The Detroit News
Less than two weeks after being freed from federal prison, Kwame Kilpatrick might have made a brief comeback in the city he once led as mayor.
The Detroit native was pictured in a photo posted Friday on the Instagram page of Al Wilson, who is listed as affiliated with a local barbershop called Cut It Out International.
Earlier Friday, the page featured a video showing Kilpatrick, clad in a red hooded sweatshirt, scrawling on a message board with a marker. The caption reads: Welcome home bro!
The appearance would be his first publicly known return to Detroit since outgoing President Donald Trump commuted Kilpatrick s sentence last week and freed him from a lockup at a minimum-security prison in Oakdale, Louisiana. Kilpatrick still had 16 years remaining on his sentence after receiving credit for good behavior in prison.
Welcome home bro, barber Al Wilson (right) says with these on Facebook and Instagram. A politically connected person tells Deadline Detroit that Kwame Kilpatrick was spotted in the city Friday. Sure enough, barber Al Wilson posts these photos of the newly sprung former mayor getting a trim at Cut It Out International on East Jefferson Avenue at Chene. Welcome home bro, Wilson posts on Facebook and Instagram. Kilpatrick, 50, was released from prison last week via a commutaton by President Trump on the last night of his presidency. He served seven years of his 28-year sentence. Michigan law prevents Kilpatrick from running for local or state office, though he could run for Congress.
Social media photos hint Kwame Kilpatrick may have been in Detroit this week
Posted at 10:04 AM, Jan 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-30 10:04:41-05
(WXYZ) â Was former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in Detroit this week? Online and social media photos show that he may have been.
Kilpatrick was released from prison last Wednesday after former President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, and then he was seen reuniting with family in an Atlanta suburb.
On Friday afternoon, Detroit barber Al Wilson posted photos on Instagram showing Kilpatrick getting a haircut. It also showed Kilpatrick signing a board inside the barbershop.
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Jan 28, 2021
Seven years in prison might be considered adequate punishment for a public corruption conviction. That’s what former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick served before his sentence was commuted Wednesday by President Donald Trump in his last hours in office.
Losing that much of your life, and spending so much time away from your family, is hardly a wrist-slap.
Still, there’s a sense that once again Kilpatrick, a lifelong con man, has gamed the system and avoided full accountability for his deeds.
Kilpatrick, 50, leaves his federal cell 21 years early without having admitted to the crimes for which he was convicted; without expressing regret for anything other than that he was imprisoned; and without accounting for the money he stole from the taxpayers of Detroit.