FBI prevents kidnapping of Michigan governor

FBI prevents kidnapping of Michigan governor

Investigators have foiled plans in the US state of Michigan for a plot against the local government and the kidnapping of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Authorities announced a total of 13 arrests Thursday. Six men face federal charges on various charges. At the same time, the Michigan Department of Justice is pressing charges against seven other suspects. The ministry accuses them of trying to start a civil war to provoke a “social collapse”. Democrat Whitmer suggested that so-called extremists like those accused by US President Donald Trump might be motivated.

According to the FBI, at least six of those arrested have planned to kidnap Whitmer ahead of the November 3 US election no later than the summer, according to a court document with descriptions from FBI investigators. In late July, one of the suspects said the best Whitmer could do was kidnap Whitmer upon arrival or departure from his private vacation home or governor’s summer residence. The group observed the vacation home in August and September. She was apparently considering detonating a bomb under a nearby bridge to prevent police from intervening during the kidnapping, investigators described.

“I knew this job was going to be tough,” Whitmer said Thursday. “But to be honest, I could never have imagined something like this.” The plans were discovered with the help of informants, undercover agents and secret recordings of conversations, prosecutor Andrew Birge told a news conference. He described the suspects as “violent extremists.” If convicted, they face life in prison. The arrests were made Wednesday night.

Earlier this year, the FBI learned on social media that a group of people – including two of the detainees – had spoken of the “violent overthrow of certain government and police components.” To gain support for his efforts, one of the suspects approached a militia in Michigan.

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: “He loves the power he has.” Whitmer has “uncontrolled power.”

According to Minister Dana Nessel, the seven men the Justice Department seeks to charge them against are said to have had members of the militia called the Wolverine Watchmen or had ties to it. They are accused of trying to find the addresses of police officers to attack them and instigate a civil war. They were also involved in planning and training for an attack on the Capitol in Lansing, Nessel explained. 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. During the Corona crisis, he imposed strict exit restrictions, earning him a lot of praise, but also harsh criticism, including from US President Trump. For several weeks straight, protesters marched in front of the Capitol and accused Whitmer of “tyranny.” Trump expressed his support for the partially armed protesters and showed understanding that they wanted their lives back. “They are very good people, but they are angry,” Trump said.

Armed protesters stormed the building during a May Day protest. Michigan is one of the states in the US that allows people to carry firearms openly. Certain places such as banks, places of worship, courts, hospitals or stores that sell alcohol are excluded, but not the parliament building. Investigators did not link the detainees’ efforts to the Lansing incident in the spring.

Whitmer accused Trump of fueling anger in the crown crisis. This should be a moment of national unity. Instead, our head of state has spent the past seven months denying science, ignoring his own health experts, fueling suspicion, inciting anger, and providing comfort to those who spread fear, hatred and division, “said the Thursday The published document does not indicate that the alleged extremists may have been inspired by Trump.

Whitmer recalled that Trump refused to unequivocally condemn right-wing extremists and hate groups in the television duel against his Democratic rival Joe Biden last week. “When our leaders speak, their words matter, they carry weight,” he said. According to the New York Times, Justice Minister Nessel made a similar statement: Top politicians should weaken these “very dangerous messages” for people who would commit such acts of violence, he said.

Trump later tweeted that Whitmer was making accusations against him instead of thanking government security forces for thwarting the kidnapping. Trump’s adviser Jason Miller previously said: “If we want to talk about hate, look in the mirror, Governor Whitmer.” He wakes up every day with “hatred in his heart” for Trump. (sda / dpa)