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Whitmer, Gilchrist ask for calm, patience amid anger following Floyd death

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Governor Gretchen Whitmer released a video statement Sunday in response to demonstrations across Michigan over the weekend against police brutality.

Whitmer was joined on the video by Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist. They both said anger over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis is justified, but they asked people to find non-violent ways to express their frustration.

Whitmer also blamed most of the violence, vandalism, and arson in Detroit and Grand Rapids on people who don’t live in those cities. 

“They’ll leave the community they say they are supporting. They’ll go home. And it will be black businesses and communities that will be destroyed in their wake.”

Whitmer and Gilchrist also said widespread gatherings threaten to undo the progress made in slowing the spread of COVID 19. The lieutenant governor leads a task force examining the disparate impact of the coronavirus on communities of color.