'My Friend, Benny' Whitmer Emotional Over Sheriff's Death

WAYNE COUNTY, MI — When Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon died Thursday night following a month-long battle with the coronavirus, hundreds of people issued statements to pay their respects to the county's long-time law enforcement leader.

And nearly all of them contained the same three words: "My friend, Benny."

On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer became emotional while discussing Napoleon's death during a news conference announcing amended restrictions during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

She said Napoleon was a "beloved leader in Wayne County" who was nationally respected and "one of the highest-ranking African-American leaders in Michigan for decades."

Whitmer also described him as her friend, Benny.

"He'd call or text to encourage me when I had to make tough decisions to protect people's lives because he saw the toll that this virus was taking on his friends and his co-workers and his loved ones," Whitmer said Friday.

"He was very careful. And he followed the protocols. And despite that, somehow even he contracted COVID," Whitmer continued, becoming visibly and audibly emotional. "And in a matter of three weeks, he went from testing positive to being hospitalized to being put on a ventilator and passing away. And my heart hurts."

Read More: Wayne County Sheriff Dies After Battling Coronavirus

Napoleon first reported that he had tested positive for the coronavirus on Nov. 19 in a post on his Facebook page.

On Nov. 20, Napoleon's daughter, Tiffani Jackson, posted that her father had been admitted to a local hospital. Napoleon had tested negative for the coronavirus on Nov. 13, according to The Detroit News, but began seeing increased symptoms on Nov. 17. Another test, given on Nov. 19, resulted in a positive result. Napoleon had been placed on a ventilator on Nov. 30, but Jackson continued to say her father was doing well.

Then, on Thursday, within an hour from his daughter dispelling rumors of his death on Facebook, Napoleon died.

"Benny was a special person," Whitmer said. "We've lost too many people to this horrendous virus."

Napoleon's death also prompted another emotion from Whitmer: Anger. In the same news conference, she was nearly in tears, Whitmer became stern and voiced frustration with issues relating to the new COVID-19 vaccine and

"While I've stood here for approximately 80 press conferences over the last 10 months stoic and resolved and focused, today I'm very sad," Whitmer said. "And I'm pretty angry too. And I'll tell you why. I'm angry because people like Benny are losing this battle every single day and I still cannot get a straight answer out of the Trump administration about why, Michigan, like many other states, is receiving a fraction of the vaccines that we are slated to receive.

"There are millions of Pfizer vaccines," she continued. "Many right here in Portage, Michigan, that are waiting to be shipped. But the feds are slow-walking the process of getting the addresses to Pfizer for some reason, I cannot get an answer to."

Michigan had initially said it was told by federal officials it would receive 84,000 doses of the vaccine next week, but now state health officials are saying that the number of doses is being cut to around 60,000. Officials previously said the state was expecting "several hundred thousand doses" of the vaccine before the end of the year.

A state spokesperson with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said the state learned of the reduction Wednesday but noted that the number of doses provided to each state was subject to change.

In a news release issued Thursday, Pfizer officials said the decrease is not due to an issue on the part of Pfizer, noting it had stockpiles of the vaccine in warehouses.

Other states, such as Washington, have seen cuts by as much as 40 percent.

"We have Michigan hospitals and nursing homes ready to administer this vaccine and the bottleneck appears to be the White House," Whitmer said. "And I can't get an answer (to) why."

The reasoning behind the cutbacks may not be the White House necessarily. According to one recent report, a series of outdated information may be to blame.

A system set up for states to track COVID-19 vaccines possessed inaccurate projects and outdated information, misleading governors into expecting more than they would receive. That system — Tiberius — had outdated projects when the FDA issued its first emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine Friday, according to the report.

Beyond the vaccine, Whitmer said beating the coronavirus requires extreme vigilance, noting the Napoleon took the virus particularly seriously because his brother had been infected and was hospitalized for over 70 days.

"It was really scary and it shook the whole family," Whitmer said, "and because of that, Benny took this virus seriously.

"The curve is flattening, but we can't let our guard down for a second because our fortunes can change fast," Whitmer added. "There are still people across our state who are mourning the loss of loved ones. So let's keep practicing social distancing. Let's work to eradicate COVID-19 together by wearing our masks."