Detroit public commenter alleges ICE uses military-grade gear, urges dismantling

An unidentified Detroit resident told a public forum that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses military-grade weapons, drones and surveillance gear in Southwest Detroit and urged officials to dismantle the agency.

The speaker said residents rely on whistles and cameras for protection and described tactical equipment she attributed to ICE — including AR-15-style rifles, pepper-spray launchers, Taser devices, night-vision and thermal cameras on drones, and armored vehicles — and named a contractor transcribed as 'Quantonic' as a supplier. "This is what they're using," the commenter said, adding that contractors "make money giving us this stuff." The speaker framed the presence of such gear as harmful to immigrant neighbors, saying asylum seekers are being "imprisoned."

The comment included an allegation about a named agent. The speaker said, referring to a person she named as John Ross, that he "executed Renee," and she asserted he had worked for what the transcript rendered as "bridal patrol" since 2007 before joining ICE in 2015. Those are frontline allegations reported by the commenter and were not corroborated during the remarks. An unidentified second speaker interjected briefly that "there is a potential role for specialized equipment and training," to which the commenter replied that training would not address the harms she described.

The speaker repeatedly invoked the slogan "abolish ICE" and said the agency "was built to terrorize communities" and "cannot be so-called reformed." She pointed to local impacts — mentioning residents, a private home she identified as belonging to "Tianna and Garrison," and an incident she said involved drones over a person named Martin's home — to argue that federal enforcement tactics and contracted equipment were harming neighbors and community members.

The forum record does not show any immediate verification or response to the specific allegations about the named agent, the contractor, or procurement details. No motion or formal action on the topic was recorded in the remarks captured here. The comment closed with the speaker yielding the floor.

Next steps: The remarks were submitted as public comment; the record indicates no formal vote or staff instruction in response during this exchange.