hat tip to lkspence at Vision Circle

Man accused of defacing Joe Louis monument resigns township post
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Superior Township parks commissioner accused of painting the Joe Louis fist monument in downtown Detroit white has resigned his post.

Brett Cashman, 45, submitted his resignation in a letter to the township over the weekend, and the board in Washtenaw County accepted his resignation at its meeting Monday, according to Cashman's attorney Marc Beginin.

The board also unanimously passed a resolution, declaring the painting of the sculpture, "reckless and wanton disregard of his oath of office,'' and "loathsome, cowardly and anti-social.''

Beginin said Tuesday that the resolution was unnecessary.

"The resolution was unnecessary because Mr. Cashman had offered his resignation if that's what the board wanted,'' he said.

Cashman and John Price, 27, both of Superior Township, have been charged with malicious destruction of property in the Feb. 23 vandalism of the 8,000-pound sculpture, a 24-foot-long arm with a fist suspended from a frame.

They allegedly used mops to paint the fist white and left photocopies of pictures of two recently slain Detroit police officers under the sculpture, police said. Written beneath the pictures was the phrase "Courtesy of Fighting Whities,'' police said.

A preliminary examination for both suspects is scheduled for March 18 in 36th District Court.

Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or [email protected].