Louis Farrakhan, left, and Kwame Kilpatrick / Free Press file photos
'Kilpatrick Enterprise' trial coverage
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson were convicted in U.S. District Court in Detroit. They were accused in a conspiracy to enrich themselves by rigging City of Detroit contracts through the mayor's office. Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted on 24 of 30 counts, Ferguson was found guilty on nine of 11 counts and Bernard Kilpatrick was convicted on one of four counts. A fourth defendant, former water department director Victor Mercado, pleaded guilty to conspiracy during the trial and awaits sentencing.
- A brief history of the Kwame Kilpatrick public corruption trial
- Who's who: Cast of characters in the 'Kilpatrick Enterprise' case
- Timeline: How the Kilpatrick public corruption case unfolded
- List of criminal charges against Kwame Kilpatrick, Bernard Kilpatrick, Bobby Ferguson and Victor Mercado
- Complete coverage: Kwame Kilpatrick public corruption trial
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Speaking in a Detroit church Friday night, Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam said that he plans to visit former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in prison Saturday as he tried to portray him as a victim of white racism.
“I’m going to visit him tomorrow in Milan, Michigan,” Farrakhan, 80, said to loud applause.
Addressing a packed audience inside Fellowship Chapel in Detroit, Farrakhan said that while Kilpatrick may have committed some mistakes, white politicians have committed similar acts and gotten away with it.
“I know he didn’t do everything right,” Farrakhan said of Kilpatrick, who was convicted of several courrption charges. But, he added, “do you think white folks in office weren’t playing a little on the side?”
Farrakhan, who supported Kilpatrick in the past, started his remarks on Kilpatrick by saying: “Detroit, you had a lot of faith in Kwame Kilpatrick. You put him in office two times. What happened?”
In 2005, Kilpatrick sat on stage with Farrakhan as the leader of the Nation of Islam delivered a talk in the same church Farrakhan spoke in Friday night.
Friday night, Farrakhan remarked that Kilpatrick was the youngest mayor in Detroit’s history and was “very intelligent,” according to a live broadcast of the event on the Nation of Islam’s website.
Farrakhan said the scandal around Kilpatrick was based on his lying about sleeping with a woman who wasn’t his wife, a sin that Farrakhan said many commit.
“How many of you in this audience...got a little something on the side?”
Farrakhan said of Kilpatrick: “So the boy made some texts...Why wouldn’t he lie? Wouldn’t you?...That’s the natural reaction: to cover your backside.”
Farrakhan said white politicians often are corrupt, but “they hide their crap under the rug” and unite to protect each other.
“But anything (blacks) do, (whites) expose to destroy your love and confidence in one another.”
Farrakhan said of Kilpatrick’s prosecutions: “The enemy that charged him is a liar from the beginning.”
The church is led by the head of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, Rev. Wendell Anthony. Anthony was at Friday’s speech as were U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, and Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson. Conyers and Watson nodded in agreement during some of Farrakhan’s remarks.
During his speech, Farrakhan also made some anti-Semitic remarks, talking about what he called “Satanic Jews” and the “Synagogue of Satan” supposedly controlling major institutions. Several groups have noted that Farrakhan has a history of anti-Semitism and anti-white remarks.
He said that he loved President Barack Obama, but said “he surrounded himself with Satan...members of the Jewish community.” Farrakhan also said that Detroit’s Emergency Financial Manager, Kevyn Orr may be a good person, but could be a puppet of people with bad intentions.
In addition, Farrakhan attacked fast-food restaurants, white images of Jesus Christ, gay marriage, and black-on-black violence in cities like Detroit.
"Look at the violence in Detroit,” he said. “It's not white folks killing us. It's us killing each other."
As he did in talks earlier Friday before the Detroit City Council and on Thursday at another Detroit church, Farrakhan urged African-Americans to buy property in Detroit.
"Arabs got money, they're buying,” he said. “Our Mexican families buying. You, who are the majority population, you're not buying"
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