Former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, a candidate for the Michigan Senate backed by Trump, urged President Trump to send the National Guard to Detroit, suggesting that law-abiding citizens should take control of their neighborhoods.
Rogers mentioned in an announcement during his Senate campaign that Detroit’s Mayor, Mike Duggan, had reached out to Trump for assistance in combating crime in the city.
“I essentially told the mayor, ‘Call the president and ask for backup. We’re the second most violent city in the country after Memphis,’” Rogers remarked.
He went on to express that things are unsafe in Detroit, and it’s unfair to those who follow the law. “It suggests to me that crime isn’t something anyone should just accept,” he added.
He criticized Duggan for glossing over official crime reports while attempting to dispute statistics relating to the city’s ongoing crime issues.
“The mayor is questioning the stats, but these figures came from the FBI. They show that violent assaults are 536% higher, murders are 580% above the national average, and incidents of rape and robbery are significantly elevated as well,” Rogers detailed.
Rogers also took aim at his Democratic opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens. While Stevens had called for the National Guard in Chicago back in 2016 after a tragic shooting incident, she dismissed Rogers’s proposal for Detroit as “wrong.”
“It’s time to call in the National Guard. Enough is enough,” Stevens had stated back then.
In a recent post, Stevens contradicted herself, saying, “Mike Rogers’ call for the National Guard in Detroit is misguided. He was wrong then, and he’s wrong now.”
“This is why I introduced legislation against Trump’s misuse of power; this confusion could spill over into other communities, including ours,” she added.
Rogers shared that one of his political rivals criticized his National Guard call, expressing that it was a poor decision. “It’s been quite a journey, but clearly, we need to reconsider our approach. If we keep repeating the same actions, we can expect the same outcomes, and that’s something even a child can grasp,” he reflected.
He emphasized the need for changes not just in law enforcement but also within the educational system, arguing that systemic issues contribute to poverty and crime.
“In Michigan, we’re failing our children. Statistics show that if you can’t read by fourth grade, you have a 70% chance of winding up in prison or relying on welfare. Nearly half of our fourth-graders can’t read at that level,” Rogers pointed out.
“We’re essentially sentencing them to poverty,” he asserted.
