DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Police Commissioner Darious Morris is making no apologies for what he did — or did not do — when he found himself in the midst of a violent brawl happening Tuesday in the city.
"He got what comes behind it. He got a hard lesson, and I was not about to stop it," Morris said of a man who was seen being repeatedly punched after a brawl erupted.
Watch Ross Jones' video report below:
The Detroit Police Department is aware of the video, according to a spokesperson, and is actively looking into what happened.
"You don’t have to get the police involved all the time," Morris said. "This is a situation where there was mutual combat."
Watch video of the altercation involving Morris in the video player below:
It started, Morris said, when two women began to fight. Morris and others were in the crowd watching. Morris was not seen throwing any punches but says at some point, he observed a man strike a woman.
"Someone decided to intervene, pushed him off of her," Morris said. "Once he pushed him off of her, the man got up went to retaliate against him, swung on him twice. He ducked the punch and was able to pick him up and put him on his back," he said.
Watch a Facebook video Darious Morris posted after our report below:
And with the person who Morris says was the aggressor on his back, another man is seen repeatedly punching him while he’s on the ground. Morris is wearing the black T-shirt and a Detroit police hat with a gold badge on the front.
"When he was punching him, you were kind of swinging into the air as if you were almost egging him on," 7's Ross Jones said.
"I was just saying watch the face shots though. Watch the face shots though," Morris replied.
"Is that an appropriate thing for a police commissioner to say in a fight?" Jones asked.
"Watch the face shots? Because if you hit ... in the wrong way or you hit him in the head or anything, something else could happen," Morris said.
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With the man still on the ground, he is then kicked in the face. Morris can be seen pushing the man back.
"Did you have a duty to intervene when he was being punched on the ground?" Jones asked.
"I did intervene. He’s had enough. I told him he had enough, in the midst," Morris said.
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When asked how Morris decided the point when the man had enough, Morris responded, "Because I am a mixed martial arts fighter, so I’m observing body language."
Morris never called Detroit police, he said, because he believed someone else in the crowd already had. While he says he believed he witnessed domestic violence, he did not stay for police to arrive to provide a statement.
"I’m not going to put myself in harm’s way, I’m not going to do the police’s job. I’m not going to give nobody a reason to think that I’m picking a side in the fight," Morris said.
"It kind of seemed like you were though, as you were swinging in the air as he’s getting punched in the face," Jones said.
"If you notice, my body language is that of a mixed-martial arts referee," Morris said.
Megan Lee talks with other commissioners about the incident below:
7 News Detroit showed Police Commissioner Scott Boman the video during the commission meeting Thursday.
"The visuals I get looking at that is that it looks disturbing. It’s concerning," Boman said.
However, he wants more context on the video.
“From the video alone, I couldn’t make a conclusion that there was an action to do serious bodily harm," Boman added.
Former Commissioner Ricardo Moore says it's bad optics.
"To the general public, it was not a good look for him or the Board of Police Commissioners, or the City of Detroit for that matter," Moore said.
Moore would like to see this incident investigated.
“Well, it needs to be three different investigations taking place. One investigation will be with the Michigan State Police. The second of this investigation will be with the Office of the Chief Investigator and the third investigation will beat through Detroit City Council via the Board of Ethics for city charter violations," Moore explained.
The Detroit police released the following statement to 7 News Detroit:
"The Detroit Police Department is aware of a video trending on social media where an individual is seen wearing a hat, displaying a gold police-style badge. We are actively looking into this matter."
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.