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Fact-check: Did Trump's 'Liberate Michigan' Tweet Inspire Plot to Kidnap Gov. Whitmer?

:{Published Oct 09, 2020 at 6:46 AM EDTUpdated Dec 16, 2020

By Darragh Roche

US News Reporter

The FBI said Thursday it had foiled a militia plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Six men have been arrested and faced federal charges, while seven others were charged under Michigan's anti-terrorism act. Since then, a number of prominent Democrats have claimed the men arrested were inspired by President Donald Trump's tweet to "Liberate Michigan!"

The Claim

Whitmer, a Democrat, was quick to associate President Donald Trump's heated rhetoric with the plot, including his criticism directed at her and her state over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a speech following the FBI announcement, Whitmer highlighted Trump's comments about the right-wing Proud Boys group during the first presidential debate.

Whitmer Blames Trump for 'Rallying' Hate Groups in Militia Kidnapping Plot

"Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups, like these two Michigan militia groups," Whitmer said.

"'Stand back and stand by,' he told them. 'Stand back and stand by.' Hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action."

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel toldBusiness Insideron Thursday that Trump and Republican Michigan Senate Leader Mike Shirkey had lent legitimacy to militias like the one involved in this case.

"And then not only do you have our majority leader, Mike Shirkey, I mean he, I know has attended a number of their events. You have county sheriffs that are at their events, " Nessel said.

"And so their gripes, their complaints with the government seemed to be further legitimized by the fact that you have elected leaders [supporting them]—and in one case, of course, the commander-in-chief of our nation, putting things on his social media feed saying 'liberate Michigan.' And these guys think that he's talking to them. I mean, he actually said, if you recall, that the governor ought to sit down and negotiate with these armed gunmen."

When Biden was asked on Thursday if he believed Trump's "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" tweet had encouraged militias, he said "yes I do."

"The words he utters matters," Biden said, adding: "Why won't the president just say 'stop. Stop, stop, stop.' And if we will pursue you if you don't."

The Facts

On April 17, Trump tweeted: "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" as part of a series of tweets appearing to attack lockdown measures aimed at containing the coronavirus outbreak. In the same month, protesters opposed to the lockdown entered the Michigan Senate Gallery and demanded access to the House Chambers. Some were armed.

On May 1, Trump wrote, "The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal."

Men Charged in Plot Against Michigan Governor Attended Spring Protest

Michigan Attorney Says 'Burn Your Masks' After COVID Orders Overturned

The tweets have resurfaced in the wake of the arrests.

The FBI charging document said "[s]everal members talked about murdering 'tyrants' or 'taking' a sitting governor" and they discussed overthrowing state governments "that they believed were violating the U.S. Constitution." However, the sworn affidavit does not link the militia members to Trump.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last week that Whitmer's emergency executive orders were unconstitutional. The court said that statewide rules on fighting COVID-19 must be approved by the Republican-led legislature.

Trump strongly denied he had encouraged actions of the kind outlined in the FBI charging document. He took to Twitter to criticize Whitmer and Biden, while disavowing violence.

"My Justice Department and Federal Law Enforcement announced today that they foiled a dangerous plot against the Governor of Michigan. Rather than say thank you, she calls me a White Supremacist—while Biden and Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa, Anarchists, Looters and Mobs that burn down Democrat run cities," he said.

"I do not tolerate ANY extreme violence. Defending ALL Americans, even those who oppose and attack me, is what I will always do as your President! Governor Whitmer—open up your state, open up your schools, and open up your churches!"

The Ruling

Unknown.

The FBI has provided no evidence that the arrested men were inspired by Trump. However, more information about their political beliefs and motivations is likely to come to light, particularly when the matter goes to trial. At this stage, it is not possible to say with certainty whether or not the men felt emboldened by the president.

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// DEREK CHAUVIN PARDON TALK?

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At a swearing-in ceremony for Fox News' Jeanine Pirro — now an interim U.S. attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) District of Columbia office — on Wednesday, May 28, President Donald Trump said he is considering a federal pardon for the men prosecuted for a plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Trump told attendees, "I did watch the trial. [not on tv?] It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I'll be honest with you. It looked to me like some people said some stupid things."

The next day on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade attacked Trump's possible pardons of Whitmer's would-be kidnappers as an VID

McQuade told "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and their colleague Jonathan Lemire, "Number one, he said he watched the trial. He most certainly didn't watch the trial, because federal court trials are not televised. So perhaps he watched some coverage of the trial, some additional facts. He said that they said some stupid things — maybe so, but in addition, there was evidence presented in that case that they created a fake shoot house. That they trained on extricating the governor from her shoot house and separating her from her security detail. And they surveilled the underside of a bridge that connects her home with the police department in an effort to avoid capture."

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The MSNBC legal analyst continued, "So those additional facts were not known. The other thing that I think is important to remember here is the reason the motive that these men had that was presented at trial was that they wanted to retaliate against her for her COVID shutdown orders. During that time, you may recall, Gov. Whitmer was in a very public feud with President Trump, who posted online, 'Liberate Michigan.'"

According to federal prosecutors, the militia members planned to kidnap Whitmer, put her on "trial" for COVID-19 restrictions, and execute her if found guilty.

McQuade drew a parallel between a possible pardon of Whitmer's would-be kidnappers and Trump's pardon of the far-right extremists who attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

The former DOJ proseuctor told Scarborough, Brzezinski and Lemire, "These men, like those January 6 defendants, were acting in support of Donald Trump's political cause. And so, the idea that they would be pardoned or have their sentences commuted really is a part with the January 6 defendants and seems like another effort to normalize political violence so long as you are on the side of President Trump."

Scarborough, a Never Trump conservative and former GOP congressman, interjected, "And again, with one of the few Democratic leaders who has stood beside President Trump at public ceremonies, certainly would be, again, not only disturbing for legal reasons, but for political reasons. Very curious."

*Watch the full video below or at this link.

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Altogether, 14 people faced federal criminal charges for their alleged roles in the plot; five were convicted by a jury, four entered "guilty" pleas, and five were acquitted.

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LANSING — A Wisconsin man faces state charges in connection with an alleged kidnapping plot targeting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a spokesman for Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday.

The new defendant — the eighth charged by Nessel — brings the total number of state and federal defendants in the case to 14.

Brian Higgins, 51, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is charged with material support of an act of terrorism, a 20-year felony, Nessel's office said in a news release. Higgins allegedly helped in the plan to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home.

Specifically, Higgins, "provided the use of his night-vision goggles for the surveillance," of the cottage, according to an affidavit. "Additionally, he used a mounted digital dash camera located in his vehicle to record the surveillance of the governor’s home in order to aid in kidnapping plans."

Higgins was arrested Thursday in Wisconsin and will be extradited to Michigan for arraignment in Antrim County 86th District Court, the release said. Court dates have not been scheduled.

The is in addition to charges filed against 13 men earlier — six charged by the federal government with conspiracy to kidnap and seven charged by Nessel with charges including assisting terrorism, gang membership, and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony.

More: New and shocking details revealed at hearing for Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot

More: Defense says Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot was just 'big talk between crackpots'

“While the political rhetoric in our nation may at times be divisive, I am encouraged by the united front our law enforcement community has displayed in response to this indescribable act of terror,” Nessel said.

“These were very credible, and very serious threats to our elected officials and the public in general, and the swift actions taken by state and federal authorities this past week are nothing short of heroic.”

According to testimony at a federal hearing in Grand Rapids, members of an armed anti-government group discussed a number of kidnapping scenarios involving Whitmer and were increasingly focused on abducting the governor from her family's summer cottage in northern Michigan. The defendants had conducted two surveillance missions outside the cottage and conducted other planning and training that included drawing a map, officials say.

In announcing charges earlier against the state defendants, on Oct. 8, Nessel said members of the Wolverine Watchmen — a self-described militia group now accused of domestic terrorism — did not just plot to kidnap Whitmer, but wanted to attack the state Capitol and target police officers at their homes as part of a broader mission to instigate a civil war.

*Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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GRAND RAPIDS – Federal prosecutors on Tuesday revealed new and sometimes shocking details of the case they have built against six men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Defense attorneys began their efforts to shoot holes in the government's story, suggesting through questions they directed at an FBI agent that some of the plotting was just talk and that there was no specific kidnapping plan, just a range of ideas being tossed around.

Three bond hearings were held Tuesday and bond was denied for all three defendants — Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta. More bond hearings could be held in federal court in Grand Rapids on Friday.

Five of the six defendants sat with chains around their waists and wrists, sometimes nodding to family members or friends in the courtroom, as assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler showed photos and videos and drew testimony from an FBI special agent.

The sixth federal defendant is still in Delaware, where he was arrested. At a hearing there Tuesday, he agreed to be extradited to Michigan. All six are charged with conspiracy to kidnap and have been held in custody since their Oct. 7 arrests.

Seven other defendants face state charges brought by Attorney General Dana Nessel, including supporting terrorism, gang membership, and possessing a firearm in commission of a felony.

FBI agent: Suspects wanted to take Whitmer out on boat and leave her in Lake Michigan In plot against Whitmer, 'militia' has become a loaded word A kidnap, murder plot targeted Gretchen Whitmer. That's no coincidence | Opinion Feds: Domestic terrorists who plotted to kidnap Whitmer wanted to incite civil war Wolverine Watchmen militia in Michigan: Who they are, what to know

Among the details to emerge Tuesday in testimony from FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, who counts domestic terrorism among his areas of specialty:

Adam Fox, 37, an accused ringleader who lived in the basement of a Wyoming vacuum shop near Grand Rapids, told FBI agents after his arrest that he planned totake Whitmer out to the middle of Lake Michigan in a small boat, disable the engine, and leave her there.

In early discussions, before the alleged conspirators focused more exclusively on Whitmer, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who, like Whitmer, is a Democrat, was mentioned as a possible kidnap target. Like Whitmer, Northam was discussed as a possible target because of "lockdowns" he ordered to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Trask testified.

Fox and others took close-up still photos and videos outside Whitmer's northern Michigan cottage as part of the planning for a plot to kidnap her from there prior to the Nov. 3 election. Prosecutors showed in the courtroom photos of Fox shooting the photos just outside the cottage, in daylight. The photos of Fox were taken by a confidential informant, Kessler told the court.

By the time the defendants conducted a second surveillance outside the Whitmer cottage — this time at night — they had been so thoroughly infiltrated by the FBI that two undercover FBI agents and two confidential informants were part of the surveillance group.

During another plotting exercise, sending a fake delivery person to Whitmer's door to shoot her was discussed, according to Trask and exhibits shown in court. Defendant Harris, a 23-year-old former Marine, suggested the conspirators could "just mug the pizza guy and take his shir(t)," adding: "Just take a pistol and like 3 rounds." Kessler said the comments were reminiscent of a recent attack on a federal judge in New Jersey in which the shooter, who killed the judge's son and wounded her husband but left the judge unharmed, was disguised as a FedEx delivery person.

Defendants took part in training exercises that included use of silencers on guns, exercises in busting down a door and extracting a hostage, and reloading weapons quickly, according to photos, videos and testimony introduced as evidence Tuesday.

Preliminary examinations were begun for all five Michigan defendants Tuesday, and detention hearings were held for three of them.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Berens said that two of the defendants — Fox and Ty Garbin, 24, of Hartland Township, want more time to prepare for their preliminary examinations and detention hearings. Hearings for Fox and Garbin will likely be completed at a later date, most likely on a Friday, she said.

More:Defense says kidnap plot was just 'big talk between crackpots'

Denied bond Tuesday were : 26-year-old Franks of Wexford, Harris of Lake Orion and 32-year-old Caserta of Canton.

Lawyers had asked that all three be released, with conditions including home monitoring and no possession of firearms.

In denying bond for the three men, Berens said she was not too concerned about them trying to flee and not showing up for trial, but she was worried that all three remained a threat to the community.

"There is apparently a movement ... that plots the overflow of the government by force," Berens said in denying bond for Franks. And if the men are released, the plot "has the ability to begin again."

In the case of Harris, the judge noted that, according to an FBI affidavit, he suggested killing Whitmer in an encrypted group chat, stating: "Have one person go to her house. Knock on the door and when she answers it, just cap her."

Harris also allegedly commissioned a hit on a Maine police officer in a text to accomplices that read: "Who would want to go to Maine to go kill a cop for a friend of mine?"

More: FBI: Virginia governor also targeted in militia kidnapping plot

More: FBI agent: Suspects wanted to take Whitmer out on boat and leave her in Lake Michigan

And although Caserta was the only defendant who participated in neither of two surveillance exercises conducted at Whitmer's cottage in northern Michigan, Berens agreed with Kessler, the federal prosecutor, that various threats he made against police officers were of particular concern.

Caserta was enraged by a Sept. 19 police traffic stop near his home, during which he received a ticket for lacking a proper license or insurance, Kessler told the court.

Using encrypted messages, he later told his coconspirators that he had learned the names of the officers involved, knew they worked nights, and was considering conducting reconnaissance on them. "I could easily tap them," he reportedly said in an apparent reference to killing them.

Still later, Caserta recorded and shared a video, shared in court, in which he said he wanted to take out as many police officers as possible, referring to them as "motherf------s," and "government thugs."

"I'm sick of being robbed and enslaved by the state," Caserta said in the video.

Berens said the video was "very chilling," and "really makes it impossible to require a probation officer to supervise Mr. Caserta, when there is that overt threat to law enforcement officers."

Michael Darragh Hills, Caserta's Kalamazoo attorney, said the threats were rhetorical and never acted on.

Security at the federal courthouse appeared stepped-up but not extreme. A dog trained to detect explosives was led through the courtroom by federal agents in advance of the hearing.

Media located outside the courthouse were not given access to the main entrance, after federal police directed them to a sidewalk neighboring the facility. Police conducted routine sweeps with police dogs several times before the hearings began at 9:30 a.m.

Though chained, the defendants wore casual street clothes to the hearing, not prison garb. Caserta wore a T-shirt reading, "Detroit muscle."

Four of the five defendants wore protective masks throughout most of Tuesday's hearing, though sometimes the masks covered their mouths, but not their noses. Fox did not wear a mask.

The scene outside of the courthouse was calm Tuesday morning as statewide media waited for attorneys and families to exit the building.

Bystanders passing by were sparse, although some stopped to ask why media members were present. One Grand Rapids man, Pablo Bello, said the men charged were “racist terrorists.”

“It’s nasty how they attack immigrants, these guys,” Bello said of the groups.

Scott Graham, a Portage attorney representing Franks, said many of the statements attributed to his client, while sensational, could lack substance. It's also clear that Franks was "a follower, not a leader," he said.

"It's clear there is less certainty about many of the statements in the complaint than they appear at first blush," Graham told Berens.

*Reporters Carolyn Muyskens and Arpan Lobo of the Holland Sentinel contributed to this report.

*Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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There was no real plan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but only "military wannabes" who engaged in "big talk" and played with guns in the woods, defense lawyers argued in federal court Tuesday.

As one defense lawyer suggested, the case appears to be one of "big talk between crackpots," or "people who talk a lot ... but are never going to do anything."

"Have you ever dealt with big talkers?" defense attorney Scott Graham asked an FBI agent on cross-examination, adding: "There's kind of a military-wanna-be theme that runs between the militias."

Graham was grilling FBI special agent Richard Trask about his testimony that at least 13 self-described militia members plotted to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home and do one of two things: either take her on a boat in the middle of Lake Michigan and leave her there, or, take her to Wisconsin and try her for treason.

Graham asked agent Trask how the suspects planned to get Whitmer to Wisconsin.

The agent had no specific answer, beyond saying there were audio recordings of the suspects discussing a plan to take Whitmer to another state, among them Wisconsin.

Graham then asked the agent what the suspects planned to do with Whitmer after they left her in the lake. The agent had no specific answer, beyond testifying that the accused ringleader, Adam Fox, wanted to "take her out on a boat and leave her in the middle of Lake Michigan."

Graham is representing Kaleb Franks, 26, of Waterford, one of three defendants who were denied bond Tuesday after the prosecutor convinced the judge that the men were a danger to society. Daniel Harris, 23, of Lake Orion and Brandon Caserta, 32, of Canton Township, also were denied bond.

Detention hearings are scheduled for Friday for Fox, the accused ring leader, and Ty Garbin, 24, of Hartland Township.

All five defendants appeared in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, where the government disclosed shocking new allegations in the case, including: Fox wanted to take Whitmer out on a boat and leave her in Lake Michigan; the group talked about also kidnapping Virginia's governor; and one suspect — a decorated Marine — allegedly asked his cohorts if they were interested in killing a cop in Maine for one of his friends.

Defense lawyers, meanwhile, argued that the government has only produced snippets of conversations in the case and that there is no evidence that the accused had any real plan to kidnap Whitmer. They said that it remains to be seen what roles the undercover informants and FBI agents played in the case, and whether they pushed the others into carrying out the plan, which in the end was foiled when FBI agents arrested five men during a setup on Oct. 7.

According to the FBI, the defendants thought they were going to buy explosives and tactical gear from an associate, but FBI agents were there instead.

Gary Springstead — the Grand Rapids-based attorney representing Ty Garbin, 24, of Hartland Township — told reporters outside the courthouse that he believes there is still more evidence to be presented.

“I haven’t had a full opportunity to review all of the evidence,” Springstead said “... I think my co-counsel made good points that (the evidence presented today) is a snapshot. A lot of quick points in a big time frame. You don’t know what else is happening outside of that time frame.

“So, I’m sure in our investigation (which) we’re going to conduct ourselves, and not rely solely on the federal government to tell us what happened, we’ll try to round out that information and figure out what happened in the times that weren’t captured on tape that weren’t captured in text to put it into fuller context so we can better assess where we stand in the case.”

More:Defense says kidnap plot was just 'big talk between crackpots'

Springstead also said the use of an informant in the investigation to thwart the plot raises questions. Feds said an informant wore wires to meetings to record the men charged and collect information on the kidnapping plan.

“(I)t’s become an issue in certain cases where the informant pushes some of the information, and the court and the government and the defense attorneys have to be leery of that,” Springstead told reporters. “Because their job is not to assess what the government informant wants them to do, it’s to assess the accused’s intent and what they actually planned on doing.”

Defense attorney Michael Darragh Hills, who is representing Caserta, said his client didn't actually plan on doing anything, even though the government said that Caserta threatened to kill police officers.

Hill argued that the threats were rhetorical and never acted on.

But the prosecutor played a video in court, in which Caserta is heard saying he wants to take out as many police officers as possible, referring to them as "motherf------s," and "government thugs."

That video may have cost Caserta his freedom as U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Berens called the video "very chilling" and cited it as a reason for denying him bond.

It "really makes it impossible" to require a probation officer to monitor him given his "overt threat to law enforcement," said Berens.

Still, defense lawyers contend that there was no probable cause to arrest and charge the suspects, arguing, among other things, that the suspects had no operational plan to do anything, were engaged in all legal activities — including talking in encrypted group chats and practicing military exercises with lawfully owned guns — and that it was the informants and undercover agents who "pushed" others to do illegal things.

"One of the most active leaders was your informant," Graham said.

Assisted U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler blasted those arguments, saying the accused took actual steps to carry out their plan: they conducted surveillances three times on Whitmer's vacation home.

"Have you ever heard of someone casing someone's house," Kessler asked the FBI agent in an effort to point out the surveillance was "a red flag."

Moreover, the prosecutor argued during questioning, one militia member from Wisconsin who was supposed to be part of the vacation home surveillance went home that night, thinking: "If this is what the Michigan Militia people are about, I want nothing to do with it."

Kessler also asked the FBI agent to clarify for the court who the leader of the kidnap plot was:

"Adam Fox," replied the agent, referring to the 37-year-old Potterville man who lived in the basement of a Grand Rapids-area vacuum repair shop, where he also allegedly held meetings with his accomplices — including an informant who was wearing a wire.

In court Tuesday, a handcuffed Fox sat next to his lawyer with chains around his belly. He was the only defendant in court without a mask.

*Reporters Carolyn Muyskens and Arpan Lobo of the Holland Sentinel contributed to this report.

*Tresa Baldas is an award-winning courts and legal issues reporter and was named the 2020 Richard Milliman "Michigan" Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Contact her at tbaldas@freepress.com. Or follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas.

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Barry Croft and Adam Fox, the men convicted of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the summer of 2020, could be on a list for potential presidential pardons, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s new pardon attorney.

The comments came from Ed Martin Jr., a conservative activist who had been nominated as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia before having his nomination withdrawn earlier this year. Martin is now a pardon attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Appearing on a conservative podcast last week, Martin said that the administration of President Donald Trump “can’t leave” Croft and Fox “behind.”

Martin also called Croft and Fox “victims” and likened their cases to the criminal charges that were brought against the January 6 Capitol insurrectionists, the Associated Press reported. Trump pardoned more than 1,500 defendants charged in the Capitol attack on his first day back in office.

A message seeking comment from Whitmer’s office was not immediately returned.

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Conservative activists and conspiracy theorists have long alluded to the plot against Whitmer as a federal government-led operation to entrap the participants, but numerous pieces of evidence shown in court detailed the breadth of Croft and Fox’s involvement in spearheading the plan and recruiting others to join in the plot – including eventually an informant working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Appeals court upholds convictions of 2 men in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

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Martin appears to be among those who viewed the prosecution of Croft and Fox as the weaponization of the federal government, a running theme in the Trump White House. Martin on the podcast vowed to take a hard look at their cases in his new role. Both Croft and Fox are serving nearly 20-year prison terms in a high security federal prison located in Colorado.

Several other men were charged with conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer but were either acquitted of or pleaded guilty to the crimes.

Croft and Fox attempted to appeal their convictions, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the federal district court’s decision.

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in 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was, according to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, the target of a kidnapping plot by far-right militia extremists. The would-be kidnappers, angry over Whitmer's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedly planned to subject her to a fake "trial" and execute her if convicted.

Altogether, 14 people faced federal criminal charges for their alleged roles in the plot; five were convicted by a jury, four entered "guilty" pleas, and five were acquitted. Two of the ones who were acquitted, twin brothers Michael and William Null, were recently honored by far-right Michigan State Rep. Rachelle Smit — who, the Daily Beast reports, honored them at a late-October ceremony."

In a report published on November 8, the Daily Beast's Kelly Weill emphasizes that Smit and other far-right MAGA Republicans are seriously distorting the facts in the plot to kidnap Whitmer.

At the ceremony, Weill reports, Smit gave Michael and Wiliam Null a certificate that read, "Michael Null is an outstanding example of the kind of person who is not content to sit idly while the forces of tyranny attack our Republic. Through his courageous efforts to expose the government's false-flag Whitmer conspiracy, he has made it clear that we all have opportunities each and every day to put our love of country to good use in helping out our fellow citizens."

The certificate also said, "Michael Null could have given up. His government — state and federal — betrayed him: it sent members of its secret police forces to concoct a plot to 'kidnap' Gretchen Whitmer, and to persecute innocent men in this government-orchestrated conspiracy, for the purpose of political theater and political gain."

But Smit, according to Weill, downplays the fact that nine of the defendants in the Whitmer case were either convicted or pled guilty.

"When the FBI announced the arrests of 14 men accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic governor in 2020, commentators on the right were quick to call it a hoax," Weill explains. "While on the 2022 campaign trail, Michigan Republicans even falsely accused Whitmer of concocting the plot herself. When two men were acquitted in the scheme, a GOP gubernatorial candidate running against Whitmer baselessly asserted that 'the FBI conceived a plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer and preyed on Michiganders to push it along.'"

The MAGA gubernatorial candidate that Weill is referring to is Garrett Soldano.Far-right conspiracy theorist Julie Kelly, Weill notes, has also described the kidnapping plot as a "hoax."

In response to Smit honoring the Hull Brothers, former Michigan GOP Chairman Jeff Timmer told the Beast, "It's this normalizing, inch by inch, of political violence, making what would've previously been intolerable tolerable in the sense that we just have become numb to it. It's not too distant — if it's distant at all — from the Republican Party, its elected officials, and its party officers…. many of whom, prominent members of Congress from Michigan, members of the legislature, members of the elected party apparatus, have ties to these people who were part of the kidnapping plot."

Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor and frequent legal analyst for MSNBC, described honoring the Hull Brothers as "a very dangerous and reckless move."

McQuade told the Beast, "They were acquitted at trial. And certainly, that means that the jury found that the government had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and we should respect that verdict. But it's quite another thing to celebrate political violence."

*Read The Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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Who are Michigan’s militias? Armed ‘patriot’ groups resurface during anti-government climate - mlive.com

Malachi Barrett | mbarret1@mlive.com

Groups that love guns and hate government have found a cozy home in Michigan, raising concerns among state leaders as threats of violence among such organizations continues to rise.

Militia activity drew national attention last year after the FBI foiled a plot to kidnap and possibly assassinate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but anti-government groups have lurked in shadowy corners of Michigan for decades. Previously on the fringes of society, these groups have stepped into the public during coronavirus protests, Black Lives Matter uprisings and “stop the steal” rallies, sometimes attending demonstrations to recruit new members.

The Department of Homeland Security Wednesday warned domestic extremists represent a heightened threat in the weeks after the presidential inauguration. DHS cautioned violence could stem from anger about President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, COVID-19 restrictions, racial tension and “perceived grievances fueled by false narratives.”

Sam Jackson, an assistant professor at the University of Albany in New York, uses the term “patriot militia” to describe anti-government extremists that rose to prominence in the last year. Jackson said these groups, wrapped in the iconography of the founding fathers, frame themselves as the “real Americans” defending the country against tyrannical internal threats.

Michigan can expect to see more of this militia activity in 2021, according to the Armed Conflict & Event Location Data Project, which collects and analyzes data on political violence across the world. Hampton Stall, a senior researcher at ACLED, said the resurgence of militia groups comes at a time when conservatives are embracing “a politics of resistance and expressing disaffection.”

Is more militia activity inherently dangerous? That’s a question that remains top of mind for people who track anti-government groups.

“The real risk is from the one guy who decides that this needs to be dealt with and he’s the one who’s going to turn himself into a ‘hero,’” said Lane Crothers, a professor at Illinois State University who studies far-right groups. “I think we have to accept that ours is a society filled with extraordinarily soft targets.

“So the question is, do these people decide that they want to create maximum mayhem, or do they want to actually destabilize governance and governing officials?”

Most members of militia groups are unlikely to cause any destruction, Crothers said. However, there’s a higher potential for people to go down “rabbit holes” of misinformation and become radicalized as more people become involved, he said.

Members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a small militia cell that plotted to kidnap Whitmer, attack the state Captiol and kill police, also viewed themselves as patriots fighting a tyrannical government, according to federal court records. The group believed Whitmer and other Democratic governors were violating the U.S. Constitution and should be overthrown.

The Wolverine Watchmen had only been active for a year before its members were arrested last October, though many of them had close connections to other militias. The 13-member group was allegedly co-founded by suspects Pete Musico and Joseph Morrison, who operated a training site in Munith.

It’s difficult to know exactly how many militia groups are operating and how dangerous they could be; militias come and go over the years, often splintering due to personality conflicts or disagreements about tactics.

Below an overview of groups that are active in Michigan, based on interviews with researchers, news reports and other publicly available information....

ai ggl

Adam Fox is known for his involvement in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. He was a resident of Wyoming, Michigan, which is a suburb of Grand Rapids. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Michigan, which is located in Grand Rapids.

Fox was one of the alleged ringleaders in the kidnapping plot, which prosecutors said was motivated by distrust of the government and anger over COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. He was convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in August 2022 and subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The plot involved members of paramilitary groups, including the Wolverine Watchmen militia. Prosecutors argued that some members of the Wolverine Watchmen, who were convicted in a separate state trial, provided material support for the plot orchestrated by Fox. Fox reportedly reached out to a Michigan-based anti-government group and discussed plans to attack the State Capitol and try Whitmer for treason. He allegedly met with militia group leadership at a Second Amendment rally at the state capitol in June 2020 and asked to combine forces. Fox and others allegedly participated in tactical training and firearms training, and at one point, attempted to construct an improvised explosive device.

The alleged plot was thwarted when the FBI, with the help of informants, infiltrated the group and made arrests in October 2020.

Regarding a direct connection to a "Trump militia" in Grand Rapids, some members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia group had "pro-Trump stances," although the group was generally antigovernment and not solely associated with Trump. One of the men charged in the plot reportedly called Trump a "tyrant" in a social media video. Trump did comment on the case, saying that the kidnapping plan was a "fake deal". However, the main focus of the case and the investigations surrounding Adam Fox and the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer revolved around anti-government extremism and paramilitary groups.

---

$ Whitmer kidnap plotters ‘got high and ran their mouths:’ Trump considers pardons

Updated: May. 28, 2025, 7:15 p.m.|Published: May. 28, 2025, 7:14 p.m.

Trump considers pardons for kidnap plotters

President Trump is considering pardons for two men convicted of leading a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.MLive

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The attorney for Barry Croft Jr., a key figure in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretch Whitmer, said he wasn’t capable of leading a group of anti-government extremists in such a bold conspiracy.

Adam Fox wasn’t either, he said....

---

ggl 6 25

[### Gretchen Whitmer kidnap ringleader, Adam Fox, sentenced ...

_BBC_

https://www.bbc.com › world-us-canada-64103685](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64103685)

Dec 27, 2022 — Adam Fox is sentenced to 16 years for planning to abduct Gretchen Whitmer from her holiday home.

The ringleader of a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Adam Fox, 39, appeared in front of US District Court Judge Richard Jonker in Grand Rapids on Tuesday.

Earlier this year he was found guilty of planning to abduct Ms Whitmer from her holiday home with other militiamen.

The group targeted the Democratic governor in 2020 because they were opposed to Covid rules she imposed early in the pandemic.

Two convicted in Michigan governor kidnap plot case

As well as conspiring to abduct Ms Whitmer, Fox was sentenced for planning to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up a bridge after the kidnapping, to make it easier to escape.

Fox and his co-defendant Barry Croft Jr, 47, were found guilty by a federal court in August. Croft, who is also a member of the Three Percenters militia group, is due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

In August, a jury determined that the two men were guilty of conspiring to obtain weapons of mass destruction - a bomb - to blow up a bridge in order to thwart a police response to the planned kidnapping.

Croft, a native of Delaware, was also convicted on a separate explosives charge.

Fox and others planned to kidnap Ms Whitmer at gunpoint, and take her to stand "trial" on bogus treason charges.

The militia group's kidnap plot was largely motivated by their opposition to public health measures during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, prosecutors said Fox had hoped to spark a "second American revolution" and push the US into armed conflict ahead of what proved to be a contentious presidential race in November 2020.

Although Fox was described by prosecutors as the brains behind the plot, Judge Jonker said he did not stand out as a "natural leader".

Reuters

Other members of the group, some pictured here, were found guilty of gang membership and firearms violations

However, the district court judge recognised that "a lot of fuel" had been necessary to fund conspiracies like the plot to kidnap the governor and Fox had been able to provide that fuel.

Prosecutors had pushed for a life sentence, but Judge Jonker said that would not be necessary to act as a deterrent. However, he added that a "significant sentence" was required.

Fox's lawyer Christopher Gibbons had argued that government descriptions of his client had been "calculated to frighten the public".

"These histrionic descriptions of Adam Fox do not rationally address his actual conduct and they do not accurately reflect either his actual intentions or his actual capabilities," he said.

Back in August, lawyers representing Fox and Croft suggested the pair had been incapable of mounting such a plot.

They argued the men had been entrapped - or improperly induced into the crime - by an undercover FBI operation.

"In America, the FBI is not supposed to create domestic terrorists so that the FBI can arrest them," Mr Gibbons had said.

In October, three other men were convicted of supporting the plot to kidnap Ms Whitmer.

A jury found Joseph Morrison, 28, his father-in-law Pete Musico, 44, and Paul Bellar, 23, guilty of gang membership, firearms violations and providing material to support terrorism.

## Two convicted in Michigan governor kidnap plot case

## Three convicted over Michigan governor kidnap plot

Coronavirus lockdown measures

FBI

Michigan

United States

---

[### FBI: Accused wanted 'tyrant' Gov. Whitmer tied up on table

AP News

https://apnews.com › article › whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial...](https://apnews.com/article/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial-covid-health-adam-fox-gretchen-whitmer-559b1b0f372c90c981033eab3a152066)

Mar 17, 2022 — ... Adam Fox in the basement of a vacuum shop in suburban Grand Rapids, a hideaway accessed by a trap door. Fox didn't know that Schweers was ...

[### Whitmer kidnap plotters 'got high and ran their mouths:' ...

MLive.com

https://www.mlive.com › politics › 2025/05 › whitmer-...](https://www.mlive.com/politics/2025/05/whitmer-kidnap-plotters-got-high-and-ran-their-mouths-trump-considers-pardons.html)

May 28, 2025 — Adam Fox wasn't either, he said. Yet, Croft, 49, of Bear, Delaware, and Fox, 42, of Wyoming, Michigan, are housed in United States ...

[### Grand Rapids jury finds Fox and Croft guilty of conspiracy ...

World Socialist Web Site

https://www.wsws.org › articles › 2022/08/24 › nfts-a24](https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/08/24/nfts-a24.html)

Aug 23, 2022 — Adam Fox and Barry Croft were found guilty on Tuesday in their federal retrial for conspiring to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen ...

[### At pro-Trump rally, militia leader claims accused Whitmer ...

Michigan Advance

https://michiganadvance.com › 2021/01/06 › at-pro-tru...](https://michiganadvance.com/2021/01/06/at-pro-trump-rally-militia-leader-claims-accused-whitmer-plotters-are-not-guilty/)

Jan 6, 2021 — Federal authorities brought terrorism and conspiracy charges in federal courts against Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel ...

[### Leader of plot to kidnap Michigan governor sentenced ...

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com › us-news › dec › gretche...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/27/gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-adam-fox-prison-sentence-michigan)

Dec 27, 2022 — Adam Fox was found guilty of conspiring to abduct Gretchen Whitmer and blow a bridge to enable an escape.

[### Ringleader in plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen ...

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

https://www.abc.net.au › news › ringleader-in-plot-to-ki...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-28/ringleader-in-plot-to-kidnap-michigan-governor-sentenced/101811838)

Dec 27, 2022 — The mugshot of Adam Fox. Adam Fox conspired to abduct Governor Gretchen Whitmer and blow up a bridge near her vacation home. (AP: Kent ...

[### A breakdown of militia group's failed plan to kidnap ...

WLUK

https://fox11online.com › news › state › a-breakdown-of...](https://fox11online.com/news/state/a-breakdown-of-militia-groups-failed-plan-to-kidnap-michigan-governor)

Oct 8, 2020 — The 17-page criminal complaint identified the six accused in the plot against Whitmer as Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, ...

Missing: trump ‎| Show results with: trump

[### Adam Fox attorney: 'We don't make terrorists so we can ...

WOODTV.com

https://www.woodtv.com › news › michigan › adam-fox...](https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/adam-fox-attorney-we-dont-make-terrorists-so-we-can-arrest-them/)

Apr 1, 2022 — ... Adam Fox's attorney, Christopher Gibbons, told the jury in his nearly 90-minute closing argument in the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

[### Two alleged militia members found guilty of plot to abduct ...

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com › legal › jury-finds-two-men-g...](https://www.reuters.com/legal/jury-finds-two-men-guilty-plot-abduct-michigan-governor-2022-08-23/)

Aug 23, 2022 — The verdict against Adam Fox, 39, and Barry Croft Jr., 46, comes about four months after a federal judge in Grand Rapids, Michigan, declared ...

---

year in hate

https://www.splcenter.org/year-hate-extremism-2022/trends-and-threats#sheriffs

no lnx nice grf

Sheriffs Working to Subvert Democracy

By Rachel Goldwasser

A smattering of county sheriffs across the U.S. tested the limits of democracy in 2022, with an assist from extremist law enforcement groups.

These constitutional sheriffs are devoted members of an antigovernment extremist movement that believes sheriffs are the highest authority in the country, above even the president. They usurp the duties of the Supreme Court by personally deciding which U.S. laws are legitimate and whether to enforce them.

These sheriffs are actively damaging the nation’s rule of law and attempting to shape the U.S. into a country where fringe law enforcement officers determine what human, civil and property rights they will enforce.

In the U.S., where the justice system already perpetuates great inequities that disproportionately effect people of color, these members of law enforcement further undermine equal justice under the law.

In 2022, constitutional sheriffs’ ideology intruded into another facet of democracy: elections. Members melded their extremist positions with their law enforcement authority to investigate rogue, conspiratorial allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and brought doubt into the legitimacy of the 2022 midterm elections.

Two extremist law enforcement groups, Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) and Protect America Now (PAN), led these efforts.

CSPOA radicalizes sheriffs and the public through law enforcement training, presentations to lawmakers and civilians, online media and books written by the group’s founder Richard Mack. The organization is linked to extremists, including Oath Keepers, sovereign citizens, neo-confederates and white nationalists.

PAN was founded by political operatives and is less outspoken about their constitutional sheriff beliefs, but most of their advisory board and members are constitutional sheriffs whose ideology has shaped the organization at large. PAN has focused its attention on immigration issues, supporting the anti-immigrant hate group Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) in its efforts to demonize migrants and lobby for policies that reflect this.

Beginning in the summer of 2022, both organizations worked with election conspiracy group True the Vote, whose founders participated in the film 2000 Mules, which promotes the “Big Lie,” the conspiracy theory parroted by former President Trump that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

The Sheriffs Alliance Interfering with U.S. Elections

Graphic connecting individuals and groups with efforts to interfere in U.S. elections

Photos credits: Donald Trump: James Devaney/GC Images; Michael Flynn: Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images; Sidney Powell: Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Catherine Engelbrecht: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images; Lin Wood, Mark Lamb, Richard Mack: Gage Skidmore; Gregg Phillips: CNN Screen Shot via Texas Tribune

CSPOA posted a press release to its website on May 24, 2022, calling on local law enforcement agencies to investigate the 2020 election. The organization’s leaders and member sheriffs repeated the claim on July 12 at a CSPOA press conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sheriffs that were investigating and those considering it spoke publicly about their efforts and repeated themselves a day later at the Libertarian Freedom Fest in Las Vegas.

True the Vote announced its partnership with PAN on June 22, calling it ProtectAmerica.Vote. The group advertised that the effort was intended to teach sheriffs about their state election laws and provide them with grants to investigate alleged voting violations. The partnership included a plan to build a “National Election Integrity Voter Hotline” that would be linked to sheriffs’ offices and promote their cause in an informational campaign starting Aug. 1.

Multiple sheriffs affiliated with CSPOA and PAN spent the year attempting to investigate the 2020 election or interfering in the 2022 midterm elections. A group of devout constitutional sheriffs from Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin were the most egregious.

ARIZONA’S CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFF PROBLEM

Mark Lamb, sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, and PAN leader acted as the face of the PAN True the Vote partnership. In an interview published in the right-wing media source American Greatness on July 20, Lamb claimed that he was “disturbed” by talk of a law enforcement focus on domestic violence threats, that the feds had no jurisdiction over his county and that if they tried to push what he called unconstitutional mandates, “We would stop them,” Lamb said.

David Rhodes, Sheriff of Yavapai County, Arizona, has been linked to CSPOA and the Oath Keepers, and most recently an Oath Keepers offshoot organization, the Yavapai County Preparedness Team (YCPT). YCPT and the group Lions of Liberty formulated a plan to stake out and film Arizona ballot drop boxes for cases of fraud. At a July 23 YCPT meeting, group leader Jim Arroyo told members, “We have already coordinated with Sheriff Rhodes, and he told us if we see somebody stuffing a ballot box, and we get a license plate, they will make an arrest, and there will be a prosecution. Bottom line.” YCPT and Lions of Liberty eventually halted monitoring after a lawsuit was filed against them by Protect Democracy on behalf of the League of Women Voters asserting the group was engaging in voter intimidation.

MILITIAS, ELECTIONS AND PLOTS IN MIDWEST

Dar Leaf, Sheriff of Barry County, Michigan, is a lifetime member of CSPOA. He received the group’s Sheriff of the Year award in 2017. On May 18, 2020, Leaf appeared at a protest alongside members of theMichigan Liberty Militia (MLM), whose members were found guilty in 2022 of a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Leaf was asked if he regretted having shared a stage with MLM members, and he replied, “It’s just a charge, and they say a ‘plot to kidnap,’ and you got to remember that. Are they trying to kidnap? Because a lot of people are angry with the governor, and they want her arrested. So, are they trying to arrest or was it a kidnap attempt? Because you can still in Michigan if it is a felony, make a felony arrest.”

In December 2020, Leaf began his investigation into the presidential election. Leaf’s attorney Carson Tucker reached out to Trump allies, including conspiracy theorist and former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, attorney Sidney Powell and Lin Wood’sFight Back Foundation asking for information regarding "counties that have been potentially compromised.” Leaf tried to seize the voting machines from those counties to run his own investigation. In 2021 Leaf also worked with a private investigator who partnered with a sheriff’s deputy to question county clerks in six Michigan townships. After learning that the state was investigating his own investigation, on June 3, 2022, Leaf sued the Michigan attorney general, secretary of state and members of the state troopers for illegal interference. His claims in his lawsuit were dismissed by a Michigan judge on Aug. 29, 2022.

Leaf’s extremist election denial continued through 2022 as he made claims of voter fraud at the July CSPOA True the Vote press conference, FreedomFest in Las Vegas and to CSPOA members after the midterms. Leaf has gone so far as to call for sheriffs to host common law grand juries on the 2018 “stolen election” conspiracy. This type of grand jury is promoted by the National Liberty Alliance, a sovereign citizen group Leaf has worked with.

Christopher Schmaling, Sheriff of Racine County, Wisconsin, has also closely affiliated with CSPOA. He has appeared on Sheriff Mack’s online show and presented with CSPOA at 2022 FreedomFest. Schmaling, who was once the keynote speaker at a Trump rally, launched his own investigation into alleged 2020 voter fraud.

In 2021, Sheriff Schmaling tried to have nursing home staff and the majority of the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) arrested. He claimed they committed voter fraud after the WEC changed a policy during the pandemic that allowed nursing home staff to assist residents with their ballots in 2020. The Racine County District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute.

Ironically, in 2022, Schmaling refused to charge Harry Wait, leader of the group H.O.T. Government, who requested multiple absentee ballots using false information. When asked about it, Wait said, “Basically, I committed a crime when I ordered them. I emailed Sheriff Schmaling, asked if he was going to arrest me, and he said, ‘hell no.’ ” The Wisconsin attorney general’s office began an investigation July 29, 2022.

Schmaling also presented at 2022 FreedomFest, alongside other election denying sheriffs.

Unfortunately, these men have made a significant impact, using their power as law enforcement officials to make and investigate spurious allegations and gotten their ideas in front of a wide audience. Fortunately, these men represent a fringe movement, one many law enforcement officers still refuse to participate in.

While multiple Arizona sheriffs including Sheriffs Lamb and Rhodes joined the constitutional sheriff’s movement and meddled in U.S. elections, making the process more fraught for voters, another Arizona sheriff, Paul Penzone of Maricopa County, Arizona, exemplified the legitimate role of sheriffs: He chose to denounce the same extremist ideology and support democracy rather than participate in actions or groups working to damage it.

In in the run-up to the 2020 election, Penzone said in a press release, “With the same conviction we display when taking the oath of office, we must commit to practice impartial and nonpolitical actions during the course of our duties.” He continued, “Denying, ignoring or refusing to recognize and apply the laws as they are written is not within the authority of law enforcement professionals. Terms such as ‘Sanctuary’ county become an excuse to circumvent the law and defy due process and democracy.”

Then again on Nov 12, 2022, when speaking to the groups and politicians targeting elections and voting facilities, Penzone told the press he would not stand for any threat to voting, voting facilities or election workers.

“We are seeing a radical movement, including some local law enforcement, of people who are committed to destroying trust in our system for their own selfish gain,” Penzone told the press in August as the 2022 midterm elections heated up. “We must fight against it, or our nation will no longer be the democratic standard.”

REJECTING CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFFS IN POLICY

All law enforcement can play a role in minimizing the harm from the constitutional sheriff movement. They can resist disinformation and conspiracy theories. They can resist recruitment into extremist groups like CSPOA, PAN and the Oath Keepers that actively prey on them. County sheriffs and police chiefs can push back on the notion that their function is to interpret the law rather than enforce it. The National Sheriffs Association can finally decide that there is no place for extremism among their ranks and refuse membership to sheriffs who actively promote antigovernment ideologies, including constitutional sheriffs.

State leaders can ensure that board members of their state police officer trainings and certification programs (POST) are not constitutional sheriffs or affiliated with extremists. These same boards can also create rules that prevent extremists from conducting official law enforcement training in their state.

States should limit the role of sheriffs’ posse members or deputized private citizens to core law enforcement functions – not election administration. And federal and state authorities should ensure that constitutional sheriffs do not engage in voter intimidation or intervene or interfere in election administration in any way.

Congress can ensure no federal funds are used for training that promotes CSPOA propaganda. Congress should investigate all law enforcement departments’ links to extremism. Law enforcement officials who self-identify as constitutional sheriffs, engage in election interference or otherwise violate the Department of Justice’s new Title VI protocols prohibiting discriminatory conduct, should be ineligible to receive federal funds.

Every level of government from national, state, and local law enforcement organizations should publicly reject the views and practices of constitutional sheriffs – and should not permit these individuals to serve in leadership positions.

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an 8 22

Two men have received a guilty verdict for their involvement in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).

On Tuesday, August 23, a jury found Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., guilty of "conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction, namely a bomb to blow up a bridge and stymie police if the kidnapping could be pulled off at Whitmer’s vacation home."

According to HuffPost, the guilty verdict was a victory for the U.S. government. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler shared his argument about the case with the jury. “You can’t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor and go snatch the governor,” Kessler told jurors.

“But that wasn’t the defendants’ ultimate goal,” Kessler said. “They wanted to set off a second American civil war, a second American Revolution, something that they call the boogaloo. And they wanted to do it for a long time before they settled on Gov. Whitmer.”

The jury's decision in reference to Fox and Croft came as the jury also delivered a conviction for two other men who also conspired to kidnap the Democratic governor.

Shortly after reports surfaced about the kidnapping plot, Fox, Croft and the other suspects are said to have been accompanied by government operatives as they "traveled to northern Michigan to see Whitmer’s vacation home at night and a bridge that could be destroyed."

However, the suspects' defense attorneys attempted to turn the tables on the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). “This isn’t Russia. This isn’t how our country works,” Croft attorney Joshua Blanchard told jurors.“You don’t get to suspect that someone might commit a crime because you don’t like things that they say, that you don’t like their ideologies.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/republican-paramilitaries/

no lnx

ron Johnson said recently that he wasn't scared when, on January 6, armed insurgents sacked and looted the United States Capitol. They "love this country," the Wisconsin Republican said. But "had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa [stormed the seat of government], I might have been a little concerned."

That statement was disturbing not only for the implicit racism it carried, but for the stunning confirmation of what's becoming clear to those of us who are paying attention. The Republican Party has a paramilitary problem, and it isn't new.

During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump alleged, without proof, that the electoral system was fraudulent, raising concerns about the impact that his false accusations would have in the event of his defeat. His unexpected victory opened the door to the far-right fringe and legitimized efforts that contributed to strengthening the ties between them. Many feared that this close relationship would be critical in the 2020 presidential election cycle, with rising domestic tensions and the role that paramilitaries would play in addition to Trump's false claims about the election.

It has been clear for some time now that the Republican Party had a more-than-welcoming attitude toward certain paramilitary groups.The deadly events in Charlottesville in 2017, although fundamentally led by white supremacists called by the former president "very fine people," also had protection services provided by paramilitaries. The following year, more signs of backing for their man in the White House came from Trump-supporting paramilitary groups targeting Muslims. In Oregon, a walkout staged by Republican state senators, in 2019, gained support from paramilitary groups that made credible threats against a planned rally.

For almost three decades, these paramilitaries (thought to be in the hundreds across the country) have viewed the government as the adversary. With a friend residing in the White House, however, these groups experienced an identity crisis. This need for an enemy explains the shift into targeting immigrants and religious minorities. It wasn't just to please their man. It was to embrace a cause allowing them to grow.

After Trump won, there was an increase in the number of paramilitary groups, but the GOP has been no stranger to them. In 2017, a local chapter of the Republican Party in Oregon passed a resolution allowing paramilitaries (the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, for instance) to provide security at the local party events. These groups are part of the Patriot Movement, a loose far-right network affiliated with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and armed confrontations in Nevada and Oregon in 2016.

The Republican Party seems to be very comfortable with these groups around, as we have seen in Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, and other states. However, this is not a recent venture, since the accounts of strengthening ties can be traced back even before Trump won the election in 2016. The openness about their common interests is perhaps new, but it's not surprising. Alarms were sounded when state Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mike Shirkey of Michigan, participated in a rally organized by paramilitaries that stormed the Michigan Capitol back in April 2020 alongside a member of a group involved in the planned kidnapping of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Though Michigan has a history of paramilitaries, the state GOP had tied itself to them, especially since the election as party co-chair of Meshawn Maddock. She organized a protest to interrupt ballot counting in Detroit, where paramilitaries were present.

Johnson's statement is outrageous, not only for the racism, but also for the approval of white armed groups as opposed to unarmed groups as well as the acknowledgement that he didn't feel threatened by them since they were exercising their freedom. Compare that to his comments about BLM and Antifa, but that's another discussion.

The connections the Republican Party has with paramilitaries are not ambiguous, yet the ongoing investigation into the Capitol attack will likely provide more evidence of the extremely disturbing behavior of the formerly conservative party. Ties between not only Trump and his associates, like Roger Stone, whose security detail included members of the Oath Keepers, but the GOP at state and local levels, should bring into the discussion how one of the major parties in the country is going to stand for democracy while leading a double-life with paramilitaries bent on racial supremacy.

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

'Cancel culture' is a reactionary fraud and liberals need to stop ... ›

Is the Republican Party fascist? An expert explains the 7 themes that ... ›

Paramilitary 'Oath Keepers' leader says she waited for Trump to ... ›

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How the G.O.P. Allied Itself With Militants - The New York Times ›

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Paramilitaries Are Surging Again in Northern Ireland – Foreign Policy ›

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https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/michigan-threats-election/

In Michigan — which saw more than its share of political extremism in recent months — state Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced criminal charges against two men accused of threatening officials on Tuesday.

The men are 62-year-old Daniel Thompson, who is from Clare County, Michigan, and 43-year-old Douglas, Georgia resident Clinton Stewart.

Thompson, Nessel's office alleges, made threats against Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Elisse Slotkin, both Democrats. Those threats, according to Nessel, include threats against Stabenow in a message left on Jan. 5 and threatening remarks during a Jan. 19 conversation with one of Slotkin's employees. In addition, Nessel's office alleges that Thompson made a threatening phone call to Slotkin on April 30, 2020.

According to Nessel's office, "The voicemail message for Sen. Stabenow left by Thompson, who identified himself as a Republican, contained vulgar language and threatened violence meant to intimidate the public officials. Thompson stated he was angry about the results of the November election, that he joined a Michigan militia and that there would be violence if the election results were not changed. In an e-mail to Stabenow's office, he reiterated the threatening remarks and used vulgar language." twt doc]

stewart, meanwhile, is accused of leaving a threatening voice mail for Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens in September and describing her as an "activist judge" whose rulings were favorable to then-candidate Joe Biden. Stewart, allegedly, believed that Stephens was making decisions in favor of mail-in ballots in the hoping of swinging the 2020 presidential election to Biden in Michigan.

The charge against Stewart was filed in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, while the charge against Thompson was filed in Livingston County, Michigan.

These indictments follow a great deal of unrest in Michigan in 2020, when Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer became the target of kidnapping plot by far-right extremists who were angry over COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing measures in her state.

In an official statement on the Thompson and Stewart indictments, Nessel said, "It is unacceptable and illegal to intimidate or threaten public officials. To those who think they can do so by hiding behind a keyboard or phone, we will find you and we will prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law. No elected official should have to choose between doing their job and staying safe."

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB

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3% leader in mich plot, precursor to insurrection 1/5

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an 221

Although Michigan is one of the 2016 Trump states that Joe Biden flipped in 2020, it is also a state that has had a disturbing amount of activity from far-right militia extremists — including those who planned to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year, subject her to a "trial" for treason and execute her if found guilty. Journalists David D. Kirkpatrick and Mike McIntire, in an article published by the New York Times on February 8, takes an in-depth look at the extremism of Michigan's paramilitary militias and their relationship to the Michigan GOP — a relationship that helped pave the way for the violence of January 6.

"Michigan has a long tradition of tolerating self-described private militias, which are unusually common in the state," Kirkpatrick and McIntire explain. "But it is also a critical electoral battleground that draws close attention from top party leaders, and the Republican alliance with paramilitary groups shows how difficult it may be for the national party to extricate itself from the shadow of the former president and his appeal to this aggressive segment of its base."

In April 2020, the Times reporters recall, armed militia members protested coronavirus restrictions in Lansing, Michigan and stormed the Michigan Capitol Building. According to Kirkpatrick and McIntire, "That intrusion into the Statehouse now looks like a portent of the assault halfway across the country months later at the United States Capitol."

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin has said that in light of the events in Michigan in 2020, "We knew there would be violence" on January 6. When Republican politicians in Michigan condone militia members carrying assault rifles during their protests, Slotkin warned, that "normalizes violence."

Kirkpatrick and McIntire report, "Six Trump supporters from Michigan have been arrested in connection with the storming of the (U.S.) Capitol. One, a former marine accused of beating a Capitol Police officer with a hockey stick, had previously joined armed militiamen in a protest organized by Michigan Republicans to try to disrupt ballot counting in Detroit. The chief organizer of that protest, Meshawn Maddock, on Saturday was elected co-chair of the state Republican Party — one of four diehard Trump loyalists who won top posts."

However, Maddock has condemned the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building and told the Times, "When it comes to militias or the Proud Boys, I have no connection whatsoever to them."

twt]

prominent Michigan Republicans who have allied themselves with militias, according to Kirkpatrick and McIntire, include Ryan Kelley — who has announced a gubernatorial run — and Londa Gatt, a Proud Boys supporter who has described the extremist group as "true patriots." Jeff Timmer, a former director of the Michigan GOP and a conservative critic of former President Donald Trump, is troubled by the alliance between militia members and Michigan Republicans and told the Times, "It is like the Republican Party has its own domestic army."

JoEllen Vinyard, a professor at Eastern Michigan University and expert on political extremism, is also troubled by the Michigan GOP's relationship with militia groups and told the Times, "I think there is a fair amount of sympathy in the Republican Party for these people that wasn't there in the past. It's a much closer relationship now."

Maddock's causes have ranged from fighting coronavirus restrictions in Michigan to trying to help Trump overturn the presidential election results in that state. And although she distanced herself from militias and the Proud Boys in her statement to the Times, she has remained a devout Trump supporter.

"When attempts to stop the counting failed, Ms. Maddock, in December, led 16 Republican electors trying to push into the Michigan Capitol to disrupt the casting of Democratic votes in the Electoral College," Kirkpatrick and McIntire note. "During a 'Stop the Steal' news conference in Washington the next day, she vowed to 'keep fighting.' Marching toward the (U.S.) Capitol on January 6, she tweeted that the throngs were 'the most incredible crowd and sea of people I have ever walked with.'"

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/how-the-plot-to-kidnap-whitmer-fits-into-right-wing-extremists-violent-rhetoric-around-the-2020-election/

analysis

Adam Fox was worried about a rat. In thedark and cluttered basement, Fox gathered the men’s phones in a bin and took them upstairs to the main floor of the nondescript vacuum store in Grand Rapids, Michigan—a measure meant to avoid surveillance. After he returned through the trap door normally hidden by a rug, the group of men began discussing how they would storm the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan, counter law enforcement who arrived on the scene, and throw Molotov cocktails at their vehicles. It was June 20. Six days earlier, Fox had explained in a call that they’d need “200 men” to storm the capitol and take hostages, including the governor. They would try her for “treason,” he said—and they would carry out their plan before the November presidential election.

The FBI arrested six men on Oct. 8—including Fox—for conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and overtake the state government. Through FBI informants and FBI agents, we know how those meetings went, spelled out in detail in anFBI affidavit. The men, in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, belonged to Wolverine Watchmen, an anti-government, anti-law enforcement militia group. Prior to the arrests, the group had surveilled Whitmer’s summer home, discussed bombing a bridge to block law enforcement response, and at another point, considered simply shooting Whitmer. On Tuesday, the FBI revealed the group had also considered kidnapping Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia.

Whitmer has been thetarget of extremistssince she implemented a series of public health measures, including a stay-at-home order, in March, acting swiftly to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Michigan. In May, protesters and anti-government groups, some heavily armed, protested the restrictions at the state capitol, where they demanded to be let in and compared Whitmer to Hitler. Among the protesters were members of the Wolverine Watchmen.

In addressing the conspiracy to kidnap her, Whitmer was quick topoint out President Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric at the first presidential debate: how he tried to skirt condemning white supremacists and then told the Proud Boys hate group to “stand back and stand by.”

“Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight,” Whitmer said.

Right Wing Watch has seen an increase of violent rhetoric across different right-wing subgroups—from conspiracy theorists and religious-right activists to white nationalists and anti-government groups. In some instances, extremists call for civil war, the use of force against Black Lives Matter protesters, and for government leaders to be tried for treason and executed.

Trump has no doubt ushered in more radical proclamations from extremists—this is the man, after all, whowon’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election. But the right-wing media ecosystem is a two-way street, where fringe figures influence the president, and the president influences the boldness of fringe figures and their prominence in the conservative mainstream.

Conspiracy Theorists and Radical Right-Wing Commentators: Fear-Mongering, Violent Language, and Anti-Government Sentiment

[pix Radical right-wing conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles blamed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for the plot to kidnap and potentially murder her.]

On the day the arrests of the Wolverine Watchmen members were announced, Rick Wiles, a conspiracy theorist whose TruNews conspiracy outlet claims to offer news and analysis from a conservative, Christian worldview,took to his program to put the blame on Whitmer for the plot to kidnap and potentially murder her.

“Did you at all stop and think, what are you doing that drives middle class, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens to think about kidnapping you?” Wiles said. “What are you doing? Are your policies so extreme, so radical that you’re pushing people over the line to say we have to get that woman out of the governor’s office?”

While the claim is shocking, especially for an outlet that has been granted White House press credentials as recently asJanuary, it’s in keeping with Wilesfear-mongering about government overreach—much of it anti-Semitic—which includes claiming that liberalsintend touse the power of government toround up conservative Christians, place them inconcentration camps, andkill them.

And it’s not surprising for the ranks of conspiracy theorists and radical right-wing commentators who distrust news reports and the government—save for Trump—and imagine a “deep state” or globalist “New World Order” that wants to take away constitutional rights, get Trump out of office, and impose their will on the people.

Wiles’ penchant for violent rhetoric is well documented by Right Wing Watch: In the past year alone, Wiles hasrejoiced in Trump’s use of the military to forcefully clear protesters from a church to take a photo op with a Bible, vocalized his hope that Trump will round up liberal activists andtorture them, and gleefully claimed that special op forces were going tohunt down and shoot commies—which to Wiles apparently includes Black Lives Matter, antifa, and Right Wing Watch. During the impeachment of Trump in December 2019, he claimed to have been stockpiling ammunition to prepare for a “violent civil war” between the “pagan left” and “religious right.”

While the enemies in the minds of right-wing conspiracy theorists are many, the hate directed at government officials who oppose Trump, particularly those who are women or people of color, in right-wing networks is particularly noteworthy.

Josh Bernstein, a radical right-wing commentator with a penchant for calling for people to be executed, took to his YouTube channel earlier this month to call for Rep. Ilhan Omar to be charged with treason and executed. Omar has faced racist, xenophobic attacks from right-wing activists and the president himself as recently asSeptember. Bernstein, who hassaid that Omar has earned every death threat she’s received, followed up on Trump’s attacks just days later.

“I believe that the FBI and the Department of Justice should charge Ilhan [Omar] with sedition, treason, marriage fraud, voter fraud, illegal campaign contributions, immigration fraud, and aiding and abetting our enemies,” Bernstein said,adding, “this bitch should be executed.”

Last year, Bernsteinurged Trump to become a “dictator for patriotism” andclaimed that members of the Trump administration watch his broadcasts.

He’s not the only one talking about killing opponents to his extreme right-wing world view or calling for civil war. Claiming his warnings about a globalist “New World Order” takeover were coming true, radical conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told his listeners of his “Infowars” conspiracy show in August to wage war against academics and “the establishment perverts and pedophiles that run it,” adding that “the best thing to do in a defensive way is kill as many of them as quickly as possible.” In February, radical right-wing conspiracy theorist Chris McDonalddeclared that government officials who testified in the impeachment hearing against President Donald Trump are traitors and are “lucky they’re not hanging from nooses,” and in June during the protests against racism, McDonald andfellow QAnon conspiracy theorist Mark TaylorclaimedBlack men were hanging themselves to start a civil war. “They’re trying to start a civil war in this country, a race war,” Taylor said.

Among those fear-mongering and calling for violence against Black Lives Matter and antifa—shorthand for anti-fascist activists—is John Guandolo, adisgraced former FBI agent turned right-wingconspiracy theorist. In June, Guandolo, who has made a new career out ofpeddling anti-Muslim law enforcement trainings,said, “we should round up the leaders and execute them for trying to revolt and overthrow the government. And if this doesn’t happen soon, we will lose this.”

Religious Right Calls for Civil War

[ pix Robert Jeffress speaking at Values Voters Summit in 2017. In 2019, he claimed on Fox News that “removing the president” would “cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.”]

Like right-wing conspiracy theorists, some religious-right activists and pastorssee the 2020 election as a civil war coming to America and warn that Christians need to wake up. They paint the current political climate as a spiritual battle, and Trump’s opponents are frequently depicted as “demonic.” Such messages have been promoted through “The Jim Bakker Show,” influential pro-Trump Pentecostal-oriented media outfit Charisma, andnetworks of prominentdominionist “apostles” and “prophets.”

Rick Joyner has beenwarningfor years that civil war is coming to theUnited States and that the country is headed towardmartial law. In September, the right-wing pastor spoke to televangelist Jim Bakker on “The Jim Bakker Show,” where hetold viewers that God had seeded the country with military veterans experienced in urban warfare, citing a “prophetic” dream.

“We’re in time for war. We need to recognize that. We need to mobilize. We need to get ready. I’m talking to law enforcement, talking to people. One of the things I saw in a dream I had related to our civil war was that militias would pop up like mushrooms. And it was God. These were good militias.” Joyner, who heads up Morningstar Ministries, said. “If God’s people don’t become a part of the militia movements, the good militias, the bad people will take them over.”

Who are “the bad people”? In September, Joyner pointed to Black Lives Matter,declaring that Christians must take a stand against the organization because it’s “the KKK of this time.” And during the impeachment inquiry, Bakker and Joyneragreed that efforts to impeach Trump were satanic and treasonous.

Bakker, himself,warned in August that if Trump is not reelected, “we’re gonna have a revolution” with right-wing Christians taking to the streets.

At the 2019 American Priority Festival and Conference, an annual pro-Trump conference held at Trump National Doral Miami resort held in October,calls for civil warwere loud and clear. “I need you to know that 2020 is a civil war that will change the face of America forever,”Joshua Feuerstein, a former pastor turned evangelical internet personality, said on the same stage Don Trump Jr. would later speak on. “And it’s God, ladies and gentlemen, it’s God that calls the qualified, that qualifies those that are called, that are willing to step up in the moment that matters, that has greatness thrust upon them. And tonight, together here in this place to say that we are willing to fight, we may think ourselves insignificant, but that we will stand together in 2020, and we will win the war that will change the face of America.”

Earlier in the evening at the conference (known colloquially as AMPfest), televangelistMark Burns called for war. “We’ve come to declare war!” he yelled, with attendees in the back of the ballroom echoing his call, shouting “War! War!” in response.

This summer,Frank Pavone, a Catholic priestwho runs an advocacy group committed to abolishing access to abortion in the U.S.,declared that the 2020 election “is a spiritual battle and no less than a civil war.” Pavone held advisory positions in Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, only resigning in July at thedirection of Roman Catholic Church authorities.

These messages from Trump’s religious-right boosters have reached the president. Days after Congress launched its formal impeachment inquiry last September, megachurch pastor and ardent Trump supporter Robert Jeffress claimed on Fox News that “removing the president” would “cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.” Apparently viewing the segment was Trump, whotweeted Jeffress’ quote.

Far-Right Militant Groups: ‘Awaiting the Green Light’

[pix]

when the militant group the Oath Keepers saw Trump’s tweet of Jeffress’ comments on Fox, they responded in turn. “This is the truth,” read apost from the group’s Twitter account. “We ARE on the verge of a HOT civil war. Like in 1859.”

:{:{}:

The Oath Keepers, conceived as a group of “patriots,” law enforcement officers, and former military members who would defy orders they didn’t like in opposition to a deep state members saw as conspiring to declare martial law, have now sided with Trump and see their role as ensuring law and order.

Other militia groups have done the same. Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this sentiment; by forgoing a federal response, Trump has continued to receive the support of anti-government groups, while state and local governments have been left to issue piecemeal restrictions and face the ire of such groups.

It’s amid this violent rhetoric, fear-mongering about government overreach, and calls for civil war that militia groups and white supremacist organizations are feeling emboldened—and Trump’s language has given these groups tacit, if not explicit, approval.

In April, Trump sent off a series of tweets calling for states led by three Democratic governors, including Whitmer and Northam, to be liberated from supposedly draconian public health measures. “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” hetweeted, followed by “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”

Michael German, a former FBI agent who infiltrated neo-Nazis in the 1990s, is not surprised the Michigan governor was targeted by these groups following Trump’s message.

“These are groups that are used to listening for dog whistle affirmation among the powerful, and so when they get that affirmation spoken out loud, indirectly, it takes on a completely different meaning,” said German, a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program. “You know, something like ‘liberate Virginia‘ and ‘liberate Michigan‘ would be taken as ‘OK, this is a green light from the highest levels of our government. We should start planning.’”

In August, German published areport with the Brennan Center detailing the militia groups that have law enforcement and former military members, though “only a tiny percentage of law enforcement officials are likely to be active members of white supremacist groups.” An investigation inThe Atlantic details these connections in the Oath Keepers, which recruited thousands of police, soldiers, and veterans.

As protests erupted in the days following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, members of extreme right-wing movements followed Trump’s lead in identifying common enemies among police and far-right militants, demonizing Black Lives Matter, anarchists, and antifa.

“We’ve been through a lot of these protests, and [police] seem to have a less antagonistic and violent response when it’s far-right militants who are engaging in protest violence,” German said. “And I think that’s because the messaging that they’re receiving about who is the enemy of state, as the president is identifying these groups as the enemy of state and suggesting that there are friendlies among the far-right, white supremacist groups. That sends a pretty clear message both to the groups and to the police about who should be the target of their violence.”

“So when these groups feel like they have the authority granted by the state to engage in this kind of behavior, they’re more likely to do it,” German said. “These groups operate on margin where their violence is reinforcing state action and state violence often, right—that the groups that the far-right militant and white supremacist groups target are the same groups that law enforcement targets disproportionately.”

In August, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who considers himself a militia member, fatally shot two demonstrators and injured a third at a protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Much has been said about how, minutes prior to the shooting,police thanked the group for their presence and offered Rittenhouse water.

Creating the Justification for Right-Wing Violence

:{:{}:

After Trump’s Proud Boy comments at the presidential debate, the hate group took to the social media platform Telegram where they took the president’s wordsas a command. “Standing by sir,” Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio wrote.

Two days later, Tarriotold conspiracy theorist and failed congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine—who in June had urged conservatives to form militiaswhile awaiting the “green light” to take back the streets—that his group had gained 2,000 to 3,000 new followers.

Violent rhetoric and civil war chatter among extremists is nothing new. But as we’ve approached the 2020 elections, the confluence of violent rhetoric among the extremists Right Wing Watch covers seems to have taken a frenzied pace, with different subgroups of the right-wing acting as an echo chamber, radicalizing each other and the president and vice versa. Trump, himself, has cultivated that echo chamber, creating a megaphone for his messaging.

Trump has refused to say whether he will step down peacefully should he lose the election. And since 2016, Trump and his team has pushed the narrative that Democrats and the deep state worked tirelessly to prevent him from becoming president in 2016 and, when they failed, conspired against him to prevent his reelection. By fear-mongering about voter fraud through mail-in voting and engaging with far-right conspiracy theories, Trump has insisted that any election he loses will have been fraudulent—creating justification for right-wing violence should he lose.

Tags: Chris McDonald Donald Trump Frank Pavone Jim Bakker John Guandolo Josh Bernstein Joshua Feuerstein Mark Burns Mark Taylor Rick Joyner Rick Wiles Robert Jeffress Antifa Civil War conspiracy theories Oath Keepers Trunews Wolverine Watchmen

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/boogaloo-bois-member-charged-with-rioting-during-minneapolis-protests/

President Donald Trump and many of his allies in the right-wing media have been claiming that most or all of the political violence that has occurred in the United States following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 has come from the left — totally overlooking the history of violence associated with the Proud Boys, QAnon and a variety of white nationalist and militia groups.But federal prosecutors accused a Texas-based member of the far-right Boogaloo Bois on Friday of going to Minneapolis in late May with the intention of taking part in a riot.

Ivan Harrison Hunter is facing criminal charges for firing a semiautomatic weapon into a Minneapolis police precinct during the protests.

"Federal agents reviewed a video taken on the night of May 28 that shows an individual, later identified as Hunter, firing 13 rounds from an AK-47 style semiautomatic rifle into the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct building," KARE-TV, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, reports. "Law enforcement recovered discharged rifle casings from the scene that are consistent with an AK-47-style firearm."

According to KARE, "Investigators say they recovered social media posts Hunter made upon his return to Texas, describing his illegal activities in Minneapolis. They allege he was communicating with Michael Solomon, a Minneapolis resident and member of theBoogaloo Boiswho is federally charged with providing support to a terrorist organization, along with an associate named Benjamin Teeter."

The Boogaloo Bois are an extremist far-right movement that call for a second civil war in the United States and favor violent confrontations with law enforcement and politicians. In Northern California, Boogaloo supporter Steven Carrillo is facing murder charges for his role in a late May shooting in Oakland that left a Federal Protective Service officer dead. And some of the 13 men arrested in connection with a plot to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are believed by law enforcement to be connected to the Boogaloo movement; others allegedly involved in that plot, according to the FBI, were part of the Wolverine Watchmen,a far-right militia group.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/michigan-kidnapping-whitmer/

no twt vid lnk

Watch: Feds release disturbing footage of Whitmer kidnapping suspects' training drills with assault rifles

Screenshot/MLive

Meaghan Ellis October 17, 2020

Federal prosecutors released disturbing footage created by the suspects involved in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).

On Friday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge publicly unveiled a trove of evidence, including text messages and recorded footage that was used presented in a hearing for the suspects identified as—Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta—who now face charges for their involvement in the alarming plot.

The clip below captures several men participating in military-style drills while firing assault weapons. The video then shifts to Caserta who expressed disapproval of the U.S. government.

"If this s**t goes down... okay... if this whole thing starts to happen, I'm tellin' you what dude, I'm takin' out as many of those motherf**kers as I can. Every single one dude. Every single one. And if you guys are gonna give any of these motherf**kers a chance, any of these gang f**king criminal a** government thugs that rob people everyday, if you're even gonna give them a second to try to speak or tell their story, don't even f**k with me dude.

:{:{}:

"I have zero patience for immoral coward criminals," Caserta said, adding, "I'm sick of being robbed and enslaved by the state. Period... And these are the guys who are actually doing it."

Videos show training for alleged governor kidnapping plot

youtu.be

Additional disturbing details about the plot were also shared via Twitter by Fox 17 reporter Doug Reardon of Detroit, Mich. The evidence also included text message conversations with one message, in particular, appearing to suggest that Whitmer be killed.

That message read, "Have one person go to her house. Knock on the door and when she answers it just cap her… "

The latest developments come as President Donald Trump continues to attack Whitmer. In fact, he even attempted to blame her for the plot orchestrated against her due to the strict coronavirus shutdown orders she enforced. The president took to Twitter on last Thursday to verbally attack Whitmer as he falsely claimed she called him a "White Supremacist," according to CNN.

"Governor Whitmer of Michigan has done a terrible job. She locked down her state for everyone, except her husband's boating activities," he wrote, urging her in another tweet to "open up your state, open up your schools, and open up your churches!"

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

Trump praised armed Michigan protesters — then militia members ... ›

Feds charge 6 men in plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and ... ›

A Michigan sheriff defends men accused of plotting to kidnap the ... ›

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Gretchen Whitmer: 13 charged in plot to kidnap Michigan Governor ... ›

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https://twitter.com/ReardonReports/status/1317242342479376385

https://twitter.com/ReardonReports/status/1317242590132113410/photo/1

"focused righteous anger backed by truth and morality...

twt

Replying to

@ReardonReports

This is Trump's "Law and Order"...

Violence.. even against police officers.

Stacie Rose

@broadeyeview

Replying to

@ReardonReports

The offense the specific cops were guilty of? Pulled him [caserta?] over and gave him a waivable no updated insurance ticket. Its all about the violence. The masks and shutdowns are just an excuse.

Thread

See new Tweets

Conversation

Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

18h

BREAKING: Today

@FOX17

obtained new FBI docs in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan

@GovWhitmer

the docs lay out tactical training, surveillance, and violent threats against lawmakers and police officers.....

Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

18h

the men surveilled the governor's home in Antrim County, and the underside of an overpass they planned to blow up to divert police

Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

Replying to

@ReardonReports

...at times the men talked about different ways to kidnap/kill the governor

4:13 PM · Oct 16, 2020·Twitter Web App

411

Retweets

Quote Tweets

995

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Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

18h

Replying to

@ReardonReports

...they discussed their disdain for police, and even talked about stalking them on their shifts...

Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

18h

......more on law enforcement.....

Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

18h

...and even discussed killing a police officer in Maine...

Doug Reardon

@ReardonReports

18h

...and this is suspect Brandon Caserta talking about killing police officers and legislators...

Herman Cains Ghost

@thebluemagoo99

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belew bring the war home --> wapo

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/177717

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/michigan-republicans-struggle-with-recognition-of-their-own-roles-in-fueling-militia-kidnap-plot

david n kos

discovering that terrorists can look like the guys next door is a jarring thing, especially if that's not how you've been conditioned to think of such matters. In Michigan this week, cognitive dissonance has been thick on the ground—especially as public officials who came too close to the plotters and their incendiary rhetoric have tried to wrestle with the consequences of last week's arrests of 13 Michigan militiamen who schemed to kidnap and assassinate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

A local sheriff who had appeared onstage at an anti-Whitmer rally this spring suggested to a TV interviewer that maybe the plotters—some of whom he knows personally—were just trying to make a citizens arrest. A Republican state legislative candidate opined that the arrests were "a totally bogus sham." And the state's Republican Speaker of the House, who has helped stoke the incendiary "tyranny" rhetoric that fueled the plotters, chastised Whitmer for pointing out the connection between the plotters' actions and the rhetoric used by Donald Trump and Michigan Republicans. [vid rally w. da bois and dar]

Dar Leaf, the sheriff of Barry County—where two of the accused domestic terrorists, William and Michael Null, reside and were arrested by the FBI Thursday—told a Grand Rapids interviewer that he believed the men might have been within their rights.

"It's just a charge, and they say a 'plot to kidnap' and you got to remember that. Are they trying to kidnap? Because a lot of people are angry with the governor, and they want her arrested. So are they trying to arrest or was it a kidnap attempt? Because you can still in Michigan if it's a felony, make a felony arrest," Leaf told Fox17 reporter Aaron Parshegian.

He added: "The two gentlemen that I know of from my county, were they involved in that? I don't know. They're innocent till proven guilty. And we really, really should be careful, trying to try them in the media."

The evidence unveiled by the FBI included multiple instances of surveillance of Whitmer's summer home, where the militiamen—who called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen—planned to abduct her, as well as multiple instances in which the men discussed killing her. The evidence also showed that not only had the men originally planned a paramilitary assault on the state Capitol, they also made plans to kill law-enforcement officers. The discussion of a "citizens arrest" of Whitmer was largely rhetorical.

Leaf's comments created an uproar. Shortly after the interview aired, Michigan's attorney general, Dana Nessel, ripped into him on Twitter:

As Michigan's top law enforcement official, let me make this abundantly clear-Persons who are not sworn, licensed members of a law enforcement agency cannot and should not "arrest" government offficials with whom they have disagreements. These comments are dangerous.

Leaf tried to defend the remarks subsequently by insisting that he only wanted to ensure that men weren't being "tried in the media."

"I don't want anybody to think I'm sympathetic towards these charges, right, these are very, very serious charges," he said. "What I don't want is I don't want us to be trying it in the media and we mess it up in the justice system somewhere, 'cause they can't get a fair trial."

Leaf told MLive: "The governor has the right to govern and also the right to be safe." Yet he went on to criticize officials like Whitmer and Nessel for blaming people like Trump and himself for creating an atmosphere empowering fringe groups.Leaf said the militia movement "has been brewing for quite some time" over what he described as "a gradual and growing loss of rights."

In fact, as Jen Hayden explored earlier, Leaf is a member of a law-enforcement organization closely aligned with the "Patriot" militia movement with which the plotters identified. He also was an outspoken critic of Whitmer's anti-COVID-19 pandemic orders.

At a May 18 "Michigan Patriots Rally" held at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Leaf had appeared onstage with several militiamen, including Michael Null. In his speech, he compared Whitmer's stay-at-home orders to being held unlawfully under house arrest. Leaf had also described Owosso barber Karl Manke—who had defied the governor's order by opening his shop—a "little version of Rosa Parks."

Meanwhile, Republican legislative candidate Paul Smith of Sterling Heights angrily denounced the arrests on Twitter.

"What a totally bogus sham," Smith commented. "These citizens never did anything illegal. Law enforcement is employed to punish people who COMMIT crimes, not people The Governess simply HATES. You can legally hurt Whitmer by voting out her minions."

State Republican leaders were appalled, and announced they had withdrawn financial and other support for Smith's candidacy, calling the remarks "conspiracy theories and hateful remarks."

"If you can't denounce the evil plans and actions of these white nationalists, we don't want you in our caucus," Republican House Speaker Lee Chatfield said. "In fact, if there's any 'Republican' who thinks like this guy, we don't want your vote either. We don't support domestic terrorism."

Chatfield, however, also chastised Whitmer for her remarks laying some of the blame at Trump's feet that week: "Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups," Whitmer said, adding that extremists had "heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry—as a call to action."

In a Twitter thread, Chatfield criticized Whitmer, claiming she had kept the investigation under wraps: "Why weren't we warned of the plot to take hostages at the Capitol? The plot by these terrorists was against us too. Why weren't House sergeants warned? You knew and we weren't even given a warning. We had people working in the building and their lives matter too." However, it was the FBI, and not Whitmer, who had overseen the sharing of information with potential victims.

Chatfield also suggested that she shared in the blame: "Hatred and violence are wrong, and that's why I've continually denounced it," he wrote. "And I agree, it's time to tone the partisan rhetoric and 'the heat down.' Will you do the same for President Trump? Will the [lieutenant governor] do it to the entire GOP? We have to make this decision together."

However, Chatfield and other leading Michigan Republicans, had played their own not-insignificant roles in whipping up anti-Whitmer hysteria, as Michigan journalist Joshua Pugh pointed out on Twitter. When "Patriot" protesters had locked down Lansing with an anti-Whitmer protest on April 15 that featured Confederate flags and incendiary rhetoric, Chatfield had greeted them by waving a flag out his window and tweeting out encouragement.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey had been even more incendiary. On the floor of the Senate during a subsequent Lansing protest—during which armed militia members were watching from the gallery above—Shirkey had called the governor a tyrant: "If she does not recognize the end of the emergency declaration, we have no other choice but to act," he said, not clarifying what kind of action he intended.

After Thursday's arrests, Shirkey was defiant: "This is no time to be weak in our commitment to freedom," Shirkey told a "Let MI People Go" rally at the Capitol. "We need to be strong…and not be afraid of those who are taking our freedoms away from us."

Shirkey also told the crowd at Thursday's rally that they were not the same people involved in the plot to kill the governor. However, the *Detroit Free Press*identified several of the arrestees as participants at the earlier protests against Whitmer's orders.

In Barry County, Leaf's remarks sparked calls for his resignation. Local residents organized a protest demanding he step down or face a recall movement—but that protest was called off when organizers became concerned about the safety of participants amid the likelihood of armed right-wing counter-protesters.

"Whereas I truly believe in the statement we were trying to make, I cannot in good conscience compromise the safety of my fellow Barry County residents," organizer Olivia Bennett wrote on the event's Facebook page.

"I have come to this conclusion for a couple reasons. First, there were many concerns about confrontational counter protesters. Second, this protest garnered enough attention this weekend that crowd size was a concern given short notice, security, and capacity at the commissioners' meeting."

Bennett tried to clarify that she and other protesters aren't suggesting the sheriff was a participant. "We are not accusing him of having known about the kidnapping plot and we are not accusing him of being a part of it at all," Bennett told MLive. "What I am suggesting is his actions and his words embolden people who would attempt to do such things."

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an 1020

dETROIT free press — Michigan law enforcement is on high alert after the FBI revealed an alleged plot by extremist groups to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also involved a “plan to target and kill police.”“We’re cautious. We’re absolutely more careful,” said First Lt. Mike Shaw of the Michigan State Police. “This is one of the tactics these anti-government, domestic terrorism groups use. Law enforcement is the face of the government. if you’re mad at the government, you’re mad at the police.”The alleged plot was unveiled last Thursday when the U.S. Department of Justice charged six men with conspiracy to k...

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bizarro: trump empathetic and transparent

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/laura-ingraham-says-militia-planned-kidnap-gov-gretchen-whitmer-look-theyre-anarchists-and

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We'll have more on this story in the days to come, but it should be no surprise that Alex Jones and his ilk have called the planned kidnapping of Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) a false flag. Nevertheless, it's worth noting -- especially since Jones praised militias while doing so.
The attempted kidnappers were a "collection of rightwing militiamen, like Three Percenters and Boogaloo Bois." Meanwhile, right-wing personalities like Fox News host Laura Ingraham lied that they were left-wing.

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