Thirteen Charged in Plot to Seize Michigan, Kidnap Governor
Thirteen were charged in a plot to overthrow the government of Michigan by storming the Capitol and kidnapping the governor.
(Bloomberg) -- Thirteen men were charged in a plot to overthrow the government of Michigan by storming the Capitol, kidnapping the governor and trying her for treason.
The alleged conspirators, including at least one member of an armed group called the Wolverine Watchmen, staked out Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s vacation home and schemed to take hostages in Lansing and destroy police vehicles with Molotov cocktails, federal and state law enforcement authorities said on Thursday in unveiling a sweeping sting operation. The men communicated with code words on social media and met in a basement accessed by a trap door, the authorities said.
In a news conference, Whitmer apportioned some blame to President Donald Trump for creating a political environment she said encouraged the plot.
“This should be a moment for national unity where we all pulled together as Americans to meet this challenge head on,” she said of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic toll. “Instead, our head of state has spent the past seven months denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.”
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said it was Whitmer who was being divisive.
“President Trump has continually condemned white supremacists and all forms of hate,” McEnany said in an email. “Governor Whitmer is sowing division by making these outlandish allegations. America stands united against hate and in support of our federal law enforcement who stopped this plot.”
Facebook Inc. said it had “proactively reached out and cooperated with the FBI” early in the investigation.
“We remove content, disable accounts and immediately report to law enforcement when there is a credible threat of imminent harm to people or public safety,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
The alleged conspiracy came to light early this year when the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned that a group of people was discussing the “violent overthrow of certain government and law-enforcement components,” according to the Justice Department. The U.S. charged six of the men, while the state charged seven.
Growing Resentment
The six face federal charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. They “talked about creating a society that followed the U.S. Bill of Rights and where they could be self-sufficient,” according to the U.S. “They discussed different ways of achieving this goal from peaceful endeavors to violent actions.”
“At one point, several members talked about state governments they believed were violating the U.S. Constitution, including the government of Michigan and Governor Gretchen Whitmer,” according to the criminal complaint. “Several members talked about murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor.”
Of the six, five from Michigan were arrested Wednesday in Ypsilanti, court records indicate. A Delaware man was also charged.
Michigan is a hotbed of nationalist, extremist and white supremacist hate groups, with more than two dozen active organizations, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. During the early stages of the pandemic, it was also among the places where the president urged supporters to resist lockdown measures, with a tweet on April 17 urging people to “liberate” the state.
Whitmer, once considered a top contender as Joe Biden’s running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, has become a target of conservatives who believe her response to the pandemic trampled on individual freedoms with statewide orders to wear masks and stay at home. Hundreds of demonstrators, some of them armed, occupied the statehouse this spring to protest the orders. The Michigan Supreme Court later ruled that Whitmer lacked the authority to enforce the orders.
The alleged conspiracy suggests an escalation of threats against public officials during the pandemic, including health officials, who have been the target of violent threats as a backlash against safety measures intensified. An association of local public health officials said in June that at least two dozen had left their jobs during the pandemic amid the threats.
Though separatists have occasionally declared themselves independent of the law over the years, plots to overthrow the government have been rare since the last time the U.S. experienced this level of social unrest, in the 1960s and ’70s.
Among the Michigan men charged are Adam Fox and Ty Garbin, who authorities said is a leader of the Watchmen. The Delaware resident is Barry Croft. In June, Fox, Croft and about a dozen others gathered in Dublin, Ohio, with a government cooperator in attendance, according to the U.S. The two met later that month with leaders of the armed group, including Garbin, to discuss a plan to lay siege to the Capitol, take hostages including the governor and put Whitmer on trial for treason before the November election, according to the U.S.
‘Civil War’
About a week later, Fox, Garbin and several others met in the basement of Fox’s business in Grand Rapids, which they entered through a trap door hidden under a rug, the FBI said in court papers. While Fox collected the cell phones of the group so they couldn’t be monitored, a government informant recorded the meeting, during which they discussed taking the Capitol by force and blowing up police vehicles, and planned to meet during the first week of July for training, the U.S. claimed.
Federal public defenders appointed to represent Fox and Garbin didn’t immediately respond to voicemails left after hours seeking comment on the charges. A lawyer for Croft couldn’t be located.
The alleged conspirators used code words on social media and encrypted communications to coordinate the kidnapping and discussed detonating explosive devices to distract law enforcement, Andrew Birge, U.S. attorney for Michigan’s Western District, said at a press conference Thursday afternoon in Lansing. They also conducted surveillance of Whitmer’s vacation home, Birge said.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said they planned to kidnap other government officials as well, but declined to mention names.
Reaction on 4chan
In the end, law enforcement agents who learned of the plot lured a number of the men to a meeting where they thought they’d be buying explosives and tactical gear.
Seven of the defendants were charged separately by the state with plotting to target law enforcement officers, instigate civil war and planning and training for an operation to attack the Capitol. The charges include providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership and possessing firearms in the commission of a felony.
The sting drew on the efforts of more than 200 state and federal law enforcement officials, including the execution of search warrants and arrest warrants in more than a dozen cities around the state, according to Nessel.
Users of the internet forum 4chan reacted with suspicion to reports of the alleged plot, doubting the FBI’s claim. Much of the chatter on the site concluded that the news was “fake,” but nonetheless predicted it would be bad for the president. Some cheered on the armed group, saying its plan, if true, sounded “heroic.”
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