US Attorney Issued A Statement On The Expansion of Operation Legend To Detroit

U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, who is from Frankenmuth, issued this statement about President Trump sending federal forces to Michigan.

In December 2019, United States Attorney Matthew Schneider and Detroit
Police Chief James Craig joined Attorney General William Barr and the heads of
the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Marshals Service in Detroit to launch Operation
Relentless Pursuit. This initiative surged federal resources to fight back against
violent crime, gangs, and gun violence in seven of America’s most affected cities,
including Detroit. This effort now continues with Operation Legend.
Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was
shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29 in Kansas City.
Sadly, these very same crimes are happening in Detroit. Our children are being
caught in the crossfire and murdered in senseless acts of gun violence. In Detroit,
non-fatal shootings are up 51% from last year, and our homicide rate has increased
by 31%. This dramatic rise in gun violence is a significant threat to our safety and
it must be addressed.
The Justice Department will not idly sit by while murderers spread violence
in our neighborhoods. The additional federal resources coming to Detroit under
Operation Legend will help our local police partners fight violent crime. I am
actively working with Washington, D.C. to bring more federal resources and
federal law enforcement agents to Michigan. We will announce the details of these
resources in the days to come.
Let me be clear about what this effort is NOT. This has nothing to do with
protesters or the freedom of speech. There are no “federal troops” coming to
Detroit or any other area in Michigan to interfere with protesters. This has
everything to do with stopping murders, shootings, and violent crime in
Detroit.
Some have made inaccurate and wholly unsupported statements that the
expansion of Operation Legend to Detroit is something other than what it truly is,
which is to fight gun violence and deadly crime. These statements only divide us,
and keep us from working together to protect our neighborhoods.

Others have questioned whether federal agents should be in Detroit. But
their presence here is not new. Federal law enforcement has been working in
cooperation with police departments in Michigan for decades, in a bipartisan effort,
to stop gun and gang violence.
The federal government and Michigan’s local police departments have
worked together tirelessly to protect our communities and obtain justice for victims
of crimes for many years, and we will not abandon our support of those goals.