Are prominent black figures being targeted by car thieves?
Longtime civil rights advocate Rev. Jesse Jackson and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing both had their luxury vehicles stolen under eerily similar circumstances this past week, according to the Detroit police.
Jackson was in Detroit meeting with UAW President Bob King for an upcoming rally for “Jobs, Justice and Peace” when his rented Cadillac Escalade was abducted from a downtown area parking lot.
Police later found Jackson’s SUV abandoned, with the passenger window shattered, sitting on bricks with the rims and tires missing.
A few days later, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s GMC Yukon Denali was taken and later found sitting on bricks with the rims missing similar to Jackson’s.
Police have not said the two incidents are connected, and it is not uncommon for car thieves to steal an expensive vehicle and remove the rims and tires in the manner in which Bing and Jackson’s vehicles were done.
However, Detroit columnist Henry Payne believes the two car heists are a bit of karma playing out,
“A fitting metaphor for what Jesse and his pals have done to the auto industry for the last 35 years. Time long ago passed Detroit by because Jesse favored government mpg mandates and UAW wages stripped the Big Three’s ability to compete against non-union transplants. These jobs were real — unlike the artificial, government-subsidized green jobs he shakes down the feds for today.”
Bing offered these thoughts on the incident,
“It is our hope the community will continue to support the administration’s effort to communicate that any activity compromising the quality of life in Detroit is intolerable.”
No arrests have been made in either incident.
