The shooting of a black man in Detroit by federal agents is attracting more and more local attention.
DETROIT, MI — Kevin Kellom of Detroit was at the Wayne County morgue Tuesday afternoon taking care of formalities. The body of 20-year-old Terrance Kellom, his son, was inside.
Police are saying little about what led to Terrance Kellom being shot multiple times inside Kevin Kellom’s home on Evergreen in west Detroit shortly after noon Monday.
The father says he saw blood spatter on the wall of the entrance hall when an agent shot his son twice in the chest.
“Two shots rung out, he stumbled back and started walking toward me, calling my name, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Kevin Kellom said. “Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. At least eight more shots ring out.
Nothing surprising about that sort of thing these day. What caught my curiosity was the fact that the man was shot by a federal immigration agent:
Detroit — The 20-year-old armed robbery suspect who was fatally shot by a federal agent on Monday was “armed with a hammer,” Detroit’s police chief said Tuesday.
The shooting, on the city’s west side, angered residents who had to be placated by the city’s police chief.
The Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team, a task force that included officers from the Detroit Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Marshals, were serving an armed robbery warrant in the 9500 block of Evergreen at the time of the shooting around 1:13 p.m., Detroit Police Chief James Craig said.
The officers were allowed into the home to conduct their search, Craig said.
The incident comes at a time of heightened tension between police and black communities in some U.S. cities, spurring a national debate about race and police tactics.
Never mind race. (And never mind whether I am a racist for saying such an outrageous thing.) And never mind the man’s criminal history. What I’m curious about is why the feds — not just feds but the immigration authorities — were involved in what appears to be a purely local crime committed by an obviously non-alien U.S. citizen.
“The last thing I heard was: ‘Come out or I’ll shoot.’ ” Kellom said. “They shot him 10 times. They shot him and then they put the handcuffs on him.”
Craig said the suspect was wanted for armed robbery of a pizza deliveryman, felony firearm and as an habitual offender.
According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, Kellom absconded from probation in August for a carrying concealed weapons conviction in 2013. According to his MDOC file, Kellom was 5-foot-10 and 145 pounds.
Assume that’s all true and the guy was a wanted criminal. The last time I looked, robbing a pizza guy and/or skipping bail (absent crossing of state lines) were violations of state law.
And even if there were somehow federal violations (like a pizza delivery involves interstate commerce or something), how does customs and immigration obtain jurisdiction?
Has crime become federalized?
Have the police?
Or are these now empty rhetorical questions?
Comments
8 responses to “Is all crime now FEDERAL?”
All my expansive knowledge of this comes from watching Smokey and the Bandit.
If a crime is committed in another jurisdiction, federal authorities are the ones that can cross into another jurisdiction (state) to enforce the law.
In addition, Federal officers can authorize local law enforcement to help with local cases from other jurisdictions. If a suspect has traveled to another state, a federal officer can follow them then contact the local sheriff to assist in an arrest.
Finally, if a person has broken a federal law, a federal officer can request assistance from sheriff Bob to help in an arrest even if a local law has not been broken.
The black community is saying no justice no peace! You shoot 12 year old child playing with a toy gun in a park Burn baby burn! The feds can deal with one they cannot deal with one hundred thousand!
SWAT teams can be called in across agencies, whether federal, state, or local. There’s probably nothing wrong with that, if SWAT teams weren’t used way too much.
But mark today in your calendar–I agree with cap* 100%. I do wish, though, the black community would choose their targets more wisely than to burn down their own neighborhoods. Maybe they should instead get really organized and start with the local Democrat Mayor’s office (who, after all, sets police policy), and continue on to the leftist-funded “community organizers”, teachers’ union office, etc.
You know, burn down the machinery of slavery instead of the uplifting institutions of free enterprise.
happy vietnam war protestors day! 40th anniversary of the end of the vietnam war.
The Vietnam War didn’t end until the North stopped mass murdering its enemies (100,000) and the boat people stopped trying to escape the mass murder. That would be another 500,000 with about 250,000 dying at sea.
Thanks Simon, for setting the record straight. You might also add in the overflow Killing Fields for another million or so. Communism – the utopian gift that keeps on giving.
frank, simon I don’t see you going over to fight isis either!
Oh I forgot HAPPY MAY DAY everyone!