DETROIT –  In another sign of Michigan’s crucial role in the U.S. presidential race, Republican presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to visit Detroit on Saturday, June 15. He is anticipated to participate in a roundtable discussion hosted by a local church in the northwest of the city and to be the keynote speaker at the People’s Convention organized by Turning Point Action (TPA)  at the Huntington Place in downtown Detroit from Friday, June 14, to Sunday, June 16.

Protesters are planning to rally against the three-day convention. Protest groups say they haven’t set a time and date for the rally yet and don’t want to tip off attendees or the police, who have resorted to violence to disperse anti-hate activists in the past.

Turning Point is also known for spreading conspiracy theories around elections and COVID-19, as well as attracting racists, homophobes and other bigots and promoting the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that devolved into a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol. The conservative organization’s mission is “to embolden the conservative base through grassroots activism and provide voters with the necessary resources to elect true conservative leaders,” according to its website.

Trump’s fourth visit to Michigan since the beginning of this year follows a week after Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Detroit and less than a month after President Biden’s address at the 69th annual NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner on May 19 at the same center.

The roundtable meeting with Trump will be held at the 180 Church on Stansbury Street, where the doors are scheduled to open at 1 p.m. with the event set to begin around 4 p.m.

“President Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, will visit Detroit to listen to community members and discuss how Joe Biden has failed the great people of Detroit and Michigan,” a statement from Trump’s campaign read.

Some Democrats are concerned that Black voters in Detroit might not support Biden as they did in 2020, potentially turning Michigan in Trump’s favor. Trump is also seeking to open communication channels indirectly with Arab and Muslim voters in the state, who are highly dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s policies towards the ongoing Israeli aggression on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Lorenzo Sewell, the head pastor at the 180 Church, which has about 300 members, said his church welcomes any political leader who wants to hear about “the pains and injustices in the communities we serve.”

In addition to Trump, the conservative group’s conference, founded by right-wing media activist Charlie Kirk, will feature former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Florida Senator Rick Scott and former Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party.

Trump has not visited Detroit since 2016, noting that the city’s voters gave 94 percent of their votes (241,000 votes) to Biden in the 2020 elections, according to the final election results, which the former president still refuses to acknowledge, calling them fraudulent.

Observers say Trump is aiming to gain more support among Black voters. Last month, Richard Grenell, a former ambassador in the Trump administration, along with Trump’s son-in-law Michael Boulos and his father, Massad Boulos, met with Arab American Republican activists and donors in Oakland County in an effort to rally Arab support for the former president’s campaign.

Commenting on Trump’s upcoming visit to Detroit, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said Trump is back “to lie to Michigan residents about his record.

“While Joe Biden and the Democrats focus on lowering costs for working families, the Republicans will spend the weekend spinning conspiracy theories in a race to the bottom,” she added. Michigan, which Biden won by 154,000 votes in 2020, is considered one of the crucial states for the upcoming presidential race.

Democrats face a tough test in November, amid declining popularity for Biden and Harris in Michigan, according to several recent polls that show Trump could win the state, especially if Arab, Muslim and young voters abandon the Democratic president due to his administration’s support for the Israeli war on Gaza.

Biden’s recent visit to Detroit on May 19 was met with pro-Palestinian protests that led to the arrest of several demonstrators outside the Huntington Place. Harris’ speech last Saturday at the same place for the Michigan Democratic Party’s annual Legacy dinner was also interrupted with protesters.

During her speech, the vice president touched on the Gaza war, praising the release of several Israeli prisoners by Palestinian resistance, which angered some attendees, including a woman who interrupted Harris’ speech and accused her of supporting genocide in Gaza before the woman was quickly escorted out by security.

“I’m speaking now,” Harris said when interrupted. “I appreciate and respect your voice, but I am speaking now.”

She was interrupted after stating that “on October 7, Hamas committed a brutal massacre that left 1,200 innocents dead and took 250 hostages. Four of those hostages have been reunited with their families tonight, and we mourn all the innocent lives lost in Gaza, including those tragically killed today.”

She was referring to the the rescue operation that took a deadly toll on Palestinian civilians sheltering in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, with more than 274 people, including dozens of children, killed during the raid.