John Morin stories

John Morin is a former Lansing resident who now lives in Holt.

Bernard

I was at work, June 17, 2010, a warm comfortable day. Sheri had left the house for errands. When we first met, Sheri did not have a drivers license. To fix that issue, I promised her the Alero I had after she was legal to drive. When she arrived home she discovered a local homeless man, Bernard Lewis, attempting to break into a window in the back of the house. She recognized him, asking what he was doing. He was obviously on drugs from what Sheri observed. He swung, hitting her. He then picked up his bicycle, throwing it at the car.  Sheri got back into the car as Bernard got onto his bike to leave.  Sheri had backed up and as he rode in front of the vehicle, she slammed into him and didn't let off the gas until he was pinned under the car at the garage door, at which time she contacted 911. 

     Officer Theresa Mironiuk arrived to the house to take down what happened for a police report. Sheri explained everything that had happened, including her hitting Bernard with the car. The officer stated that she knew who Bernard was and repeatedly referred to him as a homeless n....r.  She further told the officer that she was not concerned with the assault, only the damage done to the car. Sheri went to court after Bernard was arrested, and she was pressured by the police and the prosecutor to charge the assault also - that way he could be locked up that much longer. Sheri held her ground and Bernard only received county jail time.

     It wasn't that many years ago that the news reported that Lansing has a homeless population of over five thousand people. How they ever got to that number of failures in such a small city amazes me. In our neighborhood, we often invited a few homeless for a meal over holidays.  Sheri often would give out her last few dollars to homeless on street corners.

     Bernard is like many of Lansing's homeless, drug addicted with a habit that requires constant feeding.  His criminal activity primarily consisted of stealing bikes. I'm sure he was involved in many other criminal enterprise also. When he escaped from under the car, he ended up leaving his bike and his pants. Bruised and battered, I'm sure he realized he met his match in Sheri.

     But that wasn't the only time Bernard was racially profiled this way. One day he approached me, apologizing for breaking one of the fence pickets off the alley behind my house. He said that he was walking down the street when two LPD officers suddenly exited their vehicle. His reaction was to run, eventually ending in the alley, pulling himself over the fence. The police officers were not far behind, and as they searched the alley, they kept referring to him as a n....r.  He was upset and told me that he nearly stood up to ask them who they were calling a n....r.  Freedom that day was more important, as he huddled down listening to them belittle him.  We still see Bernard off and on.  He has not changed and probably never will.

     In looking at the incident report, once again the assigned detective was James Gill, the same detective who played the race card when I was assaulted.  I often have wondered how the black LPD officers feel about the racism within their ranks. Do they see themselves as blue, outside of the black and white issue?  I appreciate that Sheri was not held liable for her actions that day, but still, the officer should be held accountable for her actions and racist attitude.  How often has she testified against an individual with her deep seated racist opinions? How many failed to receive justice?  By this time I knew that the LPD  was an out-of-control organization, with no moral guidance. From here it was down hill in getting any officers to do their job properly. I felt they were broken long before I moved here. Lansing was not, is not, and may never be a sanctuary city as the politicians claim.