continued on page 35
“Actions
Matter”
Local photographer’
s social media posts lead
to removal of Shelby Township police chief.
ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
D
an Lippitt wants to make it
crystal clear — he didn’
t do
anything special.
“I sat on my couch and posted
something on Facebook;
that’
s about as lazy as
you can be,” says the
former photojournalist,
who once worked at the
JN and is now a com-
mercial photographer.
But that “something”
he posted on Facebook
led to the removal of
Shelby Township Police
Chief Robert Shelide,
who is now on paid
administrative leave
pending an investiga-
tion.
Like so many
Americans, Lippitt has
been watching recent
news events — from the
police killing of George
Floyd to violent stand-
offs between police and
protesters nationwide
—and feeling angry, helpless and
frustrated. Scrolling through his
Facebook feed only made matters
worse. And then he saw a friend
doing something that inspired
him — outing people making racist
and offensive comments online. He
decided to try it, too.
“I’
ll be outing all the racists that
message me or that I see,” Lippitt
posted on Facebook. “If you are
afraid to out someone, screenshot
and send it to me. I’
ll do it.”
Lippitt, who used to attend ser-
vices at Temple Shir Shalom in
West Bloomfield, posted
a series of screenshots
highlighting inflamma-
tory, hateful tweets and
posts from various busi-
nesspeople, politicians
and others starting June
2. Within two days, he
was posting screenshots
of tweets glorifying
police brutality from the
Twitter account of @
sheepdawg711, which
Chief Shelide now admits
he wrote. Lippitt says
a source provided the
screenshots.
“So this is a ‘
fun’
one.
Ladies and Gentlemen
your Shelby Twp. Chief
of Police,” Lippitt wrote.
“Please share this far
and wide. Let’
s get this
a**hole fired please and,
yes, I have private confirmation that
it is irrefutably him.”
The Twitter account has since
been taken down, but in screen-
shots, the tweets refer to protesters
as “wild savages” and read, “body
bags for these vicious subhumans.”
One says, “I would hit them with
tear gas and water cannons. Rubber
bullets.” Another reads, “Unleash
the real cops … I promise it will be
34 | JUNE 18 • 2020
COURTESY DAN LIPPITT
COURTESY DAN LIPPITT
Dan Lippitt
COURTESY OF DAN LIPPITT
Chief Robert Shelide
COURTESY OF SHELBY TWP POLICE DEPT
Jews in the D
jews and racial justice