DETROIT – U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy federal agents to cities across the country, including Detroit, amid ongoing national protests.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said sending Department of Homeland Security agents in, as the government has done in Portland, Oregon, is not needed here.
“Early on we made the decision the bond between the Detroit Police Department and the community was strong enough we could handle the protests ourselves,” Duggan said.
Detroit has had several nights of protests with no burning or looting in the city. What the city has seen though, is an uptick in shootings over the past several days.
“I was talking to my fellow mayors across America about, there’s something about what’s been going on in the protests across the country that have emboldened people with guns in a lot of cities,” Duggan said.
In Chicago, 15 people were shot at an ambush at a funeral on Tuesday night.
Since the weekend, Detroit has had multiple shootings, including three people killed at a Coney Island and a man who opened fire at a gas station on Tuesday.
Duggan said he’s been given no indication from the federal government that Homeland Security personnel are heading to Detroit.
What would be a help, according to the mayor, are federal prosecutors to assist in prosecuting gun crimes and more ATF agents to help Detroit police tackle illegal guns.