An online petition signed by 85,000 people was delivered to Gov. Rick Snyder's office asking the to fire Michigan State Police Director, Col. Kriste Etue, over a controversial Facebook post.
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Color of Change, Progress Michigan and State Rep. Leslie Love delivered the petition to the governor's office Friday morning.
It came less than a day after Snyder announced that Etue would have a pay suspension for five days after her post. She will still report to work and demonstrate "outstanding leadership by example for the men and women she commands," Snyder said in a release.
Her post called the NFL players who kneeled for the national anthem "degenerates."
"Colonel Etue posted something on social media that was inappropriate," Snyder added. She immediately apologized and has acted to demonstrate that apology, including facilitating meetings with various groups to hear concerns and to share the work the Michigan State Police does in cities and neighborhoods nationwide to connect with the communities they serve and recruit new troopers from all backgrounds."
Rashad Robinson, the executive director of Color of Change, said Snyder has a decision to make and has to pick what side of history he wants to be on.
"Colonel Etue used her stage to racially attack these brave men as 'ingrates' and 'degenerates' for voicing their opinions," Robinson said in a release. "And behind those words lay a disturbing record of failing to hold police accountable for killing Black people and overseeing a department that is severely lacking in diversity."
