Detroit mayoral candidate Kinloch: ‘I never said National Guard’ should patrol city

The Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., a Detroit mayoral candidate, on Friday walked back statements he made earlier in the week that he supports the limited use of National Guard troops in Detroit.

Speaking as part of an event hosted by the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce at the Soundstage at MotorCity Casino Hotel, Kinloch tried to clarify comments he made during a debate on Wednesday with his opponent, Mary Sheffield.

“I didn’t say National Guard, I said law enforcement,” Kinloch said Friday in an interview with Fox 2 Detroit journalist Roop Raj.

Kinloch was addressing statements he made during the Wednesday night televised debate, when both candidates were asked if they would “welcome” the National Guard to Detroit, the controversial tactic President Donald Trump is using in some Democrat-led cities, including Chicago, Memphis and Portland, Oregon.

During the WXYZ debate, Kinloch said he wouldn’t welcome the National Guard, “not in a martial law fashion, but in collaboration, in order to make sure that we’re protecting soft spots throughout the city. “

During a media scrum with reporters after the debate, Kinloch elaborated that “it is never acceptable” for Guard troops to patrol Detroit streets.

“But when you start talking about working in collaboration and partnership; when you start talking about large venues and large crowds and large gathering, particularly some of the violence we’ve seen in recent times, we can always partner with law enforcement agencies in order to assist in that,” Kinloch said on Wednesday.

On Friday, Kinloch pointed out he said law enforcement.

“I didn’t say National Guard,” he said. “I said what we would do is collaborate with law enforcement like they already do in the summer. They should have done again this summer, with the bloody summer that we’ve seen, partnering with law enforcement agencies on the state level, in the federal level, in order to come up with a strategy.”

On Friday, Sheffield repeated her stance that we “would strongly oppose” the use of Guard troops in Detroit.

“I do welcome federal resources around funding,” for various programs to address violence such as her proposed office of gun violence prevention that she would create if elected mayor.

“I do not believe that militarizing the neighborhoods is a solution,” Sheffield said.

Absentee voting is already underway in Detroit for the Nov. 4 general election, which means the opportunity to woo voters is narrowing. Sheffield and Kinloch are vying to succeed Mayor Mike Duggan, who leaves office at year’s end to run for Michigan governor as an independent next year.

Sheffield is a political veteran at age 38. She is a three-term Detroit City Council member and is currently council president, Kinloch, 52, a political newcomer, is senior pastor of Triumph Church, a once struggling congregation that Kinloch helped transform into one with more than 35,000 members and multiple locations.

laguilar@detroitnews.com