Protesters Interrupt James Craig's Announcement At Belle Isle

DETROIT — Dozens of protesters from Detroit's "Detroit Will Breathe" interrupted former Detroit Police Chief James Craig at the podium as he prepared to formally announce his candidacy for Michigan governorship on Tuesday at Belle Isle.

About 50 protesters encircled Craig chanting "“Hey hey, ho ho, James Craig has got to go!”" and "No justice, no peace, James Craig is still the police," while Craig tried to speak, multiple social media videos showed.

After several attempts at trying to speak, Craig muttered "I've got one thing to say: I'm running for governor."

However, the protesters wouldn't let up as Craig tried to officially kick-off his campaign challenge to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. So he walked away from them a few moments later and got into a black SUV that drove off.

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Before relocating to another location to officially announce his candidacy, he the The Detroit News he blames the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to protect him and his campaign team from demonstrators on Belle Isle, knowing "this group had the potential to become violent.”

"The DNR knew about the potential for protests yesterday, I’m told. ... They indicated they were going to come and move the protesters back," Craig told the Detroit News. "That never happened. So it makes me wonder if it was by design."