Last Tuesday, August 11, there was an open event at the Intersection hosted by Voice for the Badge. The event was billed as a meet and greet with the new Grand Rapids Chief of Police Joe Trigg.
After the more formal community gathering people milled about, such as Mayor David LaGrand, who is seen here below with the founders of the two citizen-led pro-police groups in Grand Rapids – Voice for the Badge and iCI Nation.
As a side note, earlier in the day during the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting members from Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE confronted the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting over recent GRPD action where they assisted ICE and the GEO Group (which runs the largest ICE detention center in the midwest) by preventing activists from trying to stop the transport of an immigrant that had been abducted by ICE in late July. A few days later, during a community forum, Chief Trigg denied there was any collaboration between ICE and the GRPD.
This brings us back to the forum hosted by Voice for the Badge on August 11th and the picture of Mayor LaGrand with the leaders of two pro-police organizations. The Mayor seems to be all smiles in this exchange. This is in stark contrast to immigrant and Black organizers who have attempted to engage LaGrand since he began his tenure as Mayor in 2025.
But who exactly are these two pro-police groups and what does it mean for the Mayor to be in friendly conversation with them?
Voice for the Badge was formed as a response to the Movement for Black Lives, acting as sort of defenders of cops. The founder of the group (pictured in the photo above) Johnny Brann Sr. owns Brann’s restaurants, but uses the restaurant as a shrine for cops. I have written numerous articles about Voice for the Badge and have noted that they have been either silent when the GRPD has killed people like Patrick Lyoya or Da’Quain Johnson. Johnny Brann Sr. has also used his wealth to back candidates in Grand Rapids that are also pro-police. Voice for the Badge is a very nationalistic and racist organization and often posts content on their social media like this one from June of 2025, where a Florida Sheriff was responding to protests by saying:
“Throw a brick, a firebomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at. Because we will kill you graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.”
iCI Nation was founded in 2015 by a woman named Jennifer Franson. iCI Nation does more behind the scenes work where they often throw parties or have breakfast events in order to “provide a healthy environment for the Community to build trust with law enforcement.”
Mayor LaGrand was also all smiles with iCI Nation founder Jennifer Franson at a going away party for former GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom. This event was just two days after the GRPD had killed Da’Quain Johnson, but both LaGrand and Franson seemed quite happy.
For me, the fact that Mayor LaGrand is friendly with two white-led pro-police organizations in Grand Rapids, organization that vigorously defend policing should tell you something, especially when you juxtapose his antagonistic relationship with groups like Movimiento Cosecha, GR Rapid Response to ICE and Black organizers demanding justice for Patrick Lyoya and Da’Quain Johnson.
Muir will succeed Sheriff LaJoye-Young with the same racist practices and ongoing collaboration with ICE to detain immigrants at the jail
In mid-July when the local news was reporting that Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young announced that she was retiring, most news sources stated that Undersheriff Bryan Muir would be her successor.
It is no surprise that this is what has come to pass. It is also not surprising that the local news has not provided any context for the appointment of Muir, meaning they gave the undersheriff a free pass.
What is omitted in the coverage and what the public generally doesn’t know about Muir are some of the following:
- He resided as UnderSheriff over the ongoing racially driven jail population in Kent County. Based on a data from a report by LincUp, most people in the Kent County Jail are there for non-violent offenses, most of those in the jail have not been found guilty of a crime, and there is a disproportionate number of Black and Brown people in the Kent County Jail. For instance, in Kent County Black people make up 10% of the population, but they make up 47% of the incarcerated population.
Additionally, as a result of UnderSheriff Muir’s testimony during a recent trial of four people that were contesting the Kent County Jail’s policy of collaborating with ICE by holding immigrants for ICE, Muir stated the following:
- First, when asked by defense attorneys if what he said to the defendants at the time of the arrest was caught on his body camera Muir said no because his body camera “wasn’t working or wasn’t charged.”
- A second interesting comment from Muir was while he was being cross examined by defense attorneys about whether or not the Sheriff’s Office shares Flock camera information with ICE. Muir said they share Flock camera images with all federal agencies that request them for a criminal investigation. Muir would not name ICE as being a federal agency, even when pressed on the matter, but by saying all federal agencies he admitted that includes ICE.
- Third, the Under Sheriff also revealed that their department has what he called the Real Time Intelligence Center, which essentially monitors everything happening at the buildings the Sheriff’s Office is in charge of (which includes the Kent County Jail), along with any interaction Sheriff’s officers have with the public and drone footage when drones are used. Muir shared this bit of information because he said that his officers were also monitoring Movimiento Cosecha’s livestream from inside the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office on the day of the action/arrest on January 5th and the post arrest video they did in the lobby of the jail with the defendants. Under Sheriff Muir essentially admitted that the Sheriff’s Office engages in surveillance of Cosecha, which means they likely do this to any organized efforts to challenge systems of power in Kent County.
Under Muir’s leadership as Sheriff we can expect the same business as usual approach, where a disproportionate number of BIPOC people will be incarcerated, where the Sheriff’s Office will be monitoring the public without their knowledge, and where the Kent County Sheriff’s Office will collaborate with ICE by sharing Flock camera images and engaging in ICE holds at the Kent County Jail. Remember this in the November Election with a ballot initiative to ask taxpayer for more money for the jail!
Rep. Hillary Scholten is a militarist that has supported US Imperialism since she joined Congress in 2023
In a recent Straight Talk with Scholten video, Congresswoman Hillary Scholten talked about the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, the annual US military spending bill.
More accurately, Rep. Scholten talked less about what is in the proposed trillion dollar US Military bill and more about 6 amendments she got passed in the House version of the bill. Those 6 amendments are:
- Expand access to child care for military families.
- Improve the diagnosis and treatment of blast-related brain injuries.
- Explore innovative medical technologies that could reduce recovery times for servicemembers.
- Address shortages in the aviation maintenance workforce.
- Strengthen domestic tool and die manufacturing capabilities.
- Study next-generation vessel materials to improve durability and readiness.
A superficial look at these amendments and one would think that these all sound very nice. However, Rep. Scholten doesn’t provide sufficient context for what is deeply problematic about her amendments. Besides child care access for military families – all working families deserve free access to child care – these amendments are all operating on the premise that the US military is a force for good and the annual US military budget is beneficial to the majority of people living in this country.
Rep. Scholten omits the fact that the US military has about 180 bases around the world, acting primarily as occupying forces in order to maintain global dominance. Scholten also fails to say anything about US weapons sales abroad, US military advisors, direct US military intervention and a whole host of other dynamics that the US military is contributing to the killing of thousands of civilians on an annual basis. Add on to that the fact that the US military is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels, so large that they burn fossil fuels more than most countries do in any given year.
Besides the child care access amendment, the other amendments either provide medical dollar for research and treatment or more funding for the Military Industrial Complex. There are two easy solutions to these amendments, stop putting US soldiers in situations where they would get injured and stop subsidizing the US military industry that is one of the major driving forces in the massive annual military budget.
Another thing that Rep. Scholten said in her weekly video was to voice her objection to the Trump Administration’s proposal to change the US Department of Defense to the US War Department. Rep. Scholten failed to mention that was the original name that George Washington used, a name which stood until 1949 when President Trump signed the National Security Act. Calling it the US War Department would be more honest, since the US military has primarily been used for war as opposed to defending this country.
Rep. Scholten then says the name change would cost $125 million, but whayt she said most was rather telling. In Scholten’s objection to spending $125 million on the name change she said, “Think about what we could do with that money?”
The irony of this statement is lost on Rep. Scholten. The statement – Think about what we could do with that money – is what anti-war and anti-imperialists have been saying for near two centuries. Since Rep. Scholten joined Congress in 2023, she has voted for the annual US military budget, which has been between $800 billion to $ trillion. Rep. Scholten has voted for over $3 billion in military aid to Israel, plus additional funding to support Israel’s genocidal slaughter of the Palestinians and billions more to Ukraine in their war against Russia.
Rep. Scholten’s missive, where she invites us to think about how we could spend money for something other than US militarism is something that she and her fellow Democrats should embrace. Imagine if half of the US military budget – $500 billion – where withheld. What could we do with $500 billion?
- We could provide affordable housing for everyone who is housing insecure today.
- We could provide free health care to everyone in the US.
- We could invest is efficient and clean mass transit.
- We could invest in a sustainable energy infrastructure.
- We could provide financial and legal support for undocumented immigrants to welcomed into this country instead of subjecting them to ICE. Thus, we could abolish ICE, which Rep. Scholten has made clear she is opposed to.
In the end we have to recognize that Rep. Scholten, like most members of Congress, has consistently voted for US militarism and US imperialism through the annual National Defense Authorization Act. Rep. Scholten is a staunch defender of US Empire and will not deviate from that, since the Democrats are equally committed to militarism and imperialism.
Follow the Money: Who received campaign contributions from utility PACs, GR Chamber PAC, GRPD Union PAC and the Realtors PAC recently?
We are now nearly two weeks removed from the August 4th Primary Election, but we can learn a great deal about which candidates received significant sums of campaign contributions from some of the more notorious entities in Michigan and Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Association PAC
The GRPD cop union has been contributing to political candidates for decades, although they don’t have deep pockets. However, they have been very selective in who they give money to, which is once again the case in the most recent campaign finance data just before the August Primary. The two candidates that are still in the running for the November Election are:
Drew Jake Robbins – $5,000
Steve Tibbe – $2,000
Robbins is running as the 84th State House seat as a Republican candidate and he received $10,000 from the GRPD cop union in 2022. Steve Tibbe is running for the open seat that Robbins vacated to run for the State House. The GRPD cop union contribution to Tibbe was made after the initial campaign fillings for First Ward candidates that I wrote about on July 25th. However, Tibbe has yet to submit that information to the Kent County Clerk’s Office, since there is no filing for the $2,000 from the Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Association PAC.
Friends of West Michigan Business Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce
Nearly all of the funds that the GR Chamber PAC gave out when to Republican candidates or Republican Committees. The only Democrat to take money from the GR Chamber PAC was Carol Glandville who took $500.
It is also worth looking at the names of people who contributed to the GR Chamber PAC, since many of the names listed are part of the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
Realtors PAC of Michigan
Housing continues to be a hotly contested issue in Michigan, so it is no surprise that the Realtors PAC of Michigan contributed over $1 million this election quarter in Michigan. The Realtors PAC of Michigan gave to both Democratic Party and Republican Party committees and candidates. One notable candidate running for re-election is Kristian Grant, who received $14,000, as she sits on the Housing Committee in the State House. Grant has consistently received funding from the housing for profit sector, despite her claims to be a champion for affordable housing.
Kristian Grand – $14,000
Utility Company Political Action Committees have been the primary driver when it comes to influencing state politicians, which in turn have allowed for massive utility rate increases in recent years.
Dte Energy Company PAC
The DTE PAC contributed nearly half a million in the most recent election cycle. They contributed nearly an equal amount to the Republican and Democratic Party State Committees, since they follow the plan of “no matter who gets elected we are going to influence them.”
The only noted Democrat to take money from DTE was State Senator Winnie Brinks, even though she is term limited. Brinks received $4,500, which means she channeled that money to other candidates she is endorsing.
Cms Energy Corp Employees for Better Government
Like the DTE PAC, the Consumer’s Energy PAC also gave lots of money to both the Democrats and Republicans. There were two notable Democratic politicians that received funding from this PAC:
Winnie Brinks – $5,000
John Fitzgerald – $3,500
This is why it is important to follow the money, since money often influences the policies that politicians will vote on, policies that reflect the interests of the corporate world and other groups that do not represent the majority of the population.
Mutual aid is collective coordination to meet each other’s needs, usually from an awareness that the systems we have in place are not going to meet them. Those systems, in fact, have often created the crisis, or are making things worse.
We see examples of mutual aid in every single social movement, whether it’s people raising money for workers on strike, setting up a ride-sharing system during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, putting drinking water in the desert for migrants crossing the border, training each other in emergency medicine because ambulance response time in poor neighborhoods is too slow, raising money to pay for abortions for those who can’t afford them, or coordinating letter-writing to prisoners. These are mutual aid projects. They directly meet people’s survival needs, and are based on a shared understanding that the conditions in which we are made to live are unjust.
Mutual Aid is NOT Charity
Mutual Aid is practiced by people involved in social movements, like the work that GR Rapid Response to ICE does. GR Rapid Response to ICE is committed to practicing solidarity with those most targeted by ICE, undocumented immigrants. They believe that ICE should be abolished. However, rather than waiting for politicians to abolish ICE, GR Rapid Response to ICE directly intervenes to try and prevent ICE from abducting people. They have a hotline 616-238-0081, they do patrols in areas where ICE is most active and they accompany immigrants to appointments or court dates.
When GR Rapid Response to ICE is unable to prevent ICE from abducting people they offer a variety of Mutual Aid options, such as legal support, transportation, material aid, financial aid and sanctuary to those who no longer feel safe where they are living.
For GR Rapid Response to ICE the Mutual Aid work is an extension of the direct intervention work, not separate. This is why they say that Mutual Aid is not Charity.
There are two opportunities for people to get involved and learn about Mutual Aid this weekend in Grand Rapids. On Saturday, September 15 from 9am – 4pm there is a garage sale being held where all of the money generated from that sale will go to immigrant families that have been directly impacted by ICE. See details in graphic above.
A second event is happening on Sunday, September 16th from 2 – 5pm, with a screening of a film entitled, The Elements of Mutual Aid. This film screening will also include a discussion about Mutual Aid and how you can practice this type of radical community care no matter where you live. See details in the graphic above.
Another excellent resource on Mutual Aid is a book by Dean Spade, entitled, Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next). Lastly, there is this fabulous short video that provides an excellent introduction to the power of Mutual Aid.
Yesterday I reported on the Press Conference hosted by Movimiento Cosecha and the response from Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand regarding GRPD’s collaboration with ICE in a recent incident at the 517 Ottawa NW ICE office in downtown Grand Rapids.
On July 31st I wrote about the Grand Rapids Police Chief’s response to that same incident, where Chief Trigg denied that the GRPD are collaborated with ICE during a public forum. Chief Trigg works for the City of Grand Rapids and is answerable to Mayor LaGrand, thus this open letter is address specifically to you Mayor LaGrand.
At the very end of Tuesday’s Grand Rapids City Commission meeting Mayor LaGrand stated that the GRPD were at the 517 Ottawa ICE office because people were blocking an alleyway. While it is partly true that people were blocking an alleyway, Mayor LaGrand conveniently omitted the fact that people were blocking a GEO Group van, which was transporting an immigrant that had been abducted by ICE earlier on that day. People were blocking the GEO Group van because they wanted to prevent yet another immigrant from being subjected to the brutal treatment they would receive at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan.
The GEO Group runs that for-profit detention center, which is the largest in the midwest. Detainees in the Baldwin detention center have communicated to the autonomous group No Detention Centers in Michigan (NDCM) that guards have physically abused detainees, along with the fact that people are not receiving adequate nutrition or medical care, thus the GEO Group is violating the basic rights of detainees.
You can hide behind the argument that the GRPD was there to prevent people from blocking an alleyway or for some notion of public safety, but the fact remains that ICE and the GEO Group (which has a contract with ICE to detain immigrants) are engaged in unjust, racist and oppressive practices by criminalizing undocumented immigrants, where ICE abducts immigrants and the GEO Group makes money from detaining them.
Throughout US history people have always resisted laws that have supported, propped up, condoned or normalized the exploitation, repression and state sponsored terrorism of groups of people. What people were doing recently at the 517 Ottawa ICE office was no different, since undocumented immigrants are being hunted by ICE, arrested – often with force – detained and deported primarily because they are undocumented.
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids when the fugitive slave act was enacted in 1850, would you prevent residents of Grand Rapids from providing safe have from slave patrols because because it was the law of the land? Would you prevent people from resisting slave patrols from trying to abduct people who fled slavery because what slave patrols was doing was legal?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids when the US passed laws (late 19th century and early 20th century) that removed Indigenous children from their communities to be place in so-called Boarding Schools because it was legal? Would you instruct the GRPD to prevent residents of this city who attempted to stop such actions to be arrested?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids when Jim Crows laws were practiced throughout the country would you prevent residents from trying to stop a lynching or discriminatory segregation practices in this city because brutalizing Black people and segregation practices were supported by the law?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids when Japanese Americans were forced from their homes during WWII because President Roosevelt put into affect Executive Order 9066 – which allowed the US government to put Japanese Americans into Internment Camps – would you have the GRPD arrest residents who actively resisted this law?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids during the 1960s when Black Americans were engaged in sit-ins at lunch counters to protests segregation laws that made Black people eat in the back or outside, would you have the GRPD arrest those involved in such actions because those sit-ins were on private property?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids during the anti-Vietnam War Movement and people were resisting the draft or shutting down government offices or other institutions that were supporting the US war in Southeast Asia, would you have them arrested for their actions because they were disrupting business as usual to draw attention to that brutal US Imperialist War?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids during the late 1960s or early 1970s when Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people were engaged in an uprising similar to the one at Stonewall, would you have them arrested?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids during the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement, which often included protests at institutions that had investments in South African, would you have them arrested for resisting the white supremacist practice of apartheid?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids during the 1980s when the US was engaged in counter-insurgency wars in Central America and residents were housing political refugees that fled Guatemala and El Salvador, would you have them arrested or have the GRPD provide support to the FBI to arrest those residents offering sanctuary?
Mayor LaGrand, if you were Mayor of Grand Rapids during the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in the early 2000s, would you support the GRPD arresting residents who were occupying the office of Congressman Vern Ehlers to expose him for voting for war crimes?
Mayor LaGrand, as Mayor of Grand Rapids right now will you continue to instruct or support the GRPD’s arrest of residents who want to non-violently prevent ICE from abducting undocumented immigrants or the GEO Group from transporting them to the detention center in Baldwin, Michigan?
What people who are resisting ICE in Grand Rapids are doing is part of the legacy of opposing the laws and practices that are supporting, propping up, condoning and normalizing the exploitation, repression and state sponsored terrorism by ICE of undocumented immigrants.
We will continue to engage in such actions because we believe that this is what solidarity looks like. Mayor LaGrand will you continue to be complicit with ICE violence by using the GRPD to prevent us from resisting ICE terrorism or will you instruct the GRPD to stop assisting ICE and arresting those who want to put an end to state terrorism directed at undocumented immigrants in Grand Rapids?
Press Conference addresses Mayor LaGrand’s silence on meeting with Cosecha and recent GRPD assistance with ICE abductions
On Tuesday Movimiento Cosecha, GR Rapid Response to ICE and No Detention Centers in Michigan held a Press Conference on the lower level of City Hall. The Press Conference was designed to address two critical issues, the failure of Mayor LaGrand respond to an invitation from Cosecha to have a community meeting on the six sanctuary policies and recent GRPD collaboration with ICE.
During the Press Conference a representative from Cosecha stated:
Mayor LaGrand, in June 2026, during a City Commission meeting, claimed that our groups would not engage in a productive conversation with him. On June 24, Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE sent an email inviting Mayor LaGrand to a public meeting. We wrote: “We believe that a public meeting is important to promote transparency, accountability, and meaningful dialogue between community members and city leadership regarding these policies.” We only received an automatic reply confirming that the Mayor’s Office had received our email. We were seeking a possible date for this meeting, and a month later, in July, we sent a follow-up email. To this date, we have received no response. So let’s be clear: we reached out. We invited the Mayor to have a public conversation. We asked for transparency, accountability, and meaningful dialogue.
And yet, there has been silence.
Mayor LaGrand has been insensitive to the immigrant working community facing ICE violence and has shown disregard for the family separation happening in his city. We are here today to demand that Mayor LaGrand respond to the community.
Regarding the issue of GRPD collaboration with ICE, Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE stated:
On July 28, the GR Rapid Response to ICE hotline received a message that ICE had kidnapped a father who was coming out of the Kentwood court after showing up for a notice of appearance related to some traffic violations. According to his U.S. citizen wife, he did not have an immigration judicial warrant, and he was arrested in front of her and their two young U.S. citizen children. She requested accompaniment to the ICE office to bring paperwork showing that he had an approved immigration process and to ask for her husband to be released.
While we were waiting for the wife to get an answer from the ICE office, GRPD showed up but did not engage with us. They waited until the private GEO van, which transports people and was transporting the husband to North Lake, was ready to leave the ICE office garage, located behind the office. GRPD officers then pushed the responders out of the sidewalk and escorted the GEO van while masked ICE agents remained inside the garage.
Similarly, on Sunday, August 2, GR Rapid Response to ICE and Movimiento Cosecha responded to an alert at the ICE office. Once again, GRPD showed up at the exact moment that the ICE office garage door opened to allow the GEO van to leave. This is showing coordination between ICE, GEO transportation, and GRPD. We broadcast everything through our Facebook Live feed. Even though GRPD continues to deny cooperation with ICE, the evidence is showing the contrary.
It is imperative that the City pass the six sanctuary policies so that GRPD will have a local ordinance prohibiting the type of cooperation we have just described. City resources should not be used to support ICE’s violent, clandestine, and lawless actions.
Cosecha filmed the entire Press Conferenfce, which you can watch here.
Both Michigan Public Radio and the online publication Michigan Advance attended the Press Conference.
Grand Rapids City Commission meeting
After the Press Conference members of Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE went to the 2pm Grand Rapids City Commission meeting to address the same issues discussed during the Press Conference.
Several people spoke about these two issues, plus they were joined by other community members who spoke primarily about the Flock cameras that the GRPD uses in Grand Rapids.
Several City Commissioners responded at the end to supporting more conversation of the Flock cameras and at a minimum some sort of audit. There were also some acknowledgement of the GRPD collaboration with ICE, but with no specifics and one commissioner referred to it as allegation.
Mayor LaGrand spoke the longest, a total of 23 minutes, which begins at 1:54:16 in the video of the City Commission meeting.
The Mayor went out of his way to salute those speaking about Flock cameras because, “they offered real policy solutions.” This is interesting, because each of the six sanctuary policies that Cosecha introduced at the beginning of 2025 are all concrete solutions that would prohibit the City of Grand Rapids from sharing information on residents with ICE, using City resources to assist ICE and specifically prohibiting the GRPD from working with ICE in any form.
At one point Mayor LaGrand said that he did not laugh at someone who talked about the Peaceful Observers. “That person was openly contemptuous of my involvement with this group,” according to LaGrand. The Mayor then talked about all the work he put into what that group is attempting to do, but he fails to mention that this group formed without the consent of those who are being targeted by ICE. Here is an analysis of the Peaceful Observers group and why it is problematic from white people to create something that affected communities did not ask for.
LaGrand did acknowledge that he was glad for some of the work that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE has done. He then went on to say that he has investigated himself allegations of ICE activity, with a specific example of ICE taking people from hospitals. LaGrand said he talked with hospital security and hospital administration and they assured him that ICE has not come in the building. The fact is that there have been several incidents at local hospitals where ICE has been active, as people who were being targeted called the GR Rapid Response to ICE hotline requesting people show up. GR Rapid Response to ICE listens to those being targeted by ICE, not those in positions of authority.
At about 2:07:20 into the video the Mayor addresses the incident at the 517 ICE Office where members of GR Rapid Response to ICE were attempting to prevent a GEO Group van that had someone ICE abducted from leaving the 517 Ottawa ICE office, which I reported on.
The Mayor’s response to this incident is exactly what many of us thought he would say, which was that members of GR Rapid Response to ICE were blocking an alleyway and that the GRPD will make sure that even the safety of US federal agents are also being protected. At one point LaGrand said, “ICE agents are humans.”
Those in positions of authority can justify anything they want, and indeed have done so throughout history. A big part of the problem is the narrative that the GRPD and Mayor LaGrand want to use. For the people on the scene they were responding to a GR Rapid Response to ICE call, where ICE had earlier abducted an immigrant in Grand Rapids and brought them to the 517 Ottawa ICE office. Once the abducted immigrant was processed the GEO Group-owned van that was parked inside the 517 Ottawa ICE office would then transport the abducted immigrant to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan. The people who were blocking the alleyway were attempting to prevent the GEO Group van from departing because ICE had abducted another immigrant from this community. Those responding would not call what they did a violation, rather they would call what they did their obligation to practice solidarity with immigrants targeted by ICE and to either disrupt or reduce that harm that ICE had committed and the profiting of the GEO Group, which has a contract with ICE to run the detention center in Baldwin.
Mayor LaGrand can hide behind laws all they want, but just because something is legal doesn’t mean it is right.
“Apartheid was legal.
The Holocaust was legal.
Slavery was legal.
Colonialism was legal.
Legality is a matter of power, not justice.”
Indeed, Dr. King in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail said, “individuals have a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” This is exactly what GR Rapid Response to ICE is willing to do.
Local News bias on ICE and violence in Grand Rapids
Last week several local news organizations reported that a Guatemalan man who has entered the US without documentation on numerous occasions has been sentenced to two years in prison for “assaulting and resisting” an ICE agent, according to the United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Michigan.
The Guatemalan immigrant was being pursued by ICE agents and when he pulled over fled his vehicle. When the ICE agents finally caught up with this man the immigrant, “pushed an officer and wrestled with him on the ground before being arrested.” One of the ICE agents injured his knee while wrestling with the man on the ground, which is why he was charged with assault.
According to the story on WOODTV8, after “his sentence is completed, he will be deported again to Guatemala.” Even though the article had already reported on the specifics of the case, they quote at length a US Attorney with the same information, but they also include a direct quote from the US Attorney:
“My office fully supports the important and dangerous work our immigration officers are asked to do and will always vigorously prosecute attacks like this one.”
This story is deeply problematic and it reflects the inherent bias in how local news has reported on the issue of ICE, immigration and violence. First, the story was generated from a Press Release sent out by the US Attorney’s Office on August 6th. If you look at the story on WOODTV8 you can see there is not much difference to what they reported and what the Press Release says, which means they probably didn’t talk to anyone or verify the information.
Second, there are no sources provided in this story from the perspective of an immigration lawyer, an organization like the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center or an immigrant-led group like Movimiento Cosecha. I say this to point out that when immigration organizations hold an event or a press conference the local news almost always seeks out a statement from local law enforcement agencies or a government spokesperson.
Third, the channel 8 story did not include the following comment from the US Attorney’s Press Release:
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
No where in the news coverage of this story is there any link between the Guatemalan man with, “cartels and transnational criminal organizations.” Linking undocumented immigrants with criminal behavior is what the Trump Administration has been attempting to do. However, the majority of immigrants abducted by ICE have no criminal history. CBS News reported Feb. 9 that “less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump’s first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses.”
Fourth, besides the WOODTV8 story, MLive and WZZM 13 also reported on this case, relying exclusively on the US Attorney’s Office Press Release. However, the local news will rarely, if ever, report on the violence perpetrated by ICE in Grand Rapids/Kent County. Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have documented incidents of violence and harm perpetrated by ICE against undocumented immigrants since 2017, with an increase in ICE activity in 2026. Here are ways in which ICE perpetuates violence against undocumented immigrants that are not being reported on:
- ICE abducts immigrants on a daily basis in Kent County just because they are undocumented. These abductions often include force used by ICE agents.
- When undocumented immigrants are abducted by ICE it traumatizes the person abducted, along with their family members, especially children.
- Immigrants who have been abducted by ICE end up going to the GEO Group-owned North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan. Once an immigrant is at the detention center in Baldwin they are subjected to physical abuse at the hands of of guards, poor nutrition and inadequate health care, which are all forms of violence and violate the rights of immigrants.
- Most undocumented immigrants abducted by ICE are the primary income earners, which means that families have little or no income to meet their basic needs. Subjecting immigrant families to economic insecurity is also a form of violence, which is never reported by local news.
- When immigrants are released from detention they are either subjected to state surveillance through ankle and wrist bracelets or they must download a phone app which allows ICE to monitor them continuously. Mass surveillance is violence. The other outcome of being released from detention is when immigrants are deported, thus causing further family separation and financial hardship, plus it can often means deporting them to a country they fled because of the political violence, thus subjecting them to persecution and possible death.
A major reason why news agencies do not report on the types of violence that immigrants are subjected to is because it is lawful for ICE to abducted, detain and deport immigrants, thus normalizing violence that is inherently part of the legal system. News reporters see federal agencies as inherently good and necessary, thus completely ignoring the systemic violence they perpetrate.
Influence Peddlers: New data on Lobbying Firms in Michigan and how they influence public policy
The Primary Election is now behind us and according to https://www.transparencyusa.org/mi/ in Michigan along up til now in the current election cycle the total amount of campaign contributions was $138,260,343.03.
Imagine how many houses could be built for families with $138 million or how many renters could have their rent covered for the next year, providing substantial relief for the high cost of rent?
Of course there was a small number of individuals and Political Action Committees that spent the bulk of the $138 million. Hell, Doug and Pamela DeVos alone contributed just over $5 million combined. Imagine how much more money will be contributed and spent between now and the November Election and how much political influence will be invested by the rich?
Another arena of influence peddling in Michigan are all of the lobbyist groups. According to a recent article in Crain’s Grand Rapids Business the top 25 Lobbying Firms spent roughly $17 million to influence the Michigan Legislature. (See graphic below) These 25 lobbying firms represented the interests of such corporations as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Ford Motor Co., DTE, Stryker, Microsoft, Illitch Holdings, Oracle, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Michigan Artificial Intelligence Association, Humana Inc., WK Kellogg Co., and Delta Airlines.
These lobbying firms get paid to represent the interests of these companies in matters of public policy. For example, the fact that Microsoft and Michigan Artificial Intelligence Association both hired lobbying forms to represent the interests of AI and data centers should tell you something about what that industry is doing to influence state policy makers.
Now, the Crain’s Grand Rapids Business article said nothing about how lobbying firms influence public policy on behalf of corporations that have investments in Michigan or what to expand those interests. The Crain’s Grand Rapids Business article only provided information on how the lobbying industry has increased in recent years, stating:
“The total number of registered lobbying agents, those hired to do the lobbying, has held steady at around 1,600 over the years. But the number of registered lobbyists — the businesses and organizations paying for lobbying — has risen. The figure is approximately 1,900, according to a search of the lobbying database, up roughly 300, or 19%, in five years.”
While it is useful to know that there has been an increase in lobbyists in Lansing, the public needs to have a more robust investigation into how much influence and power that lobbyists have in determining public policy.
For example, it is important that roughly 40% of politicians eventually become lobbyists and represent corporate interests. Look at the the lobbying firm The WinMatt Group. Brandon Dillion, a former Democratic Party State Legislator is the CEO of The WinMatt Group right after leaving public office. Dillion now represents the interests of Detroit International Bridge Co., Oracle, Meridian, Gun Lake Tribe, and Fairlife.
The President of the WinMatt Group is Kate Skaggs, who is an East Grand Rapids Council member and the wife of State Representative a Phil Skaggs. Now that Skaggs has lost his bid to be a State Senator, he might join his wife’s lobbying firm and work to influence public policy on behalf of corporate and other special interests.
This is why I write about following the money when it comes to electoral politics, since money is the driving influence and money too often dictates public policy.
Those arrested at Kent County Sheriff’s Office demanding an end to ICE holds were found guilty during yesterday’s trial
The trial for the four defendants who non-violently stayed in the lobby of the Kent County Sheriff’s Office to demand an end the ICE holds at the Kent County Jail on January 5th took place yesterday.
The 4 defendants participated in this action in conjunction with Movimiento Cosecha and their campaign to get Kent County to adopt six sanctuary policies, a campaign which began in early 2025. In addition, the defendants were responding to what they and Cosecha has been hearing for the past two years, which is that immigrants were being held at the Kent County Jail for ICE, then being transported to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan.
What immigrant families had been sharing with Cosecha about ICE holds at the Kent County Jail was recently confirmed with a 2 page document obtained by FOIA that revealed the Kent County Sheriff had signed an agreement that they would engage in detainers for ICE upon request. This documented was signed by the Kent County Sheriff on March 5th of 2025.
The trial itself went longer than was expected by many, starting at 8:30am on Friday and ending at 6:30pm after the jury rendered a guilty verdict for the four defendants.
The Prosecutor only had three witnesses, all of which were members of the Kent County Sheriff’s Office and were involved in the arrest of the four defendants. It is worth noting that there were a total of nine Sheriff’s officers that arrested 5 non-violent activists who were merely standing in the lobby.
Under Sheriff Brian Muir, who is second in charge and is the likely successor to the current Sheriff who recently announced her retirement, revealed some interesting facts during his testimony. First, when asked by defense attorneys if what he said to the defendants at the time of the arrest was caught on his body camera Muir said no because his body camera “wasn’t working or wasn’t charged.”
A second interesting comment from Muir was while he was being cross examined by defense attorneys about whether or not the Sheriff’s Office shares Flock camera information with ICE. Muir said they share Flock camera images with all federal agencies that request them for a criminal investigation. Muir would not name ICE as being a federal agency, even when pressed on the matter, but by saying all federal agencies he admitted that includes ICE.
The Under Sheriff also revealed that their department has what he called the Real Time Intelligence Center, which essentially monitors everything happening at the buildings the Sheriff’s Office is in charge of (which includes the Kent County Jail), along with any interaction Sheriff’s officers have with the public and drone footage when drones are used. Muir shared this bit of information because he said that his officers were also monitoring Movimiento Cosecha’s livestream from inside the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office on the day of the action/arrest on January 5th and the post arrest video they did in the lobby of the jail with the defendants. Under Sheriff Muir essentially admitted that the Sheriff’s Office engages in surveillance of Cosecha, which means they likely do this to any organized efforts to challenge systems of power in Kent County.
Only two of the four defendants took the stand to offer testimony during the trial, especially since there seemed to be no need to be redundant with more defendants testifying with similar messages.
Movimiento Cosecha did send out a Press Release earlier in the week, but only WXMI 17 attended the trial. Their coverage relied heavily on the Kent County Sheriff’s perspective, which also released a statement after the verdict was rendered. Cosecha organizer Gema Lowe did have a quote that is worth sharing, stating, “I think the defense did a good job, but I think the only guilt that the defendants have is to be standing in solidarity with my community.” That news story can be found here.
As a contrast, here is a statement written by one of the defendants after the trial:
While we are disappointed in a guilty verdict we are in no way surprised. What the guilty verdict means is that it is legal for the Kent County Sheriff’s Office to collaborate with ICE and hold immigrants at the jail for ICE because of their signed agreement from March of 2025.
Our desire to end ICE holds at the Kent County Jail is rooted in solidarity with immigrants and because it would reduce the harm and terror they are faced with every day if the Kent County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t holding immigrants for ICE.
The consequence of the Sheriff’s Office holding immigrants for ICE means that they will be transported to the GEO Group-owned North Lake detention center in Baldwin, MI. At North Lake immigrants will face poor food quality, minimal medical care, verbal, psychological, physical and sexual abuse from the guards and ongoing family separation.
Lastly, what the guilty verdict means is that it is a crime to be in solidarity with immigrants, while the Kent County Sheriff’s Office collaboration with ICE is not only legal, it is normalized state terror.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 