The Conspiracy to Kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Author | Macklin, Graham |
On October 8, 2020, Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel held a press conference with colleagues from the state's Eastern and Western Districts as well as state police and the FBI to announce that a "serious, credible threat to public safety" had been averted. (1) The previous evening, the FBI and Michigan State Police had arrested six men, five in Michigan and one in Delaware, who they had charged, in a federal complaint, with conspiring to kidnap Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer. (a) Simultaneously, the State of Michigan had filed additional charges, pursuant with its Anti-Terrorism Act, against another seven men connected to a little known militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen. (b) In addition to being involved in the conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer, this group was also alleged to have targeted local law enforcement officials, made threats of violence intended to instigate a civil war, and planned and trained for an operation to attack the Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan. An eighth alleged member of the Wolverine Watchmen was charged the following week, bringing the total number of individuals charged to 14. (2)(c)
The following outline of the case against the 14 men and the allegations contained therein--derived from press reports, the criminal complaint, and court documents--remain to be tested in court at the time of writing (July 2021), and thus, all of those charged in connection to the plot referred to in this article are to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Defense attorneys for the men accused in the federal complaint of conspiring to kidnap Governor Whitmer argue that their clients were prone to "big talk" and were just blowing off steam; that their plans were "outlandish" and "absurd." (3) The prosecution takes the diametrically opposed view. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler argued in court that although these individuals "got caught because they're amateurs and they hadn't thought things through," that did not mean that their plot, just because it failed, "wasn't dangerous." (4)
Indeed, a new indictment filed on April 26, 2021, saw a grand jury add three additional charges to the extant federal charge: conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, possession of an unregistered destructive device, and possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Prosecutors now allege that the group was "engaged in domestic terrorism" and intended "to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping." (5)
While there is no statutory penalty for "domestic terrorism" at a federal level in the United States, framing the case in this way will likely significantly increase the penalties for the defendants if a jury convicts them. In doing so, the prosecution of the alleged plotters signals an early indication of how the Justice Department might be moving to handle cases of anti-government extremism in the aftermath of the storming of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Five of the accused plotters are due to stand trial on October 12, 2021. (6) (d) A sixth defendant, also charged in the federal case, has already pleaded guilty and agreed to "fully cooperate" with prosecutors in exchange for leniency. (7) His former confederates face life in prison if convicted. (8)
This article gives an overview of the broader political context in which the plot began to coalesce followed by an overview of the Wolverine Watchmen militia group and the other key individuals involved. It details how the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer evolved, the planning and training that the conspirators undertook in pursuit of this end, and how the FBI and law enforcement compromised this conspiracy. The final section discusses the parallels between this case and the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and what the Michigan plot reveals about the broader evolution of, and the present threat from, domestic violent extremism in the United States.
The Political Context to the Plot
Before charting the genesis of the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer, it is necessary to outline the broader political context in which it occurred to fully comprehend how she came to be viewed with such venom by certain groups of people. On March 10, 2020, Whitmer declared a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which included a "stay-at-home" order until April 30 that year. These measures were unable to curtail the spread of the virus, however, and in a little over two weeks, Michigan had the fifth-largest number of COVID-19 cases in the country. (9) (e) Her response to the pandemic was not universally popular, and Michigan experienced some of the earliest and largest 'anti-lockdown' protests in the United States. (10)
Governor Whitmer quickly became embroiled in a very public war of words with then President Donald Trump after challenging his response to the pandemic. She was one of several governors who implored Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act, which would enable the government to compel private companies to switch their production to the manufacture of medical supplies, including masks and ventilators. When Whitmer publicly criticized the federal government's lack of preparedness in an MSNBC interview on March 17, 2020, (11) Trump responded on Twitter within minutes: "Failing Michigan Governor must work harder and be much more proactive. We are pushing her to get the job done. I stand with Michigan!" (12)
On March 27, 2020, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act. During the course of a White House briefing that day, he assailed Whitmer once more, seemingly because he considered her, and several other governors, insufficiently "appreciative" of his efforts. He revealed to journalists that he had instructed Vice President Mike Pence not to call those who depreciated his administration's efforts. "I say, 'Mike, don't call the governor in Washington, you're wasting your time with him. Don't call the woman in Michigan...You know what I say? If they don't treat you right, I don't call." (13) He continued to publicly denigrate Whitmer during a Fox News interview later that day. "We've had a big problem with the young, a woman governor, you know who I am talking about, from Michigan. [...] I mean, she's not stepping up," he told host Sean Hannity. "I don't know if she knows what's going on, but all she does is sit there and blame the federal government. She doesn't get it done. We send her a lot." (14)
"Hi, my name is Gretchen Whitmer, and that governor is me," Michigan's governor responded. "I've asked repeatedly and respectfully for help. We need it. No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits. You said you stand with Michigan--prove it." (15) Trump responded instead with a barrage of personal insults: "I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen 'Half' Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn't have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude! #MAGA." (16) Following a week of online feuding with Whitmer on Twitter and Fox News, Trump finally approved Michigan's request for an emergency declaration, which Whitmer had asked for on March 26, 2020. (17)
As the Trump administration increased its demands for "opening up" the United States again, the Michigan Freedom Fund and the Michigan Conservative Coalition helped organize a demonstration outside the statehouse in Lansing on April 15, 2020. "Operation Gridlock" created a ring of traffic around the statehouse while, on the capitol's lawn, protestors railed against Whitmer, including one holding a placard that read "Trump, lock up the Nazi woman from Michigan." The demonstration was, noted one journalist, "half protest, half Trump rally." (18) The following day, the White House unveiled its guidelines for "Opening Up America Again." (19) Trump remained fixated upon Michigan, however. On April 17, he tweeted two words: "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" (20) Though the FBI would later state that the plot to kidnap Whitmer predated Trump's tweet, the majority of the group's meetings took place afterward. (21)
Following Trump's tweet, anti-lockdown protests gathered momentum in Michigan. On April 29, 2020, three women associated with Michigan United for Liberty entered the gallery of the state's House of Representatives, previously closed due to the lockdown, and began chanting "open Michigan now." The House sergeant-at-arms asked them to leave and, when they refused, had them forcibly removed. (22) The following day, on April 30, 2020, a large "American Patriot Rally" took place outside the Michigan Capitol building. During the course of the rally, dozens of armed protestors entered the building, demanding entry to the Senate floor where lawmakers were to debate extending Michigan's state of emergency until May 28, 2020. (23) "Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us," tweeted Senator Dayna Polehanki as gun-toting agitators stood on a balcony above the legislators. "Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeant-at-Arms more than today." (24) Two of the agitators Polehanki photographed that day--the twin brothers Michael and William Null--were later charged with support for terrorist acts and weapons violations as part of the wider investigation into the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer. (f) Rather than denouncing the incursion into Michigan's statehouse, Trump stated that Whitmer needed to compromise. "The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire," he tweeted the following day. "These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely. See them, talk to them, make a deal." (25)
The Wolverine Watchmen
Three others who entered the Michigan Capitol...
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