Detroit police braced for Kid Rock protest at Little Caesars Arena

Robert Allen
Detroit Free Press

Protesters are expected to swarm Little Caesars Arena tonight as Kid Rock takes to the stage as the first entertainer to perform at the new arena.

Kid Rock performs for the crowd during First Kiss Tour on Friday, Aug.  7, 2015, at DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston.

The planned protest comes after several days of social media barbs being traded by supporters of Kid Rock, the entertainer himself and those opposed to him performing in Detroit.

On Wednesday, the Rev. Charles Williams posted on the National Action Network Michigan chapter’s Facebook page: “When you hire Kid Rock, who is known to be dog-whistling and cat-calling to white supremacist organizations and the white supremacist community, alt-right, whatever you want to call them, and you take our tax dollars to do that? That’s wrong.”

On Monday, Kid Rock, who’s real name is Robert Ritchie, called Detroit political activist Sam Riddle a “piece of (expletive) criminal” on Facebook.

He added: “People! Pay NO attention to the garbage the extreme left is trying to create!

“They are trying to use the old confederate flag BS, etc. to stir the pot, when we all know none of this would be going on if I were not thinking of running for office. Pretty funny how scared I have them all and their only agenda is to try and label people / me racist who do not agree or cower to them!!”

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And late Monday, Riddle shifted gears on Facebook, extolling opposition to encompass more than just the singer.

“It’s not about a lousy singer & me. It’s about over 70% of Detroit children living in poverty while single mothers face inhumane water shutoffs while fighting eviction as the Ilitches pimp Detroit for hundreds of millions dollars in corporate welfare rocking 2
Detroits,” Riddle wrote.

Detroit police said they’re aware of the friction, and prepared, in case tensions boil over tonight around the arena.

“We have an operational plan in case it becomes unruly,” Detroit police spokeswoman Jennifer Moreno said. “As long as the protesters are peaceful and not blocking pedestrian or vehicular traffic, they are free to exercise their right.”

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The protest is to begin at 5:30 p.m. today with a march from Grand Circus Park to the arena across I-75 on Woodward. The sold-out concert at the arena is set for 7 p.m.

Kid Rock, who has recently hinted at a possible run for public office, historically has used the Confederate flag as part of his onstage performance. A spokesman for Kid Rock told the Free Press in July 2015 that he singer stopped using the flag years earlier, a decision he said Ritchie made in May 2011, the day he received an award from the Detroit NAACP.

Tonight’s protest won’t be the first in Detroit. Also in 2015, members of the Action Network and others called on General Motors to pull its sponsorship of Kid Rock’s summer tour because Kid Rock at the time refused to denounce the Confederate flag. GM stood by its support of the tour.

And Olympia Entertainment last week stood by its decision to have Kid Rock as its opening performer.

“Kid Rock has been a consistent supporter of Detroit, and the marketplace has responded accordingly to his appearances. Performing artists’ viewpoints in no way represent an endorsement of those viewpoints by Olympia Entertainment,” the company said in a statement

The latest controversy, however, comes as the use of the flag by white supremacists has drawn fresh attention nationwide. It was a frequent symbol at several protests in Charlottesville, Va., this summer as those opposing the removal of a statue of Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee clashed with those who supported the removal and opposed white supremacy.

On Aug. 12, three people died in connection to a protest in Charlottesville, including two law enforcement agents.

Kid Rock also drew criticism from many in metro Detroit because of his political views, including support for President Donald Trump and profanity-laced references to NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for his refusal to stand for the national anthem during football games.

But the latest social media battle, Kid Rock in his Facebook post, said Sam Riddle is a “prime example of a lot that is and has been wrong with Detroit.”

A view of the inside of Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017.

Riddle is political director of the Michigan National Action Network, which plans a non-violent protest of “this glorification of Kid Rock, a known waver of the confederate flag that is a hate symbol right down there with the Nazi swastika,” the Rev. Charles Williams said in a Sept. 3 statement from Riddle.

Kid Rock began using the flag in shows in 2001. Although he has said he’s stopped using it it at is concerts, a Kid Rock video that came out this summer, however, showed a pregnant woman wearing a T-shirt with the flag.

Riddle said in his statement that “even though Rock says that he no longer uses the confederate flag, that is immaterial because of Rock’s historical use of the hate symbol.”

Ritchie, in his post, encourages people to Google-search Sam Riddle’s name. Riddle, a former aide to former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, pleaded guilty in May 2010 to conspiracy in conjunction with bribing Southfield Councilman William
Lattimore, and extortion with Conyers. He was sentenced to 37 months in the federal case.

Riddle didn’t immediately respond to a Free Press request for comment.

Contact Robert Allen: rallen@freepress.com. Staff writers Carlton Winfrey, Ann Zaniewski and Allie Gross contributed to this report.