Keely had faced second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Samuel Sterling, but the Supremacy Clause swooped in like a legal superhero to save the day for Keely. The judge said that he was entitled to immunity and was acting within his federal duties, doing no more than what was necessary and proper in attempting to apprehend Sterling.

In April 2024, Samuel Sterling, a 25-year-old man wanted on six outstanding warrants (carrying concealed weapons, fleeing police, robbery, etc.), died after being struck by an unmarked Michigan State Police vehicle driven by then-Detective Sergeant Brian Keely during a foot chase in Kentwood. Keely was part of a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force at the time.

At first, Samuel Sterling’s death was ruled an accident, and Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker declined to press charges. However, AG Nessel overrode that decision, filing charges herself. That move sparked a legal tug-of-war over jurisdiction. Since Keely was serving on a federal task force, the question became whether the case belonged in federal court instead – and that’s where it went.

Nessel, in a recent statement dripping with frustration about the dismissed charges, insisted her team’s case was rock-solid, built on “facts and evidence” that screamed Keely’s guilt. A state court judge also agreed. But Judge Jarbou did not.

Nessel, acting like a drama queen, huffed that she is “deeply concerned with the precedent this sets,” warning that federal officers might now “commit lethal crimes against Michigan residents with impunity.” Nessel called the whole thing a “miscarriage of justice” and said “my Department is considering our next steps.” A civil trial is also on the horizon.

Nessel’s team fought hard, even bringing an expert to an April 21 hearing to testify that Keely’s use of force (and his vehicle) was excessive. But the federal court wasn’t buying it, and now Nessel’s left picking up the pieces, exploring “appellate options” while offering condolences to Sterling’s grieving family.

Unsurprisingly, some people have turned this event into a racial issue from the beginning. Even Michigan State Police Director Col. James F. Grady made this a race thing because Keely is white and Sterling is black. In a statement by Grady in April 2024, he said, “As an African American male and a father, it’s not lost on me that this is the death of another young African American male following an interaction with police.”

In the end, Nessel’s courtroom crusade may have earned her a few political brownie points with activist circles (the anti-police crowd) and cable news pundits, but it didn’t hold water with the Constitution – or with basic common sense. The federal court didn’t see a reckless cop on a rampage (or a racist cop); it saw a federal officer doing his job under the protection of federal law.