Michigan State Police Director Colonel Kriste Kibbey Etue is expected at the state Capitol today to meet with state lawmakers.
The calls for Etue to resign are getting louder following the controversial post she shared on her private Facebook page last month calling NFL players protesting the National Anthem "degenerates."
The message shared by Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue called the players "millionaire ingrates who hate America and disrespect our armed forces and veterans." The posting signed "we the people" also calls the protesters "rich, entitled, ungrateful."
The Detroit Free Press reports Etue is expected to sit down with members of the Legislative Black Caucus at the capitol today. The caucus is one of many groups demanding Etue resign.
She was in Flint Wednesday for a hearing about the water crisis, and reporters from WJRT caught up with her for a statement. Etue again apologized and said "I made a mistake and I have apologized." When asked if she would step down, she said, "I'm not gonna resign."
But along with the caucus, there are other civil rights groups, even a gubernatorial candidate calling for Etue's resignation. "When the presiding officer of the Michigan state police calls people who are opposing this kind of brutality degenerates and ungrateful, it calls into question her competence," said Democrat Abdul El Sayed. "I don't quite care if she's racist or not, I care that as presiding officer of the Michigan State Police that she is able to competently and without any bias be able to service in that role and I don't believe that she is fit to do that anymore."
Governor Rick Snyder appointed Etue to the post in 2011, and has said he will not ask her to resign. The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, which is comprised of 22 Democratic legislators, says its position on demanding Etue resign has not changed. The group says today's meeting is to have a conversation with Etue about how to make the Michigan State Police department more diverse. The State Police is under fire for its lack of diversity.
An investigation into whether Etue violated the department's social media policy by sharing the post on her private Facebook page is still ongoing. It could wrap up by next week.
