DETROIT (WXYZ) — A U.S. Senate candidate's call for National Guard troops in Detroit has sparked debate among residents and city officials about whether military intervention is needed to address crime in the Motor City.
Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers claimed Detroit was the second most violent city in the country and urged Mayor Mike Duggan to call in the National Guard during a recent video statement.
Watch Tiarra Braddock's video report:
"The mayor of Detroit outta be calling the president right now," Rogers said.
Rogers defended his proposal, describing the potential deployment as assistance rather than occupation.
Watch the recent video statement below:
"It's more like the cavalry. This isn't taking over, this is the cavalry coming in saying let's really stomp out robberies and rapes and aggravated assault that we're leading the nation in," Rogers said.
One of Rogers' Democratic opponents, Rep. Haley Stevens, rejected the idea of deploying troops to Detroit.
"It's clear Mike Rogers has been out of touch with Michigan and the people of Detroit for a very long time," Stevens said.
Hear more from Haley Stevens below:
A spokesperson for the city of Detroit also fired back at Rogers' claims in a statement, saying Rogers is "proving himself just another uninformed, grandstanding politician."
The city highlighted significant crime reductions, noting that Detroit had more than 750 carjackings in 2013 compared to 57 as of this week in 2025, representing a 90% reduction.
"Our strong partnership with U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon has just added several more federal prosecutors to drive the violence down even further," said John Roach, director of media relations for the city of Detroit.
Hear more from Mike Rogers below:
7 News Detroit also spoke to Detroit residents about the proposal to bring troops to the city.
Gene West, a Detroit resident, supported the idea of military assistance.
"To be honest with you, I think they probably should, 'cause it's a lot of crime in Detroit," West said.
However, Alante Griffin, another Detroit resident, opposed outside intervention.
"We don't need nobody to come here… We actually, as a people, if we have more groups that get together, we can control it ourselves; we don't need them to come in," Griffin said.
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