Grand Rapids Mayor visits with two police apologist groups in Grand Rapids

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.