Kwame Kilpatrick
Additional charges are mounting against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick which could lead to more jail time. According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox will charge Kilpatrick today with felony assault. The news comes only 25 hours after Kilpatrick, once praised for his political revitalization of Detroit’s inner city, went to court Thursday with plans to waive a preliminary examination and move quickly to trial on perjury and several other offenses. Instead, he was arrested and jailed.
Cox is expected to formally charge Kilpatrick with assaulting an officer in July. According to the Michigan Chronicle, an irate Kilpatrick was on the premises as a deputy sheriff served subpoena papers at his sister’s home and physically threw the officer off a porch, allegedly causing him to injure his hip. Kilpatrick was forced to post a $7,500 bond and his traveling privileges suspended.
A judge on Thursday ordered the embattled Detroit mayor to jail for failing to notify the court of a trip to Canada and violating the terms of his bond.
Despite Kilpatrick’s apology, Circuit Court Judge Ronald Giles said he needed to treat Kilpatrick as an ordinary citizen and sent him immediately to jail. Giles revoked Kilpatrick’s bond and suspended all travel.
Meanwhile, the Detroit City Council has voted to continue its efforts to have the mayor removed from office.