Pastor who criticized cops loses seat on Kalamazoo board

A Kalamazoo pastor who has criticized police over their handling of protests has lost his seat on a community police review board.

Members of the Citizens Public Safety Review and Appeal Board must be “impartial and perform their duties without bias,” City Manager Jim Ritsema said.

The Rev. Nathan Dannison’s service won’t be extended when his term ends next week.

Dannison obtained a permit in an attempt to prevent the far-right Proud Boys from holding a rally in a Kalamazoo park last month. Violence occurred when the Proud Boys marched down Water Street and were confronted by opponents.

“I don’t know why these guys were allowed to come here from Indiana, block off streets downtown with their own private vehicles and just march around and disrupt my event,” Dannison said at the time.

Dannison said he was “alarmed” by the reason to not reappoint him to the public safety board.

“If people are removed from the police board simply for voicing their concerns about police action, it risks looking like the board is a sham or a rubber stamp for police,” he told the board.  (AP)