ANN ARBOR, MI - On Nov. 9, 2014, an Ann Arbor officer shot and killed Aura Rosser, a 40-year-old Black woman.
Six years later, the officer still works for the department, having been cleared by Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie, who found the shooting to be lawful self defense.
With seemingly little progress made in the area of police reform after Rosser’s death, about 200 protesters took to the downtown Ann Arbor streets Sunday night to push for change and honor her name.
The Nov. 8 rally in front of Guy Larcom City Hall, 301 E. Huron St., was organized by Ann Arbor resident Aine McGehee Marley. She recruited many of the county’s top racial equity advocates, including Trische Duckworth of Survivors Speak, local activist Shirley Beckley, Rev. Robert Blake and Lisa Jackson, chair of the city’s Independent Community Police Oversight Commission.
Marley was working in Texas when news of Rosser’s death emerged in 2014. The killing occurred weeks after the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and she remembers how “horrifying” it was to see another police-involved shooting in her own home town.
“Since then, it has motivated me to be a part of the change,” she said. “I think Ann Arbor is ashamed of this and doesn’t want to talk about it. I think we sort of brush it under the rug or rationalize it in any way we can, but we have to step up and make sure something happens to see real substantial change.”
Rosser was fatally shot after police say she confronted officers with a knife inside a home in the 2000 block of Winewood Avenue. Police were responding to a domestic dispute between Rosser and her boyfriend inside the home.
Read more: Vigil, march for woman fatally shot by Ann Arbor police officer enters sixth year
Protesters have argued Rosser’s struggle with mental illness was used against her to validate the shooting and the city failed to take accountability.
Since the shooting, Ann Arbor police officers have been equipped with body cameras and have had additional training added to the required training regiment. The police oversight commission chaired by Jackson was also formed to address concerns and increase transparency at the police department. In addition, the hiring of Chief Michael Cox, a Black officer in Boston for three decades, was seen as move towards better representation.
Read more: Once a victim of police brutality, Ann Arbor police chief talks trust, training and tactics
Still, Jackson sees little change or mechanisms of accountability when it comes to Ann Arbor police. She has sought, so far unsuccessfully, for a confidential database of police officer names attached to misconduct complaints for her commission to review.
This leaves many Black Ann Arbor residents fearful that “what happened to Aura could happen to us,” Jackson said.
“The public has no reason to be confident that things will improve,” she told the crowd Sunday. “I know so much more about the police department and what happens there than most people, and I’m not confident that things will meaningfully improve.”
Duckworth riled the crowd up with energetic calls to chant, while Blake led the hundreds in attendance in a prayer. Blake is the pastor of Greater Quinn A.M.E. Church in Detroit and cousin of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was partially paralyzed in a shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin this summer.
Read more: Wisconsin police shooting victim Jacob Blake has Ann Arbor family roots
Before marching, Rosser’s mother Deborah Carter was joined by a handful of family members to thank demonstrators for keeping Aura Rosser’s name “in their hearts,” she said. She turned the microphone over to her nephew David Felton to speak for the family.
“We appreciate the support here, we appreciate the love,” he told the crowd. “There’s a lot of work to be done policy-wise. For each of us, we can touch our families by letting them know the importance of remembering Aura. There should be no more Aura Rain Rossers to share her experience.”
Following the family’s comments, protesters lit each other’s candles and remained quiet for six minutes. They then chanted and marched by dinner patrons around Main Street and other parts of downtown.
Along the 1.5-mile march, protesters occasionally stopped to dance while reciting chants calling Rosser’s shooting murder.
“You all have made my hearts smile tonight,” Carter told those in attendance.
Read more from MLive:
One year after Aura Rosser shooting, Ann Arbor leaders discuss steps forward
‘We have to be anti-racist,’ Ann Arbor DDA official says at board meeting
‘We’ve got a long way to go:’ Police oversight chair seeks review of all complaints against officers