The US FBI says it has thwarted a plot to kidnap and oust of the Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Whitmer became a target for skeptics about the existence of the Corona virus after imposing strict measures that a judge canceled last week.
Officials said the kidnapping plot included six men who planned to hold a “trial for treason”.
“There is no place for hatred, intolerance and violence” in Michigan, Whitmer said, describing the defendants as “corrupt.”
What were they planning?
According to the FBI , a secret law enforcement source attended a meeting in June in Dublin, Ohio, during which a group of militia members in Michigan discussed overthrowing state governments “they believe are violating the US Constitution.”
The indictment states that “many members spoke of killing“ tyrants ”or“ kidnapping ”the state governor. In one of the videos, a suspect denounced the state’s role in determining when to reopen gyms during the closure of the Corona virus.
The group wanted to gather about “200 men” to storm the Capitol and take hostages, including the state governor. They had hoped to activate their plan before the presidential elections in November. They planned to attack the governor at her home if the first plan failed, officials said.
In a press conference held Thursday, the state governor linked the kidnapping attempt to the speech of President Donald Trump, she said that he had spent the past months “raising suspicion, stirring up anger and comforting those who spread fear, hatred and division.”
The governor noted Trump’s failure to explicitly denounce white supremacists in the first presidential debate last week, describing his comments as a “rallying cry” for hate groups. Trump repeatedly denounced these organizations in the days following the presidential debate.
The closure orders issued by Whitmer lured thousands of protesters to the state’s Capitol, where many compared her to German dictator Adolf Hitler. In April, President Donald Trump expressed support for the protesters, tweeting, “Liberate Michigan.”
Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate against Trump, condemned the militias as a “real threat” and said that Trump’s “free” tweet was encouraging the militias. “The president’s words are important,” he said, adding: “Why doesn’t the president say stop, stop, stop, stop?”
