LANSING, Mich. – The government said a plot against to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan appeared to have roots in a June gathering in Dublin.
Agents foiled the stunning plot to kidnap the Democratic governor, authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in an alleged scheme that involved months of planning and even rehearsals to snatch her from her vacation home.
Whitmer has been at odds with President Donald Trump over the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and was the target of protests over Michigan’s coronavirus restrictions. Armed protesters converged on the state’s Capitol several times during the summer months.
Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap the governor before the Nov. 3 elections in reaction to what they viewed as her “uncontrolled power,” according to a federal complaint.
Separately, seven others linked to a paramilitary group called the Wolverine Watchmen were charged in state court for allegedly seeking to storm the Michigan Capitol and seek a “civil war.”
The two groups trained together and planned “various acts of violence,” according to the state police.
The genesis of the activity was apparently the June meeting in Dublin attended by more than a dozen people from several states, including Adam Fox of Grand Rapids, Mich., (pictured, right) and Barry Croft of the state of Delaware, two of the men charged in the complaint.
“The group talked about creating a society that followed the U.S. Bill of Rights and where they could be self-sufficient,” the FBI affidavit said. “They discussed different ways of achieving this goal from peaceful endeavors to violent actions. … Several members talked about murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who faced protests aimed at similar actions he and then-health director Dr. Amy Acton took to slow the spread of the coronavirus, said he was unaware of the plot but did not believe he or Acton were ever danger from such activity, which he described as “despicable.”
“This is outside our political process…it’s frightening, just horrible,” he remarked to reported Thursday.
According to reports in newspapers in Ohio and Michigan, another meeting was held in Ohio in July where plotters discussed attacking members of law enforcement and the Michigan State Capitol.
“All of us in Michigan can disagree about politics, but those disagreements should never, ever amount to violence. Violence has been prevented today,” Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider told reporters.
Surveillance for the kidnapping plot took place in August and September, according to an FBI affidavit, and four of the men had planned to meet Wednesday to “make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear.”
The FBI quoted one of the men as saying Whitmer “has no checks and balances at all. She has uncontrolled power right now. All good things must come to an end.”
Authorities said the plots were stopped with the work of undercover agents and informants. The men were arrested Wednesday night.
Andrew Birge, the U.S. attorney in western Michigan, called the men “violent extremists.” They discussed detonating explosive devices — including under a highway bridge — to divert police from the area near Whitmer’s vacation home and Fox bought a Taser for use in the kidnapping, Birge said.
The six charged in federal court face up to life in prison if convicted. The state terrorism charges the other seven men face carry a possible 20-year sentence.