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[h=4]Crowd calls for Mich. gov.'s arrest in protest at his home[/h]Protest comes a day before Gov. Rick Snyder’s annual State of the State address.
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Flint native and director talked to a crowd of 150 about the ongoing Flint water crisis that is affecting thousands of people. Eric Seals/DFP
'Snyder's got to go,' yells Judy Cowling of Ann Arbor while participating in the 'Arrest Governor Snyder' protest in front of Governor Snyder's new Main Street home in downtown Ann Arbor on Monday January 18, 2016 for his role in the Flint water crisis. The protest put on by Michigan Rising's Washtenaw County Chapter started in front of University of Michigan's Rackham Building before ending at Snyder's new residence.(Photo: Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press)
DETROIT —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A day before Gov. Rick Snyder’s annual State of the State address,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>about 60 protesters gathered outside his apartment in downtown Ann Arbor and chanted for his arrest.
“Many of us think this governor has committed a crime, and want to see justice for Flint,” said Jan BenDor, who helped organize<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Monday's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>protest and led a failed recall effort against Snyder in 2011. “If that whole city could be poisoned, it could happen to any of us.”
The protesters marched from <span style="color: Red;">*</span>the University of Michigan’s campus in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>12-degree weather, at times blocking passing cars, before they arrived at Snyder’s voting address in the area of East Washington and South Main Street. There, the marchers circled the block repeatedly while chanting “Justice for Flint! Arrest Rick Snyder!”
USA TODAY
Jesse Jackson calls Flint water crisis 'a crime scene'
The protest was at least the third rally since Saturday, when<span style="color: Red;">*</span>President Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint. The declaration<span style="color: Red;">*</span>came after local<span style="color: Red;">*</span>officials admitted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the city’s water supply had been contaminated with lead for months.
On Saturday, Michael Moore drew a couple of hundred people to Flint’s City Hall where the activist filmmaker and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Flint native<span style="color: Red;">*</span>accused Snyder of intentionally poisoning the water. Then on Sunday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson demanded justice at a packed church in Flint, and dubbed the entire city “a crime scene.”
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead after the city, in 2014, switched its supply source from Lake Huron water treated by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to more corrosive and polluted Flint River water, treated at the Flint water treatment plant.
Protestors hold signs up while shouting up towards Governor Rick Snyder's new condo on S. Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor while participating in an 'Arrest Governor Snyder' protest on Monday January 18, 2016 for his role in the Flint water crisis. The protest put on by Michigan Rising's Washtenaw County Chapter started in front of University of Michigan's Rackham Building before ending at Snyder's new residence.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press)
The switch was made as a cost-cutting move while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. The state Department of Environmental Quality has acknowledged a mistake in failing to require the addition of needed corrosion-control chemicals to the water. That caused lead, which causes brain damage and other health problems in children, to leach into the water from pipes and fixtures.
USA TODAY
Obama declares state of emergency in Flint water crisis
Residents' complaints about the taste, odor and appearance of the water, which began immediately after the switch, were largely ignored by state officials.
In response to the intense criticism, Snyder said at a news conference last week that officials are taking every action to address the problem.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“This is something you wish that never happened, and let’s see that it never happens again in the state of Michigan,” he said.
The rhetoric at Monday’s protest was similar, though perhaps even more pointed, than protests in the past few days. BenDor, the organizer, said of Snyder: “He’s dangerous. He has absolutely no empathy for human beings. It’s all about the money.”
And speaking just before the march on Monday, Flint native Jeff Brown echoed Jackson’s comments that the city is a crime scene and added, “(Flint)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is deteriorating, and it makes us all very angry. He (Snyder)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>should be arrested.”
Follow<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Daniel Bethencourt?<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on Twitter:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>@_dbethencourt
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