LANSING, Mich. — Black activist and former firefighter Michael Lynn Jr. has filed a complaint against Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green.
The complaint alleges that Green made “false and defamatory” statements about him in a letter sent to Fire Chief Greg Martin on Feb.11. The complaint was filed 2 weeks after Lynn was fired from his job as a firefighter.
“We gotta take a stand against these things,” Lynn said. “You know this really is a corrupt system that’s working down here.”
Lynn said the problem started in January, when he posted Green’s phone number online, after the Lansing Police Department posted a photo of a police dog, without mentioning AJ Mckinstry Jr., a black teen who died at the hands of Lansing Police that same night.
Shortly after Green’s phone number was posted, the city opened an investigation against Lynn, which eventually led to his termination.
“We have a 1st Amendment right to speak on issues of public concern,” Lynn said. “If you are a city employee, they don’t get to handcuff you for speaking out about something that’s not right.”
Green wrote in the letter that when Lynn released his phone number, it got in the way of him handling a shooting.
Along with the complaint, Lynn and his attorney also submitted a grievance saying the fire department violated its own policies and Lynn's contract when they fired him. Now, he’s asking to be reinstated, receive back pay and have the disciplinary record expunged .
And while there are differences between Lynn and Green, Lynn said he hates that his relationship with the chief went south.
“This is the most hurtful situation that you can have,” Lynn said. “But, this is the position that Andy Schor continues to put our Black community in, turning us against each other.”
FOX 47 News reached out to the Lansing Police Department for a statement, but they referred us to a statement by the city that says, “anyone can submit a complaint and all complaints will go through the standard process.”
