MICHIGAN Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer warned there may still be “dangerous” people targeting her after an alleged plot to kidnap her was foiled.
Whitmer’s comments to ABC’s Good Morning America came on Friday – the day after officials said that a Wolverine Watchmen plot to abduct her was stopped.
“There is ongoing rhetoric,” Whitmer told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“Even the president last night in his tweet storm won’t stop attacking me, and I think that it’s creating a very dangerous situation – not just for me but for people in leadership roles who are trying to save lives all across this country,” the governor added.
Trump slammed Whitmer on Thursday for doing “a terrible job,” as he shot back at her comments that he refused to condemn white supremacy following the foiled plot.
“I do not tolerate ANY extreme violence,” Trump claimed.
He added: “Governor Whitmer—open up your state, open up your schools, and open up your churches!”
Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, has also warned that others may be trying to target the governor.
“I’m worried about additional threats,” Nessel told MSNBC’s Katy Tur on Thursday.
“I will tell you this, this may very well be the tip of the iceberg,”
She added that she does not think federal officials’ work is done – and that there “are still dangerous individuals that are out there.”
Nessel said the other possible threats are “a point of great concern.”
“That’s why I think it’s so important that our elected leaders tone down the rhetoric and make it clear once and for all and to be unequivocal about the fact that they do not condone and they actually condemn these individuals and this type of conduct and these type of organizations,” Nessel added.
The back-and-forth comments came after the FBI revealed that the far-right militia group had made an alleged plan to kidnap Whitmer and start a civil war.
The uprising movement is called a “boogaloo,” prosecutors said.
Thirteen men were arrested on Wednesday, and face charges in conspiring to kidnap the governor, KTLA5 reported.
Seven of the men were part of the militia group, officials said.
Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, Brandon Casert and Ty Garbin – from Michigan and Delaware – face charges with plotting the kidnap.
They had planned to meet up on Wednesday to “make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear,” according to a court filing from the FBI on Thursday.
Seven additional men – Paul Bellar, Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor, Michael Null, William Null, Pete Musico and Joseph Morrison – face terrorism and gang-related charges in connection with the alleged kidnapping plot.
Whitmer on Thursday blasted President Trump and seemingly blamed him for the plot.
The group take their name from Michigan’s nickname – the Wolverine State.
Michigan has long been a hotbed of militia activity and they are fierce advocates of the Second Amendment – as well as the right to carry weapons in general.
The Wolverine Watchmen doesn’t have much of an online presence.
It is not listed among the anti-government groups followed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist and hate groups.
The Anti-Defamation League, which also monitors extremist groups, has no mention of the Wolverine Watchmen on its website.
Militias sprang up the aftermath of the Waco siege in 1993 when Federal agents were involved in a stand-off at a compound belonging to members of a millennial Christian sect.
The siege ended dramatically when fires consumed the compound, leaving some 75 people dead, including 25 children.
The authorities handling of the situation led to anti-government resentment and by spring 1995 almost every state had a militia group, says the ADL.
Many members of militia groups have been arrested since then, usually on weapons, explosives and conspiracy charges.
In May, armed militiamen gathered outside Michigan’s Capitol to rally against Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic executive orders.
“Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups,” Whitmer said.
“’Stand back and stand by,’ he told them. ‘Stand back and stand by.’ Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action.”
She added that leaders’ “words matter,” and that when “they stoke and contribute hate speech, they are complicit.”
Whitmer also said that “hatred bigotry and violence have no place” in Michigan, and promised that those who try and those who break the law or make plots will be brought to justice.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany condemned Whitmer’s comments, saying: “President Trump has continually condemned white supremacists and all forms of hate.”
She claimed Whitmer is “sowing division” with her “allegations.”
Speaking with CNN on Thursday, Nessel slammed “elected leaders like the president” who send “not just winks and nods” to those who make such plots.
“It’s not a dog whistle… it’s literally a command to action for domestic terrorists,” Nessel claimed.
