Michigan AG Says White Supremacist Groups Behind Plot To Kidnap Gov. Whitmer

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, pictured in March 2019, told NPR the threat posed by individuals subscribing to extremist ideology is a nationwide problem.

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Paul Sancya/AP

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Militia Members Plotted To Kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer, FBI Says

A joint task force investigation lasting several months culminated in the arrest of Paul Bellar, 21, Sean Fix, 38, Eric Molitor, 36, Michael Null, 38, William Null, 38, Peter Musico, 42, and Joseph Morrison, 42.

The FBI, which says the men began planning as early as June, charged another six individuals, who, according to a 15-page criminal complaint, tracked down the governor’s Delaware vacation home and began building bombs.

«The people that we charged are affiliated with this Wolverine Watchmen group, Nessel said, adding that it is a Michigan-based group. «But there are multiple white supremacy groups and militia groups that have been acting in accordance with one another.

Investigators found the men’s mission is what white supremacist groups call «the Boogaloo, which Nessel described as an uprising or a second civil war.

«This effort to have a mass uprising nationally is something that we should be very concerned about because, again, it’s not just a Michigan problem, this is an American problem.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan addresses the public after charges were announced Thursday over an alleged plot to kidnap her.

Michigan Office of the Governor via AP

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Michigan Office of the Governor via AP

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan addresses the public after charges were announced Thursday over an alleged plot to kidnap her.

Michigan Office of the Governor via AP

FBI Director Christopher Wray in February announced that the threat posed racially motivated violent extremists had reached a new «national threat priority.

Nessel said she concurs with that assessment and contends racist militia groups currently operating across the country are taking advantage of the unrest that’s been caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

«They’re using it to recruit and to formulate plots, she charged.

Part of the recruitment effort took place during a protest at the state capitol over the summer where militia members stood on the steps holding guns and rifles.

«I think that those protests were used actually as recruiting stations to add more members and to find people that were angry with the governor, angry with the government, and frankly, I think encouraged by the words of our president, Nessel said.

Individuals arrested in connection with the plot to kidnap the governor also schemed to overtake the state capitol and potentially kill a number of public officials there, and threatened to execute members of law enforcement, she said.