Michigan police knocked over role in veteran's detention

In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019 photo, Mayor Rosalynn Bliss reacts to protestors during a Grand Rapids City Commission meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich. Civil rights groups allege Grand Rapids police officials acted on racial profiling not fear of terrorism when they called federal immigration authorities on a former U.S. Marine who is Latino. Jilmar Ramos-Gomez was arrested in November 2018 after setting a small fire inside Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital and then standing on the rooftop helipad. He was later held for three days by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even though he was arrested with a U.S. passport. Grand Rapids Interim Police Chief David Kiddle said his department acted properly. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Activists are calling for the firing of a western Michigan police officer whom they accuse of racial profiling by notifying immigration officials about the arrest of a mentally ill Latino war veteran who is actually a U.S. citizen.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement held Jilmar Ramos-Gomez for three days in December before releasing the Michigan-born man.

Grand Rapids Lt. Curt VanderKooi told ICE about Ramos-Gomez' November arrest at a local hospital, referring to him as "loco," or crazy. Interim police Chief David Kiddle says VanderKooi was reprimanded for "unprofessional language."

Dozens of people attended a city commission meeting Tuesday to express their displeasure with how Ramos-Gomez was treated. Miriam Aukerman, of the American Civil Liberties Union, says Ramos-Gomez was racially profiled.

Kiddle says he's using the case to review policies.