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Thursday, October 8, 2020
It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller: in the United States, several men are said to have planned to kidnap the governor of Michigan and overthrow the state government. The police use elaborate investigative methods to find out about the group.
Several men are said to have planned a plot against Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the US state of Michigan. Authorities announced a total of 13 arrests. Criminal charges were brought against six men at the federal level and another seven at the state level.
Federal FBI police accused the six men of having discussed the kidnapping of the Democratic governor before the November 3 US election since at least the summer. The politician’s vacation home was noted for this. With the help of informants, undercover agents and secret recordings of conversations, they were discovered, said prosecutor Andrew Birge. He called the suspects “violent extremists.” If convicted, they face life in prison.
The suspect is said to have sought contact with a militia.
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Earlier this year, the FBI learned on social media that a group had discussed the “violent overthrow of certain government and police components,” including two of those arrested. To gain support for his efforts, one of the suspects approached a Michigan-based militia. In a phone call in mid-June, one of the suspects is said to have said he would need 200 men to storm the Capitol in the capital Lansing and take hostages, including the governor, who will be tried for “treason.”
The same suspect is said to have said during an observation of the governor’s vacation home in September: “She loves the power she has.” Whitmer has “uncontrolled power.”
Attorney General Nessel said the seven men against whom state criminal charges were brought are believed to have ties to a militia called the Wolverine Watchmen. They are accused of trying to find police addresses to attack them and start a civil war. In addition, they participated in planning and training for the attack on the Capitol in Lansing, Nessel said. The plans allegedly put the lives of police officers, government officials and the general public at risk.
Whitmer is a rising figure in the Democratic Party. In the Corona crisis, he imposed strict exit restrictions, earning him much praise but also harsh criticism from US President Donald Trump. Protesters marched outside the Capitol for several weeks in a row accusing Whitmer of “tyranny.” Armed protesters stormed the building during a May Day protest. Investigators were unable to establish a link between the detainees’ efforts and this incident.
