by
The flag was in a home on Wayburn Street in Grosse Pointe Park.
Displaying a KKK flag is whack — but not illegal under Michigan law.
That's the verdict of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, whose office on Tuesday declined to charge a 31-year-old Grosse Pointe Park man for placing the flag in his window for a Black neighbor to see on Feb. 16, in an incident first reported by Deadline Detroit.
“There is absolutely no question that what happened to Ms. [JeDonna] Dinges was despicable, traumatizing, and completely unacceptable. But, very unfortunately in my view, not a crime," Worthy said in a statement. "We could not even begin to charge ethnic Intimidation under current Michigan law.
"I strongly encourage the Michigan Legislature to look, revise, and create laws to protect citizens from this kind of horrible conduct."
Michigan's ethnic intimidation statute requires that physical contact, damage, destruction, defacement of property, or threats to do so, the prosecutor's office said.
The incident sparked public outcry and a protest that drew hundreds of people.
The man told authorities he hung the flag across from a security camera Dinges had installed facing his house. The 57-year-old put up the camera after finding a full gas cannister inside the garbage on the side of her house Jan. 20.
► Support our reporting by becoming a Deadline Detroit member for as little as $3 per month.
