Not since Batman and the Joker battled for the soul of Gotham has there been a fight quite like this one brewing. Chief James Craig, one of Detroit’s longest-running police chiefs, announced his retirement as of June 1st. Word on the street is that Craig is gunning for Gov. Whitmer’s gig, but he side-stepped questions about whether or not he will throw down the gauntlet at Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s demon hooves and attempt to add her to the 5% of Michiganders who are unemployed. This could be huge. If Craig decides to run against Stretchin’ Gretchen in a gubernatorial battle for Michigan, and wins, it could have a huge impact on Michigan’s typically blue political future as well as the next presidential election.
If Chief Craig runs, this could mean serious trouble for Whitmer. She is wildly unpopular. Why?
- Two draconian lockdowns
- Her Cuomo-like handling of nursing homes during the pandemic
- She suggested her Great Lakes State denizens avoid Florida for spring break but made three trips there herself, unvaccinated, the last of which was in March, in a mystery-businessman’s private Gulfstream 280 twin-engine jet. #JohnKerryStyle. She won’t say who paid the bill for the last trip
- She lied during a podcast, saying she hasn’t left Michigan since her business-related trip to Israel in Nov, 2019
Chief Craig, who is black, is popular with his cops, the citizens of Detroit, and the largely white suburbanites that encompass Detroit on three sides. His friends call him “Hollywood” because he is comfy in front of news cameras, where he spends a lot of time. Then-president Trump called Craig, “terrific.” He is pro-2nd Amendment. Libs will hate this but he established an LGBT Outreach program, as well as a peer support group for police officers dealing with the stress of the job.
FACT-O-RAMA! Chief Craig wasn’t always pro-cop. After his father returned from duty in Vietnam he was roughed up by the Detroit Police Dept.’s infamous “Big 4” — four white, rogue cops who terrorized black people for being black. The Big 4 were a major cause of the riots of 1967, which gutted black neighborhoods and chased the white residents to the suburbs in an era remembered as “White Flight.”
Craig, now 64, was appointed chief of police in 2003 after his two predecessors were both ousted after a string of extra-marital flings that would make Will and Jayda Smith blush. Both chiefs even had affairs with the same officer.
Shortly after taking over as chief, Craig started “Operation Restore Order,” which began with a raid on Detroit’s infamous Colony Arms apartment building. Craig led 150 police officers on a raid that netted 32 bad guys in a building that made 600 calls to 911 in a year (the most of any building in Detroit). Residents opened their windows and cheered as the thugs were led away in cuffs. The building recently underwent four years of renovations and is no longer the beehive of crime it once was.
Chief Craig also contacted Detroit activist Malik Shabazz after taking the gig, suggesting they work together to clean up Detroit, which was once referred to as the “murder capital” and remains the most dangerous large city in the U.S. Shabazz said of Chief James Craig:
He brought us a mighty long way. He brought energy, he brought new life, and he reached out to the community. He told us he wanted to be partners with the community and wanted us to work together. We’re not always going to agree on things, but we have to work together. We can’t kill the fatted calf, pull out the purple ring and robe, but we’re better, we’re safer overall and moving in the right direction.
Craig isn’t liked by everyone. When a BLM-like group called “Detroit Can Breathe” tried to set up a Seattle-like autonomous zone in Detroit, the chief gave them a clown-slapping and sent them home.
Police Chief Craig might be the rock star Republicans need in Michigan. He is a potential thorn in the eye for Democrats. He is respected and liked by almost everyone and can certainly bring the Republican way more votes from Detroit than the paltry 3.7% Bill Schuette garnered in the last gubernatorial race versus Whitmer. Expect the usual liberal blitz of negative wah-wah nonsense against Chief Craig if he announces his candidacy, and watch “Big Gretch” pretend she isn’t nervous.
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