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In Detroit, Republicans pray pastors can help them win black votes

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In Detroit, Republicans pray pastors can help them win black votes


DETROIT — With a Michigan win all but guaranteeing Donald Trump the White House, his campaign deployed disciples in downtown Detroit last week to boost his backing among black voters.

Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180Church, who gave a fiery prime-time speech at last month’s Republican National Convention, emceed the Thursday roundtable, which aimed to route Republican outreach through a trusted source in the community: the black pastor.

Sewell said he has always voted Republican, though few knew — until Trump’s July appearance at his church, which Sewell calls his “coming-out party.”

“My whole life, I’ve had the honor to serve in Detroit, Pontiac and Saginaw,” he said. “Always serving in Democratic strongholds but always voting Republican.”

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Why?

Donald Trump stumps Friday in Walker, Mich. AFP via Getty Images

“I believe in the Bible.”

A fellow churchman echoed his remarks at the event, held at restaurant Table No. 2.

“I’m often asked why I’m even involved with this whole political madness going on our country right now,” said Apostle Ellis L. Smith, who leads Jubilee City Church in neighboring Redford. “But I’m not politically motivated. I’m really not a Republican, I’m not a Democrat, I’m a Bible-crat.”

“We have to begin to think biblically,” Smith said. “Not culturally, biblically. Not black or white, biblically. As a grandparent, and now I’m a great grandparent, I don’t want little boys who think they’re girls going into the bathroom with my grandchildren.”

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“As Detroit goes, so goes America,” Smith added. “And as America goes, so goes the world. So what we do and how we do it has the capacity to change everything.”

Clinton Tarver, 74, knows firsthand what the Trump campaign is up against.

Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180Church speaks on the RNC’s final day. William Glasheen / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Clint’s Hotdog Cart and Casual Catering owner is running as a Republican for the Ingham County Commission. He and his wife, Linda, have been involved in GOP politics for years; she’s a former civil-rights commissioner for the state.

When Tarver hits the campaign trail, he has to fend off two foes: general apathy and particular antipathy when people learn he’s a Republican.

“One friend of mine asked for a Trump sign,” Tarver told The Post. “So he could burn it. That’s cold, you know? But it’s the kind of stuff that we go through.”

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Tarver hopes to move the Overton window to the point where it’s not a shock for someone to see a black Republican at the door.

“People need to be free to make their own choices,” he said. “We have to give them something to choose.”

Martell Bivings, the black Republican running against Democrat incumbent Shri Thanedar in the congressional district that covers Detroit, was not in attendance. But he has warned the Trump campaign that without a real outreach effort to the African-American community, the black votes Trump hopes for won’t materialize.

“I know those black men. I’m related to those black men,” Bivings told The Post. “They’re not going to go to the polls. They’ll say ‘I ain’t make it to the polls; was Election Day last week?’”

Apostle Ellis L. Smith, a Redford pastor, speaks at a Sept. 26 ministers’ roundtable in Detroit. James David Dickson for the New York Post

Alexandria Taylor, executive vice chair of the 13th District Republicans, agreed with Bivings on the importance of reaching out and said the pastors’ roundtable was a good start. The campaign is ramping up its outreach efforts every Saturday through Election Day.

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So how can Republicans win more of the black vote?

“I think it has to be the ground game, the door knocking,” Taylor said. “I’m someone that spent majority of my adult life in the Democrat Party, and then I switched and came over here, and there are stark differences.”

“The Democrats, to me, take advantage of the black vote. So we can’t do that same thing and expect it to just pop out of thin air,” she continued. “We have to be willing to do the work and have the conversations. There’s no way around the hard work.”

Mike Rogers, Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate, was the only non-pastor with a speaking part.

The former congressman had recently joined Sewell on the east side of Pontiac — “the ‘hood,” Sewell noted — to reach black voters.

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Mike Rogers, Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate, was the only non-pastor with a speaking role at the roundtable. James Dickson/NY Post

He told them what he told the pastors Thursday.

“I’m not asking you to be a Republican,” Rogers said. “I am asking you to take a chance on a set of ideas that will help this community, that will help us all grow.”

While the pastors talked about the many ways America strays from God’s word, including abortion and transgenderism, Rogers focused on literacy.

Illiteracy in the black community is robbing people of their futures, he said.

“We have a literacy crisis in America, and it’s not just in black neighborhoods or Hispanic neighborhoods or white neighborhoods, it’s all of us,” Rogers said. “Eighty percent of Michigan students cannot read at grade level.”

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“I think education today may be the biggest civil rights issue of our lifetime,” he added. “If you can’t read by the fourth grade, you have a 70% chance of going to prison or being on welfare.”



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Detroit, MI

Detroit’s Sloppy Chops restaurateur Mike Brown fatally shot, 2 injured

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Detroit’s Sloppy Chops restaurateur Mike Brown fatally shot, 2 injured


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  • Detroit restaurateur Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning in a triple shooting.
  • The incident occurred outside a cocktail bar on the city’s west side, and police are seeking information.
  • Brown was a prominent figure in Detroit’s hospitality scene, known for his “Sloppy” brand restaurants.
  • His establishments were seen as significant in the rise of new Black-owned businesses in the city.

Detroit restaurateur and nightlife mainstay Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning on the city’s west side, a violent incident that also left two other people injured and sent shockwaves through Detroit’s hospitality and entertainment communities.

According to Detroit police, the shooting occurred outside Suite 100, a cocktail bar on Schaefer Highway near Puritan Avenue. Investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward. As of Sunday afternoon, authorities had not announced any suspects or arrests.

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“At approximately 4:30 a.m., Saturday, there was a triple shooting that occurred at 15789 Schaefer,” Detroit Police Department (DPD) media relations manager Jasmin Barmore wrote in an official statement Sunday afternoon. “Two of the vicims were found in front of the location and the third across the street from the location. Unfortunately, the victim found across the street from the location, Mikey Brown, succumbed to his injuries.

“The Detroit Police Department extends their condolences to the family and is asking the community for assistance with this incident. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please contact DPD’s homicide unit or, they can submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers or Detroit Rewards TV.”

Brown, 52, had spent decades building a name for himself across Detroit’s club and restaurant circuits, evolving from party promoter to business owner and, in recent years, a culinary entrepreneur with expanding ambitions. His death comes at a moment when he had been working to grow his “Sloppy” restaurant brand – a move that aligned with the rise of new Black-owned establishments reshaping the city’s dining landscape.

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His first major restaurant venture, Sloppy Chops, opened in 2020 on West McNichols just off the Lodge Freeway. The steakhouse featured high-end cuts like ribeyes and tomahawks, but it quickly drew wide attention for its low-cost lamb chop specials – a dish with a fervent local following and long-standing ties to the city’s food culture.

A year later, Brown launched Sloppy Crab, later renamed the Crab Sports Bar, on East Jefferson Avenue near the Renaissance Center. The seafood spot mixed Detroiters’ love for crab dishes with the energetic, nightlife-forward atmosphere Brown had refined during his years in the entertainment scene. Occasional cover charges, signature strong cocktails and celebrity drop-ins helped make the venue one of downtown’s most animated destinations, placing it alongside longstanding nightlife pillars such as Floods Bar & Grille and Sweetwater Tavern.

Both restaurants emerged during a period when Detroiters were increasingly vocal about who new development served. Sloppy Crab’s proximity to the riverfront offered an answer to residents who wondered where Black diners fit into the city’s transforming downtown, while Sloppy Chops demonstrated that restaurants with the energy and polish of downtown destinations could thrive in the neighborhoods as well.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,000 comments expressing sadness and shock had flooded a pinned post on Brown’s Instagram page, along with a number of posts on his Facebook profile.

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On her own page, Darralynn Hutson, an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian and media strategist who has provided content to a host of media outlets including the Detroit Free Press, shared photos of herself with Brown.

“I had the opportunity to interview Mike a few years ago for a feature in Food & Wine and I remember how reluctant he was about sitting down to talk,” Hutson recalled. “Interviews weren’t his thing – he was much more comfortable building than explaining. I had to call him more than 20 times to set up the interview. He didn’t care about Food & Wine. But once we ate and got into conversation, what came out was his commitment to creating something for his Detroit.”

Brown’s influence stretched far beyond his menus. His establishments became recognizable gathering places, and his presence – familiar from downtown corridors to Dexter Avenue – made him a significant cultural figure in Detroit’s nightlife and, later, its dining renaissance.

His death leaves both industries mourning a personality whose ambitions were still growing, and whose imprint on the city’s social fabric remains unmistakable.





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Detroit, MI

RECAP: Detroit’s lack of execution results in 5-2 loss at Carolina | Detroit Red Wings

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RECAP: Detroit’s lack of execution results in 5-2 loss at Carolina  | Detroit Red Wings


RALEIGH, N.C. – Wrapping up the February portion of their 2025-26 regular-season schedule, the Detroit Red Wings unfortunately spent most of their Saturday night playing catch-up in an eventual 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

“They’re a heck of a team,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “This is a hard building to play in…They’re the class of the East, and you got to come in here at some point and get points. I just didn’t think we executed. We allowed them to be on top of us and come back in waves on Talbs.”

Goalie Cam Talbot made 30 saves in his first start since Jan. 22 for the Red Wings (34-20-6; 74 points), who moved to 11-5-2 on the road since Dec. 6. Meanwhile, turning aside 27 shots netminder Frederik Andersen helped the Hurricanes (38-15-6; 82 points) win their fifth straight game and extend their point streak to 12.

“We’re leaving without points, so that’s real disappointing,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought that the game was real fast to begin with. There was a lot of pace going both ways. It was a good game for us to play in. A lot of their offensive opportunities came off of basically our tape…[Carolina] really took advantage of our mistakes.”

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Detroit held steady against Carolina’s characteristically heavy, initial 10-minute push in the opening frame, but the leaders of the Metropolitan Division went up 1-0 when Taylor Hall blocked Simon Edvinsson’s shot attempt in their defensive zone and proceeded to score on a breakaway at 14:05.  Then with eight seconds left in the period, while the hosts were on the man advantage, Sebastian Aho’s shot from the left face-off circle deflected off Edvinsson’s stick down low and into the back of the net to extend their lead to 2-0.

“They come out flying and shoot a lot of pucks,” Larkin said. “You can’t really pay attention to the shot clock because they fire it from everywhere, but I liked our start. It’s just that we had some times where we didn’t execute, and they score with eight seconds left. That’s a tough one, but we responded well. We won the second period.”

The Hurricanes struck again just 2:52 into that second period, as Eric Robinson jammed a wrist shot from the top of the crease to push ahead 3-0. But in a span of just 47 seconds late in the stanza, the Red Wings beat Andersen twice to put the hosts on their heels and make it a one-goal game going into the second intermission.



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Detroit, MI

Teenager injured in shooting near Detroit school, police say

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Teenager injured in shooting near Detroit school, police say



A teenage male is recovering and police are investigating after a shooting near a school on the east side of Detroit on Friday night.

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According to police, the incident happened at 8:28 p.m. on the 3400 block of St. Aubin Street, the same area where the Detroit Edison Public School Academy’s Early College of Excellence is located.

Officials said an altercation ensued inside a building on the block and continued outside. An individual then fired shots that struck the male, whose age has yet to be disclosed, according to police. He was taken to the hospital where he was in stable condition on Saturday.

According to The Detroit News, the altercation was a fight that broke out during Detroit Edison’s boys basketball game against Detroit University Prep. 

As of Saturday afternoon, police haven’t shared whether any arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Duluth Police Department at 313-596-5740 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 1-800-773-2587.

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