What would you say if you saw this in another country?
There is new and disturbing information in the alleged militia plot against the governor of Michigan.
The 14 men charged had far more violent plans than just a kidnapping, according to federal and state authorities.
New filings claim there was a Plan B the militiamen had drawn up, that involved a takeover of the Michigan capitol building by 200 combatants who would stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials.
And, according to government documents now on file in lower Michigan court, there was also a Plan C — burning down the state house, leaving no survivors.
In southern Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon the 14th man charged in the plot, Brian Higgins, was closer to extradition to Michigan, even as prosecutors there piled on new, even more outrageous accusations against the men.
Higgins appeared from his home for the video court hearing.
“My client is going to leave this house when this hearing concludes. And unless you tell him otherwise, he’s going to go straight to the sheriff’s department and turn himself in,” said Higgins attorney, Christopher Van Wagner.
The latest accusations include the charged threat that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was to be kidnapped and possibly killed; now government court records cite subplots to stage an armed takeover of the state capitol in Lansing and televise the executions of politicians.
In an interview with the ABC 7 Chicago I-Team last week, Michigan’s attorney general, who’s prosecuting some of the militiamen, discussed the domestic terror threat.
“We are one of the few states that does not ban guns in our state capitol building, and clearly there have been threats made on the lives of our legislators; you probably saw the pictures back from in April, where we had armed gunman, some of them, same defendants in this case, that were hovering over state senators with long guns, screaming and yelling at them as they were deliberating, as they were discussing legislation and as they were voting, so that remains a big concern to me in a very scary scenario,” said Dana Nessel.
That fear bleeds over to Illinois. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker mentioned the Michigan case during Tuesday’s COVID-19 update.
“We have threats that stream into my office daily, while we have watched the kidnapping plot against the Michigan governor unfold just a state away,” said Pritzker.
Despite the violent nature of the charges, including an alleged plan to hold a mock treason trial for the governor of Michigan once she was kidnapped, several of the defendants have had bond reductions and are now free.
You will recall that the reason these criminals were planning this is because Whitmer authorized temporary, modest lockdowns to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
When the men were arrested Trump didn’t bother to condemn them and Whitmer criticized him for stoking division.
Here’s how Trump reacted to that:
“Gov. Whitmer of Michigan has done a terrible job. She locked down her state for everyone, except her husband’s boating activities,” Trump said.
He also tweeted that Whitmer should “open up your state, open up your schools, and open up your churches!”
However, churches in Michigan are open, and some schools are open for in-person classes as well.
Later:
Later still:
“I see Whitmer today, she was complaining, but it was our Justice Department that arrested the people that she was complaining about, it was my Justice Department that arrested them. But instead she goes and does her little political act, and she keeps her state closed — although we just won the big case, as you know, to open up Michigan. Because what she’s doing is a horrible thing to the people. The churches are closed, the schools are closed, and the whole state is closed, and people are being hurt very badly by it in the form of drinking and suicides and depression. It’s a very sad thing.”
First of all, the state was not completely locked down. Ever. He was lying. Second, Donald Trump doesn’t care about people dying of COVID and neither does he care about mental illness or alcohol and drug disorders. It’s laughable.
But more importantly, Trump was basically saying there that the would-be murderers were justified in their motivation. He called her a dictator. He said that she was doing horrible things to people by following the CDC guidelines.
His people listened. And they are full-fledged violent fascists. The had a plan to take over the state house stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials!!
That’s what we are talking about here. Trump knew that. And he tacitly defended them.