The ACLU of Michigan has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Warren and several of its police officers, accusing them of using excessive force on Christopher Gibson, a 24-year-old (now 26) Black man with schizophrenia, during a mental health crisis.
According to the lawsuit, Gibson had spent the night before visiting a cousin dying of cancer. His family says the emotional toll triggered a mental health crisis. At his mother’s home in Detroit, Gibson began showing signs of distress — speaking incoherently, following family members around, rambling, and at times sitting in a catatonic state. He told his mother he should go to a mental health facility.
His mother contacted police for help getting him to a hospital, but before officers arrived, Gibson left the house in agitation. Later, people at a gas station in Warren called police after noticing Gibson and expressing concern for his well-being.
Warren police arrested him on an outstanding warrant for identity theft. Around 3:25 a.m., Officers called Gibson’s mother from his police car. She told him her son was in a mental health emergency and should go to a psychiatric hospital instead of jail.
Gibson was placed in a holding cell and kept under constant watch. Officers noted he was acting “erratic” and moved him to an another cell. According to the complaint, Gibson was lethargic and disoriented but had trouble following commands because of his mental state.
Body camera footage described in the lawsuit shows that when officers tried to move him to another location. Officers used pepper spray on him after a struggle, then returned later with a barking K-9, a riot shield, and a taser.
The ACLU says officers tasered him, and when one prong missed, they charged into the cell, forced him to the floor, and pinned him down. Even after he was restrained, they allegedly delivered multiple taser shocks in “drive-stun” mode. Gibson can be heard yelling: “I’M NOT RESISTING! Take me to the mental hospital now! Please! I’m cooperating! I’ve got the message!” An officer shouted back: “You ARE resisting! Do not f*ing resist anymore! If you keep resisting you will get tased again!”
The lawsuit says officers struck Gibson, used joint locks, placed knees on his body, and applied body weight restraints. At one point, while he was shackled and seated in a police car, officers pulled him out and slammed him onto the asphalt without cause.
Gibson was taken to McLaren Hospital, where doctors told his mother his heart and kidneys were “leaking.” He was hospitalized for nearly a week with acute kidney injury, muscle breakdown, and other complications — but never received mental health treatment. His mother and even Macomb County mental health workers offered to send a specialist, but police did not allow it.
The lawsuit seeks damages, policy changes, and a court order to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Warren police released the following statement:
“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 multipleless-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 thecounty 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, toanyone 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 trainsextensively 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.”
