'Street medic' pleads guilty to shining laser at Detroit police helicopter during 2020 protest

Detroit — A 35-year-old Allen Park man has pleaded guilty in federal court to temporarily blinding a Detroit Police helicopter pilot with a green laser beam during a 2020 demonstration in downtown Detroit.

Michael Hurd, who was acting as a "street medic" to treat injuries during a protest on Aug. 23, 2020, pleaded guilty Friday to aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, a federal crime that carries up to five years in prison.

“Directing a laser at any aircraft puts lives at serious risk," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Dawn Ison said in a statement Monday. "The actions of this defendant resulted in temporary momentary blindness of one of the pilots during flight. Conduct of this nature will not go unpunished.”

The plea before U.S. District Judge Sean Cox marks one of the few convictions to come out of the hundreds of arrests that were made by Detroit Police during demonstrations that were held from May-November 2020 following the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

"I thought the plea was in my client's best interest," Hurd's attorney David Cripps said Monday. "There are a lot of positive things to say about my client. He served in the military, and he was serving his conscience by being out there at the protests, and I think in a good way, because this happened in the context of a Black Lives Matter protest."

Cripps last year filed a notice informing the court that his client intended to plead insanity, but he said there wasn't a consensus about Hurd's ability to stand trial.

"There were multiple opinions from different experts regarding whether he was criminally responsible at the time the pointer was pointed," Cripps said. "All that will be used in mitigation when it comes to sentencing ... there are some mental health issues."

On Aug. 23, 2000, hundreds of people flooded downtown to protest Operation Legend, an anti-violence initiative that beefed up the presence of federal agents in Detroit. The protest was one of more than 100 rallies calling for defunding police and other criminal justice reforms that were staged in Detroit in 2020.

According to court documents, Hurd came to the protest as a "street medic," whose job was to tend to any injuries incurred during anticipated clashes with police. He brought with him a first aid kit, and affixed crisscrossed swatches of red tape to his upper left sleeve to mimic the Red Cross symbol, court records show.

Hurd was standing on Woodward near Clifford south of Grand Circus Park at about 12:30 a.m. when he aimed a laser pointer at a Detroit Police helicopter as it hovered overhead, according to court documents.

"The green laser resulted in temporary momentary blindness causing the incapacitation of the flight crew," Detroit Police Sgt. Charles Richie, the helicopter pilot, wrote in his report the following day, court documents show.

About 10 minutes after the laser was used, Detroit Police officers informed the protesters that they were unlawfully assembled because they were standing in the street. Police said they warned the demonstrators multiple times before arresting 42 people, including Hurd.

A downtown surveillance video camera captured Hurd's arrest, according to the federal complaint.

"Rock Security video footage from 1449 Woodward showed Hurd remaining in the camera view as the police advanced north on Woodward towards the protestors," according to the complaint's description of the video footage. "Numerous protestors vacated the area while others remained. Police were observed arresting several people."

"Hurd was standing ... in the same area he was in when he directed a laser beam at DPD Air1, as police interacted with an unknown person nearby," the complaint said. "Hurd was observed reaching toward the person the police were interacting with. An officer reached toward Hurd and another officer removed Hurd’s backpack and dropped it on the sidewalk. There was a physical struggle between a police officer and Hurd."

Hurd and the other arrestees were taken to a staging area downtown before being put on Detroit Department of Transportation buses and driven to the Detroit Detention Center. Hurd was among 25 of the 42 arrestees who lived outside Detroit, according to Detroit Police.

Detectives pored over video from dozens of downtown cameras to determine that Hurd had shone the laser in the helicopter pilot's eyes. Federal charges were filed against Hurd in May 2021, although the case was delayed because of COVID issues, and after Cripps in April 2023 filed a notice that his client planned to use an insanity plea, which triggered a lengthy evaluation process.

No sentencing date has been set, following Hurd's admission that he'd violated Title 18 Section 39A of the United States Code, which states, "Whoever knowingly aims the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, or at the flight path of such an aircraft, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”

Hundreds of people were arrested during the 2020 protests, although most of the cases were later dismissed by the Detroit Law Department. Three citations issued to Hurd after his arrest were dismissed, Cripps said.

The Law Department also waived curfew tickets that had been written during the demonstrations, and spent $1.3 million to settle five lawsuits with protesters who charged Detroit police with using excessive force during the protests, including the demonstration on Aug. 23, 2020.

According to the Detroit Law Department, six defendants have pleaded guilty to various civil offenses related to the 2020 protests, while two cases are pending.

Hurd's plea leaves one outstanding criminal case involving the 2020 protests: The upcoming trial against former Detroit Police Cpl. Daniel Debono, who is charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Debono was initially charged in July 2020 after allegedly shooting three photographers with rubber bullets on Woodward near State Street at about 12:30 a.m. on May 31, 2020. The incident happened after Detroit Police officials had declared an unlawful assembly during the first day of the 2020 protests.

The charges against Debono were dismissed during his October 2021 preliminary examination.

Roberta Archer, a 36th District judge, ruled that Michigan law grants immunity to police officers who are trying to disperse crowds after an unlawful assembly has been declared.

Wayne County prosecutors appealed the ruling to the Wayne County Third Circuit Court and the lower court decision was reversed. The court held that the immunity statute provided a defense at trial, not at the preliminary examination. In March, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court's ruling, and charges against Debono were refiled.

"I think it's ridiculous that they're still pursuing this," Debono's attorney Pamella Szydlak said Monday.

Debono's trial is scheduled for May 13 before Wayne County Circuit Judge Bridget Hathaway.

ghunter@detroitnews.com

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@GeorgeHunter_DN