The ACLU of Michigan claims in a new lawsuit that a 26-year-old Black man with mental illness suffered severe abuse by Warren police in 2022 that led to damage to his heart and kidneys at the hands of officers. 

The organization filed the lawsuit on behalf of Christopher Gibson in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, demanding compensation for damages and changes within the department, such as access to mental health specialists. It claims that Warren police violated Gibson's constitutional rights by allegedly using excessive force and failing to provide psychiatric care.  

"Over the course of the hours, he was detained he was tasered, beaten, pepper-sprayed and threatened by a barking canine," said Mark Fancher, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan.   

According to the lawsuit, Gibson left his mother's home in Detroit on Dec. 13, 2022, after experiencing an episode. While Gibson's mother and Detroit police were searching for him, someone at a gas station spotted Gibson, became concerned and called Warren police.

The lawsuit says Gibson's mother tried calling her son back after seeing she had missed calls from him, and an officer answered the phone, advising her that Gibson was arrested on outstanding warrants for identity theft. The lawsuit claims that Gibson's mother repeatedly told police that her son suffers from a mental illness and that he should be taken to the hospital for an evaluation; however, her request was allegedly ignored by the officer.

The lawsuit said a Warren police supervisor told the woman that they would keep Gibson for observation. However, the lawsuit says she learned that her son was not in the Warren jail, and three days later, learned that he was in a "hospital for undisclosed reasons," according to the lawsuit.

A video showed Gibson telling an officer about his mental health, to which the officer said, "You picked the wrong city to be going through it."

The lawsuit claims a doctor at the hospital informed Gibson's mother that his kidney and heart were leaking. Gibson remained in the hospital for about a week before the taken to a holding cell at the Warren Police Department, where he had several encounters with officers.

"It (Warren Police Department) is an agency that, in addition to armed officers, also employs mental health specialists, social workers, drug treatment counselors and others who are prepared to respond effectively to the emergencies that actually prompt calls to the police is less likely to maintain the kind of cop culture that promotes unnecessary violence," Fancher said.

Warren Police Department responds to lawsuit

The Warren Police Department on Aug. 14 issued the following statement on the ACLU's lawsuit: 

While the department typically refrains from commenting on pending litigation, the dramatized presentation by the ACLU of the arrest and detention of Christopher Gibson necessitates a limited response here, as follows: 

Officers encountered Gibson after a 911 call reporting his suspicious behavior. Once identified, Gibson was arrested on four open felony warrants for identity theft, larceny, and other financial crimes. The arrest was without incident as the video clearly shows. 

Once at the Warren Jail, however, Gibson's demeanor went from suspicious to aggressive. Gibson went so far as to bite a jail officer who was removing his handcuffs inside a holding cell. This bite drew blood and the officer needed medical attention. After this attack, Gibson refused to comply with even simple commands that were necessary to get him transported to a facility equipped with medical and mental health professionals. Warren Police used multiple less-than-lethal options to ensure safety while successfully getting Gibson handcuffed and transported to a county facility.  

We dispute the claim that Mr. Gibson was seriously injured by the Warren Police Department or inside the Warren Police Department jail. In fact, the lawsuit claims Gibson sustained injury when removed from a transport car in the garage of the county facility. This removal was not by Warren Police, but another Department's designated Cell Extraction Team who had been informed by us of Gibson's self-reported mental health issues and assaultive behavior.  

Gibson was charged and convicted in July 2025 of felonious assault of the Warren Police in connection with the video presented by the ACLU. He also pled guilty to felony weapons charges in Wayne County in 2024. In neither court proceeding did Gibson even assert a mental health defense or incompetency. It is unsettling that none of this is disclosed in the ACLU's presentation where Gibson is portrayed as someone unable to follow basic police commands.

Gibson now seeks monetary damages for an issue that the ACLU readily admits is not unique to the Warren Police Department. The lawsuit actually asks the courts to mandate a new national policing standard where social workers or mental health professionals respond, instead of police, to anyone self-reporting a mental health crisis. But the reality is that trained police are the only available first responder in these rapidly-changing, extremely dangerous situations. 

It is also the reality that mental health resources are limited in Michigan and nationally, as anyone with a loved one suffering with mental illness knows, which limitations equally apply to police agencies. Still, the Warren Police Department trains extensively on best practices in handling mentally distressed persons and will continue doing so. 

We believe the complete video record and other evidence will demonstrate here that Gibson engaged in a series of very intentional, violent assaults and other resistive actions against police while in custody. State and federal courts consistently hold that police can and must police in such a situation to protect life and limb, including by use of reasonable force when necessary.  On these bases, we are confident the ACLU lawsuit will be quickly dismissed.