DEARBORN — Frustrations against the Dearborn Police Department are growing, as questions remain unanswered in the death of Kevin Matthew, a 35-year-old Black male killed by a police officer last month. The officer’s name has still not been made public. The case is currently being investigated by the Detroit Police Department and is expected to be handed over to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s OfficeMatthew was wanted for an alleged larceny in Dearborn, as well as a probation violation in Redford Township stemming from a drunk and disorderly conduct misdemeanor. His family said he suffered from schizophrenia. While he was unarmed during the confrontation that ended on the west side of Detroit, reports claim that Matthew attempted to grab the police officer’s gun before he was shot. Multiple protests have been held in Dearborn by Black Lives Matter and the National Action Network, demanding the officer be identified, fired and charged for the incident. New Era Detroit, an activist group formed by Detroit residents in 2014 to empower African Americans and tackle issues that effect the community, have given the city an ultimatum: “The city of Dearborn has 48 hours to fire the police officer that killed Kevin Matthew or else.” The group shared the message on its social media platforms this week and attempted to attend a city council meeting on Tuesday. However, they were locked out of the public meeting. A video uploaded onto Facebook shows the group standing outside of the Dearborn Administrative center, asking to be let into the meeting. Councilman Robert Abraham can be seen looking at the group from inside the building and deliberately avoiding them.”The City Council was tipped that we were coming and locked the doors to what was supposed to be an open community meeting to the public,” said New Era Detroit member Zeek Ned on his Facebook page.The group went on to add that the city violated Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad is seen on the video escorting attendees out of the meeting while protestors stood by.Councilman Mike Sareini told The Arab American News that he wasn’t aware that the doors to the building were locked during the meeting. He said many residents had attended it about other issues and were walking in and out as the meeting took place.”We had a good crowd that was going in and out of the building,” Sareini said. “I don’t know if the doors were locked. They weren’t locked when I came in.”Sareini said that near the end of the meeting, Haddad stood up and informed those in attendance that there was a group of protestors outside, but that there were no safety concerns.

On Friday evening, the group held a protest outside of Fairlane Town Center, with Dearborn Police on the scene. New Era Detroit is now calling for a boycott against the shopping mall, often frequented by Detroit residents.