FBI disrupted violent 'militia' plot to overthrow the government and kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Jen Hayden, Daily Kos Staff
Photograph: Seth Herald/Reuters
The FBI made a
shocking announcement on Thursday, saying they’d disrupted a violent plot to
kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. From The Detroit News:
"Several
members talked about murdering 'tyrants' or 'taking' a sitting governor,"
an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit. "The group decided they needed to
increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and
spread their message."
The FBI
affidavit named six men who were involved in the plot: Adam Fox, Barry Croft,
Ty Garbing, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta. FBI agents raided Ty Garbing’s home on Wednesday
night.
The group wasn’t just planning to kidnap Whitmer; they also discussed killing police officers, which prompted one of the militia members they contacted to do the right thing and reach out to law enforcement.
Like a lot of extremists, Fox and the other men named in the affidavit were openly plotting and operating on Facebook.
The FBI affidavit is quite damning. Not only did this
group plan to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, they also discussed straight up murdering
her, blowing up a bridge to slow police response. They met secretly in a
basement, accessible through a trap door hidden by a rug. The confidential
informant was at the meeting and wore a wire as they discussed their domestic
terrorism plots. They also purchased a taser to use in the kidnapping,
surveilled the governor’s home on several occasions and more.
The full
affidavit can be read at The Detroit News.
In late June,
Fox posted on Facebook a video in which he complained about the state’s
judicial system and COVID-19 restrictions on gyms operating in Michigan.
“Fox referred to
Governor Whitmer as ‘this tyrant b----,’ and stated, ‘I don’t know, boys, we
gotta do something,” according to the court affidavit. “You guys link with me
on our other location system, give me some ideas of what we can do.”
Whitmer has
faced several challenges from right-wing extremists in the state during the
pandemic after she implemented a statewide mask mandate. Michigan’s
Republican-packed Supreme Court recently tossed out a law mandating mask
coverage, saying the governor did not have the authority to issue it without
the approval of the Republican-led state legislature.
You may recall
gun-toting extremists flouted the mask mandate when they turned up at the
Michigan Capitol building to protest the lockdown at the height of the pandemic
this spring.
Make no mistake
about it, these extremists have been encouraged by Donald Trump.
Michigan has long had militia extremists. Oklahoma City terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols reportedly attended Michigan militia meetings before carrying out the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.