[ad_1]
Seven members of a right-wing militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen also face state charges.
United States President Donald Trump speaks during a ‘Keep America Great Rally’ at Kellogg Arena on December 18, 2019, in Battle Creek, Michigan. Image: AFP.
WASHINGTON – Thirteen men, including members of two right-wing militias, have been arrested for conspiring to kidnap the Democratic governor of the US state of Michigan and “instigate a civil war,” authorities said Thursday.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer thanked police for thwarting the kidnapping plot and berated US President Donald Trump for not condemning the hate groups.
In announcing the arrests, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel described the conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer, 49, as a “serious and credible threat.”
Andrew Birge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, said six men faced federal charges for conspiring to kidnap Whitmer from his vacation home.
Birge said they had conducted a surveillance of his residence and even tested a homemade bomb that they intended to use to divert law enforcement from their home.
FBI agents and Michigan police arrested them Wednesday as they met to “raise funds for explosives and exchange tactical equipment,” the Justice Department said.
Trump has repeatedly targeted Whitmer for his tough coronavirus lockdown, and right-wing armed groups have staged protests against her in Lansing, the state capital.
“FREE MICHIGAN!” Trump tweeted in April.
Late on Thursday, Trump showed little sympathy when he commented on Twitter.
“Instead of thanking” for the FBI’s action, Trump said, “she calls me a white supremacist.”
Without explicitly condemning the conspirators, Trump 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!”
Whitmer said that when he took the oath of office “I knew this job would be difficult” but “I could never have imagined something like this.”
He added: “We are not enemies of each other. This virus is our enemy.”
Whitmer pointed to Trump’s refusal in the recent debate with Democrat Joe Biden to condemn white supremacists and “hate groups” like the two Michigan militias that allegedly attacked her.
“Back up and wait, he said,” he said.
“The hate groups heard the president’s words not as a reprimand but as a war cry, as a call to action,” he added.
“When our leaders meet, encourage or fraternize with national terrorists, they legitimize their actions, they are complicit.”
Biden also tried to blame the Republican president.
Biden said in a statement that he spoke with Whitmer, who was on the list to become his vice presidential candidate, and praised the FBI and law enforcement agencies “for their work to prevent this unhinged act by emboldened national terrorists.
He said Trump “is giving oxygen to the intolerance and hatred that we see in the march in our country. We have to stop him.”
‘Violent overthrow’
Attorney General Nessel said seven members of a militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen also faced state charges.
They are suspected of trying to identify the homes of law enforcement officials to target them and “instigate a civil war,” Nessel said.
They also planned to attack the capitol building in Lansing and kidnap government officials, including Whitmer, he said.
All seven were charged with various crimes, including material support for terrorist acts, gang membership and firearms violations.
An affidavit from an FBI agent detailed the outline of the plot to kidnap Whitmer.
The FBI said it learned through social media in early 2020 “that a group of people was discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and police components.”
A confidential informant attended a meeting in June of about 14 people, the FBI said, where the group “spoke about creating a society that would follow the United States Bill of Rights and where they could be self-reliant.”
“They discussed different ways to achieve this goal, from peaceful efforts to violent actions,” the affidavit says.
“At one point, several members spoke about state governments that they believed were violating the US Constitution, including the Michigan government and Governor Gretchen Whitmer,” he said.
“Several members spoke of assassinating ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ an acting governor,” he said.
The six men accused of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer were identified as Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta.
Croft is a resident of Delaware, while the other five live in Michigan.
The affidavit said Fox was recorded in June saying he needed 200 men to “storm the Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, and take hostages, including the governor.”
“Fox explained that they would try the governor of Michigan for ‘treason,’ and said they would execute the plan before the November 2020 election,” the affidavit said.
[ad_2]
