Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson called for a more progressive approach to criminal justice while criticizing ICE and private jails in an appearance at a coffee shop in Midland Tuesday evening.
He said ICE's tactics are creating public "distrust" and condemned their usage of masks and driving in unmarked vehicles.
"We don't have masks in Michigan for a reason," Swanson said. "Law enforcement have badges and insignias. We have patrol cars that people are well aware of. That's how you do policing."
He condemned the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens who were killed last month by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
"The blowback that I got from my own profession, it was worth it, because ICE in law enforcement is not who we are, were better than this." he said.
Speaking to the Women of Michigan Action Network, a local progressive group, Swanson energetically made his pitch for governor.
He joined bipartisan calls to ensure Michigan's sales tax revenue primarily funds K-12 schools. In the 90's, Michigan voters passed a ballot initiative to allocate a 6% sales tax to K-12 schools, but a portion of that revenue has been going to public universities and community colleges for decades.
"The priority is K-12 funding. Keep it there and don't take from it," he said.
Swanson says crime in Genesee County is down 40% and the jail population is down 150 people. He calls that a success and is due in part to the I.G.N.I.T.E (inmate growth, nationally, attention, through education) program, a jailhouse education and literacy effort that he says is "the baseline of jail education in the country now."
During his speech, Swanson mentioned he opposed private prisons, calling them "dangerous."
"When you have private funded prisons, now the mindset is not restoration, it's not second chances, it's profit," he said. "I'm going to do everything in my power that there's not a single private prison or jail in the state of Michigan."
Swanson said that he would only support building data centers if they had support from local communities.
He made national headlines for marching with protesters in Flint after the death of George Floyd in 2020 and speaking at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
He's looking to upset Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who has an early polling lead in the Michigan Democratic Primary. Kevin Hogan and Marni Sawicki are also running.
The primary election will be held on Tuesday, August 4.
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