch, who calls himself the "Michigan Constitutional Crusader" on YouTube.
Police were responding to the call that a man was threatening self-harm by jumping off a utility tower in Mitchell Field Park. Wrosch live-streamed the event; he told ABC12 that "Police are usually not the best people to deal with mental health issues. So I went out there specifically to film the police and make sure that his rights weren’t being violated in the process.”
This is something he does often; he calls it a “First Amendment Audit” of police activity.
Michigan State Police asked Matthew to move back and, after arguing for a minute, he complied.
After about 15 minutes, Corunna Police Chief Nick Chiros approaches him and tells him to leave because it's a crime scene and then threatens to arrest him if he doesn't. Wrosch tells him that filming is protected by the First Amendment.
When Wrosch refused to leave, Chiros arrests him for obstructing police. “Listen, I can give a f*** about your rights right now… I’m not politically correct. So shove that up your a**. I can give a f*** less about what you think,” Chiros can be heard saying in the video.
The man who was threatening to jump off the utility tower was successfully brought down and given mental health services. Wrosch spent the night in the Shiawassee County Jail and was released after 22 hours.
The city council met on Monday night and voted unanimously to fire Chief Chiros. He was set to retire in January.
This is a tough one. What do you think should've happened?
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