Ann Arbor city councilwoman speaks on alleged hate crime outside her home

By Terell Bailey

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    ANN ARBOR, Michigan (WWJ) — Ann Arbor police are looking into an alleged hate crime against a city council member.

“I’ve never really heard anyone knock at my door with such ferocity,” Councilwoman Cynthia Harrison told CBS News Detroit.

Harrison said last Tuesday, she and her husband were sleeping when, around 8 p.m., someone started loudly knocking at their door.

That’s when she checked her video camera to find a photo of an ape.

“My heart is beating literally out of my chest. I’m trying to process what had happened, and I see two individuals that I don’t recognize,” she said.

According to police, the two individuals left after no one answered. They stood around for roughly five minutes.

It’s all a shock for Harrison, especially as the day prior, the city council approved a resolution to beef up Ann Arbor’s police training on hate crime prevention.

“You see that as something that shouldn’t happen in this day and age, and as the police chief, I found it as disturbing,” Chief Andre Anderson said.

Anderson said there is no evidence whether the incident was a response to the hate crime resolution. While Harrison believes it was a racist attempt to intimidate.

Police also mentioned how the duo doesn’t live in the same neighborhood as the councilwoman.

“I know the individual that is primarily responsible is an adult and that’s the focus,” Anderson said.

Dozens of community tips helped police identify the individuals. They are still looking into the second person’s involvement which is under investigation.

But nevertheless, both could face serious trouble.

“At some point, we will get the information over to our prosecutors as well as those that will charge in this particular incident and allow them to make the decision,” Anderson said.

Harrison and her family question what the two people were going to do if she had opened the door.

Although some may believe it was a prank, she said it’s something her family doesn’t find humor in.

“I need these individuals to understand that what they did is unacceptable. You are on my private property; this is my home; this is somewhere where I need to feel safe,” she said.

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