Michigan's "Master Race"
Photo: Huffpost & Police Departments Statewide
MLive: "Search warrants were executed and arrests made across the state," Michigan Attorney General Nessel said at a press conference October 8, "including at locations in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Luther, Hartland, Canton, Orion Township, Waterford, Belleville, Milford, Cadillac, Shelbyville, Plainwell, Zeeland, Munising, Ovid, Charlotte, Clarkston, Sterling Heights and Shelby Township." Rounding up the baker's dozen was an out of state Delaware arrest.
4/28/2021 Feds: Trump supporter on FBI's Most Wanted list was Googling Gretchen Whitmer, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
The day before the Capitol riot, the FBI says, the same man was busy on the internet searching for gun stores, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office, whose dispatcher he would eventually harass and threaten to kill — all of which was disclosed in newly unsealed court records.
??/??/???? The Gov. Whitmer kidnapping plot was inspired by common political rhetoric. It needs to end, by Mallory McMorrow, State Senator, Michigan's 13th District [#Shirkey]
This wasn’t just a group of men taking out their anger online. The men charged in the case attended multiple rallies and protests at the state Capitol and used those events to plan and recruit additional men to join their cause. They stockpiled and organized weapons, are said to have plotted detailed and disturbing plans and allegedly surveyed the governor’s main residence and vacation home.
And they were egged on and encouraged by the language of the president of the United States and the Republican leaders of our state House and Senate.
When extremists hear repeated messages sanctioned by authorities about defeating a “tyrant,” they can hear that as a call to action, not just politics.
After the protest in April, like many others, I sounded the alarm that something much darker than frustrations over stay-at-home orders and Covid restrictions was at play. What we saw then — and what we’ve seen for months since — was the percolation of far-right and extremist hatred, bigotry, violence and aggression. The April rally was awash in swastikas, Confederate flags, and Hawaiian shirts — a new symbol of the anti-government "boogaloo" movement — not just calls to reopen gyms and restaurants.
3/30/2021 Whitmer kidnap probe leads feds to explosives, arsenals, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
On Oct. 8, agents in Delaware seized a .10-mm Glock pistol from Croft's truck and took a 12-gauge shotgun, two swords, a hatchet and a knife. They also seized a brand of "Dr. Atomic's Exploding Targets," boxes of rifle primers, propane canisters, a box of 6,000 ball bearings and containers of smokeless powder.
Before investigators left Croft in jail, they also seized several personal items, including Croft's trademark tricorn hat, which was popular in the 18th century, and a Hawaiian shirt. The shirts are considered the standard uniform of members of the Boogaloo movement who use the movement’s name as a slang term for a second civil war or collapse of civilization and frequently show up at protests armed with rifles.
Agents also seized a box containing "Three Percent" patches. Croft is the national leader of the 3 Percenters, a small militia that participated in the Jan. 6 insurgence at the U.S. Capitol, FBI Special Agent Richard Trask testified during an earlier court hearing.
3/29/2021 3 Whitmer kidnap plot suspects headed to trial even as 1 charge dismissed, by Darcie Moran and Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press
Judge Michael Klaeren ruled there wasn't enough probable cause in the case against Pete Musico, 43; his son-in-law, Joseph Morrison, 26, and Paul Bellar, 22, to send charges forward for communicating a threat of terrorism. His ruling came at the conclusion of their preliminary examination in Jackson County’s 12th District Court.
Klaeren, in his decision, said the men of the Wolverine Watchmen, described by them as a militia group and by officials as a terrorist group, were speaking in a closed group when they said the comments in question. The situation, in many respects, was similar to someone just having a thought. However, he pointed to the men's various other acts, such as providing property for training, as examples of their further involvement. "The intent is so clear that these individuals were going to do something more than spout off threats to each other," he said.
3/5/2021 Whitmer kidnapping plot hearing live feed: Confidential FBI informant testifies, by Joe Guillen and Omar Abdel-Baqui, Detroit Free Press
A confidential FBI informant testified Friday in a Jackson court about being embedded for months alongside leaders of a group accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The informant’s identity was concealed for his safety. Introduced only as “Dan,” an online video feed of Friday’s hearing was cut off during his testimony so court observers only could hear him. Dan testified at the preliminary examination for Pete Musico, 43; his son-in-law, Joseph Morrison, 26; and Paul Bellar, 22.
Dan described learning of the group — known as the Wolverine Watchmen — through a Facebook algorithm that he believed made the suggestion based on his interactions with other Facebook pages that support the Second Amendment and firearms training.
“I was scrolling through Facebook one day and they popped up as a suggestion post,” Dan said. “I clicked on the page and it had a few questions to answer.”
After answering the questions satisfactorily, Dan, an Army veteran who described himself as a Libertarian, was admitted into the group and told to download an encrypted messaging app called Wire so he could communicate in secret with other members.
3/4/2021 Whitmer kidnapping plot hearing reveals new details, hints at legal strategies, by Frank Witsil and Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press
3/4/2021 Day 2: Defense to counter framing of 3 Whitmer kidnap plot suspects, by Darcie Moran and Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press
"Boogaloo" Barry and "Patriot" Brad. No FBI dance card is complete without them.
3/4/2021 Too Lazy to Vote: 5 of 6 Whitmer kidnapping suspects, by John Barnes, Special to The Detroit News
Five of the six suspects arrested and charged by federal law enforcement in the alleged plot have not cast a ballot in 14 statewide elections going back to 2012, a review of state voting records found.
Barry Croft Jr. of Bear, Delaware, (pictured above) is not even registered to vote, according to Delaware's Office of the State Elections Commissioner.
According to this Detroit News report, the Feds accuse Croft of being a bombmaker. An FBI agent described him as the national leader of the Three Percenters, a militia.
“They wear a flag but don’t understand what it means,” said Steven Chermak, a criminology professor and alt-right expert at Michigan State University. “They just want to take bits and pieces of what they think our history is, which isn’t informed by actual history.”
3/3/2021 3 charged in Whitmer kidnap plot face off against Michigan prosecutors, by Darcie Moran and Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press
2/25/2021 Neo-Nazis planned to establish white nationalist compound in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, by Steve Neavling, MetroTimes
The plan was hatched by Justin Watkins, 25, a former leader of the Base, a militant, pro-Hitler movement that advocates violence against non-white people, according to secret chats obtained by VICE News.
2/24/2021 This Week In Fascism #97: Nazi Camp Foiled In Michigan; Fascists In Military Growing ; Oath Keepers Get Conspiracy Charges
2/17/2021 Department of Homeland Security Confirms Neo-Nazi Leader Used to Work For It, by Ben Makuch, Vice News
The leader of terror group the Base once worked for an agency tasked with coordinating the U.S. government’s counterterrorism efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it once employed an American neo-Nazi terror leader now based in Russia after he posted what he said were letters of appreciation that DHS and the Pentagon sent him thanking him for his service.
Earlier this month, Rinaldo Nazzaro, 47, founder and leader of the Base, one of the most violent American domestic terror groups in years, posted three undated letters from U.S. agencies lauding him for his service. One was from DHS—an agency tasked with thwarting terrorism in the U.S.—and two were on Marine Corps letterhead. All spoke glowingly of Nazzaro. Since late 2019, nine members of the Base, the group he founded, have been arrested in the U.S. for alleged crimes as wide-ranging as an assassination plot, ghost-gun making, plans for train derailments, and a mass shooting. The Canadian government has designated it as a terrorist group.
2/12/2021 This Capitol Rioter Claimed He Was a Top FBI Agent. Here's Why He Probably Wasn't, by Tess Owen and Cameron Joseph, Vice News
A lawyer for a member of the Oath Keepers militia indicted for rioting at the Capitol freaked out a lot of people when he claimed his client had been a “section chief” in the FBI. But it turns out that claim was probably false—and the rest of his resume may not be quite as impressive as it sounds.
Thomas E. Caldwell is facing serious conspiracy charges for his alleged role in the Capitol insurrection.
2/8/2021 This Is the Proud Boys Supporter Who Filmed Attacks on the Media at the Capitol Riot, by Tess Owen, Vice
Meet Gabriel Brown, a live-streamer from Long Island whose involvement in far-right activism goes back to the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.
2/8/2021 What Canada’s Terror Laws Mean for Proud Boys Members, by Ben Makuch, Vice World News
Last week, Canadian Proud Boys suddenly found themselves members of a terrorist group after Canada's Department of Public Safety gave the extremist street-fighting gang the same legal distinction as ISIS, al-Qaeda, and 72 other terrorist groups from around the world.
The Proud Boys were among four far-right organizations newly added to Canada’s list of designated terrorist organizations, along with the Base and Atomwaffen Division—two neo-Nazi terror groups under FBI scrutiny in the U.S.—and the nationalist Russian Imperial Movement based in St. Petersburg.
While the exact number of Proud Boys in Canada isn’t known, there are roughly five to six chapters across the country likely comprising over a hundred people. (Experts declined to give a hard number to VICE World News.) This makes it undoubtedly one of the largest groups operating in Canada on the terror list. According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, in 2020 a “pro-fascist and neo-Nazi arm of the Canadian Proud Boys” splintered from the Canadian Proud Boys; that group, Canada First, operates a Telegram channel with thousands of subscribers and has been denounced by the official Proud Boys group in the U.S.
2/5/2021 Alleged Mommy Capitol Rioter ‘Pink Hat Lady’ Has Been Arrested by the FBI, by Trone Dowd, Vice
Rachel Powell allegedly used a battering ram to break a window at the U.S. Capitol and then was seen barking orders through a bullhorn.
2/3/2021 Canada Designates Proud Boys, Atomwaffen, and The Base as Terror Organizations, by Mack Lamoureux and Ben Makuch, Vice News
2/3/2021 Oath Keepers Talked About Protecting the Capitol—Before They Stormed It, by Tess Owen, Vice
Leaked audio from an Oath Keepers conference call shows the militia group thought “antifa” would storm the White House or the U.S. Capitol.
1/29/2021 Proud Boy ‘Spazzo’ Who Smashed Capitol Window Had Bomb-Making Manuals at Home, Feds Say, by Tess Owen, Vice
1/27/2021 Proud Boys Reel at Report Leader Was a Rat, by Mack Lamoureux and Ben Makuch, Vice News
After Reuters broke the news that Enrique Tarrio, 36, the current chairman of the Proud Boys, was a “prolific” police informant, online supporters and members of the right-wing extremist group were defiant, suspicious, and in disbelief at the revelation their leader was reportedly a rat.
On Telegram, a popular messaging app on the far right, reactions to the story came hard, fast, and varied: some believed this was the classic case of a "fake news” smear campaign, while others said his treachery was all an attempt to counter the “Deep State” and antifascist activists.
1/27/2021 Hartland man pleads guilty in Whitmer kidnap plot, agrees to 'fully cooperate', by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
Ty Garbin, an airline mechanic, pleaded guilty to kidnap conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids Tuesday morning, admitting he was part of a group that sought to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home and that he was more than a bystander.
Following his arrest, Garbin's lawyer, Mark Satawa, had argued that his client was merely a bystander in the plot, and that he would be vindicated when the facts came out.
1/20/2021 The FBI Wants to Know Why This Arrested Proud Boy Was Wearing a Walkie-Talkie Inside the Capitol, by Tess Owen, Vice
Joe Biggs has been charged with unauthorized entry and obstruction of official proceedings before Congress.
1/17/2021 Few show up for right-wing demonstration at Michigan Capitol amid strong police presence, by Anna Gustafson, Michigan Advance
1/17/2021 New: Michigan GOP Senate leader advised militias on messaging, says they’ve gotten ‘a bad rap’, by Todd A. Heywood, Michigan Advance
Just a month before 13 men were charged by state and federal law enforcement for a far-right plot to allegedly kidnap and execute Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) had a sitdown conversation with leaders of three Michigan-based militias.
“I was in Lansing and members — the leaders, the so-called leaders — of three of the groups met in my office and we talked about their messaging, their purpose, what they are trying to accomplish and how they could improve their message,” he told JTV host Bart Hawley in an interview on Sept. 10. “It was very fascinating and they’re not uniquely different than you and I. They bleed red, white and blue, but they feel like they are not being heard.”
As for the militias, of which an estimated 18 operate in Michigan 2019, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Shirkey told JTV in September they were getting a “bad rap.”
This was in light of a mob of anti-COVID-19 lockdown protesters swarming the Capitol on April 30, including some militia members armed with long guns and side arms.
While sergeant-at-arms held off demonstrators from entering the state House chamber, Shirkey allowed several armed protesters to fill the Senate gallery as members voted to authorize the Legislature to sue the Democratic governor over her pandemic orders. Shirkey met with some of the protesters and blocked reporters from covering their conversation.
That incident has been called a “dry run” for the insurrection on Jan. 6 in the U.S. Capitol by Attorney General Dana Nessel.
1/15/2021 The Proud Boy Who Smashed a US Capitol Window Is a Former Marine, by Tess Owen and Mack Lamoureux, Vice
What we know about Dominic Pezzola, a "talented" high school boxer who led a raid on the Capitol.
1/15/2021 No sessions for House and Senate next week after credible threats, by Susan J. Demas, Michigan Advance
1/13/2021 Family reveals inside life of Adam Fox, alleged mastermind in Whitmer kidnapping plot, by M.L. Elrick, Detroit Free Press
1/13/2021 The Man Who Stormed the Capitol in a 'Camp Auschwitz' Sweatshirt Has Been Arrested, by Trone Dowd, Vice
1/12/2021 A Proud Boy in Disguise Helped Lead the Insurrection at the Capitol, by Tess Owen and Mack Lamoureux, Vice
The man caught on video breaking a window at the Capitol with a riot shield is a member of the Proud Boys who goes by the alias “Spazzo.”
1/10/2021 Susan J. Demas: Fascists planted their flag in the U.S. Capitol this week. Let’s stop denying it, The Michigan Advance
The violent threats against journalists and elected officials, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Georgia Secretary of State Brett Raffensperger and state Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson (D-Detroit), should be understood to be part of this insurrection. The fascist impulse is to remove those standing in the way of the white ethnostate they seek — whether by forcing good people to quit or holding televised show trials and executions.
We’ve had no shortage of warnings. So we should be clear that some Trump supporters were just fine with violence as long as the right people got hurt. That’s been the guiding principle of the Trump era. And it cannot stand.
At the very least, we cannot acquiesce to GOP lawmakers’ darkly farcical demands that we just turn the page from sedition and call out their claims that Democrats are being petty and partisan as the fascist-sympathizing claptrap that it is.
1/7/2021 The Right Is Trying Really Hard to Blame Antifa for Storming the Capitol, by David Gilbert, Vice
It took just a few hours for the baseless claim about the antifa bogeyman to spread throughout the entire right-wing media ecosystem.
1/5/2021 Proud Boys and Hardcore Trump Supporters Are Turning Their Backs on Cops, by Tess Owen, Vice
The arrest of a Proud Boys leader has created a dangerous new dynamic for planned protests in DC.
12/30/2020 FBI reveals items seized at white supremacy leader's heavily guarded hate camp by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
"I would say all this stuff that came out of the search of the house tracks with what we have seen in previous cases of Base members in Maryland, Delaware and Georgia in terms of people alleged to have been building up weapons and weapons parts and making very very detailed plans," said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.
According to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, the group aims to bring together highly skilled members to train them for acts of violence. The Base, according to Nessel's office, is a white supremacy organization that encourages acts of violence against the U.S. and claims to be training for a race war "to establish white ethnonationalist rule in areas of the U.S., including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula."
12/20/2020 How a Trump booster group helped the head of extremist Proud Boys gain access to the White House, by Will Carless, USA TODAY
Several hours before members of the extremist group the Proud Boys clashed with police and opponents on the streets of Washington, D.C., last weekend, the head of the group was strolling the halls of power.
"Last minute invite to an undisclosed location," Enrique Tarrio wrote on the social media site Parler, posting photos on the steps of the White House.
Tarrio's presence on a White House tour shows how heand the Proud Boys have moved closer to President Donald Trump via a little-known booster group called Latinos for Trump.
In Trump's final days, the Proud Boys have evolved into the thuggish face of the far-right movement, giving their support to everything from Trump's claims of voter fraud to anti-vaccination conspiracy theories.
12/18/2020 Accused Whitmer kidnap plotter who threatened to behead Trump complains about prison, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
12/18/2020 Whitmer kidnap plot suspect denied lower bond; 3 state suspects still in custody, by Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press
In total, 14 men have been charged at the state and federal level in the plot. Morrison is one of eight men charged at the state level and one of three charged in Jackson County, specifically.
Morrison initially was given a $10 million bond, but Jackson County District Judge Michael Klaeren lowered it to $150,000 last month.
Klaeren previously lowered bond to $75,000 for codefendant Paul Bellar, 22, of Milford and $100,000 for Morrison’s father-in-law, Pete Musico, 43, of Munith, however.
12/17/2020 Accused Whitmer kidnappers indicted ahead of court hearing detailing evidence, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
The arraignments lasted a few minutes but contained surreal moments. For each man, Berens asked if they understood that it was illegal to conspire to kidnap the governor of Michigan.
“Yes,” Canton Township resident Brandon Caserta, 32, said.
“Yes, your honor,” accused ringleader Adam Fox, 37, of Potterville, said.
12/16/2020 6 Whitmer kidnap suspects indicted. 1 called for killing police, feds say, Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
One new detail that did surface in the indictment is that one of the suspects allegedly instructed his cohorts in an encrypted video message that "if they encountered police during a reconnaissance, they should give the officers one opportunity to leave, and kill them if they did not comply."
12/10/2020 'Is this what we're becoming?': Anne Frank memorial in Idaho, the only one in US, defaced with swastika stickers, by Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY
12/8/2020 The Proud Boys' Lawyer Wanted to Be a Nazi Terrorist, by Ben Baakuch and Mack Lamaoureux, Vice.com
The one-time leader and former lawyer of the Proud Boys, who was recently alleged to have tried to plot the assassination of a rival, attempted to join neo-Nazi terror group the Base, but was denied membership for being a “huge liability.”
In a 2019 call with the leadership cadre of the Base, a recording of which was obtained by VICE News, Jason Lee Van Dyke, known as the former lawyer of the Proud Boys and for briefly taking over just after founder Gavin McInnes stepped down in 2018, is heard desperately trying to join the terror group, now under an FBI crackdown.
On the call, Van Dyke used the cover name “John Lee,” and said he moved on from the Proud Boys, which the FBI has described as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism.” Van Dyke—who in 2017 nearly worked for a district attorney in Texas, and probably would have if not for being outed to his future bosses for his extremist past by a rival he then allegedly wanted to kill—was deposed in August 2020. (According to the Daily Beast, in a March filing, Van Dyke denied the allegations against him as “wild theories of a conspiracy to murder.”) The voice in a recording of the deposition is unmistakably the same as that of "Lee."
11/18/2020 For Some, Joining the Proud Boys Was a Stop on the Way to Neo-Nazi Terror, by Ben Baakuch and Mack Lamaoureux, Vice.com
Several members and a recruit to the neo-Nazi terror group the Base described the Proud Boys as part of the journey into far-right extremism.
The Proud Boys have long tried to maintain the facade of being a multicultural organization, quickly attempting to refute any charges of racism.
The group, known for pathetic initiation rituals, bizarre rules outlawing masturbation, and being mentioned by Donald Trump in a national debate, nonetheless attracted eventual members of a more staunchly terroristic organization with a penchant for the tenets of the Third Reich.
The FBI designates the Proud Boys as an extremist organization with ties to white nationalism. Boasting thousands of members, it provided muscle for right-wing groups over the summer during Black Lives Matter protests across the United States, and received renewed national attention after the president's call for them to “stand down and stand by.”
11/14/2021 Feds: Whitmer kidnap suspect had hit list. Trump, Obama, Muslims were on it, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
Barry Croft didn't just hate Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the feds say.
He detested many politicians, records show, and wanted them dead.
President Donald Trump. Former President Barack Obama. Former President Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. President George W. Bush.
"I want to hang them all," Croft posted to Facebook, months before his arrest on charges of plotting to kidnap Whitmer.
As the feds would eventually learn, Croft had it out for many more.
"Democrats. Liberals. Muslims. Hang all anti-Americans," reads an image that Croft posted to Facebook. Alongside the words was a noose.
11/13/2021 Feds show no mercy to Whitmer kidnap suspect who fears getting COVID-19 in jail, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
11/11/2020 AG: Whitmer kidnap ringleader wanted to televise executions, set fire to Michigan Capitol, by Darcie Moran and Joe Guillen, Detroit Free Press
Adam Fox also spoke of his current plan, with two options.
“Plan A consisted of recruiting 200 men and then storm the Capitol building in Lansing while Congress was in session,” the AG’s Office said. “They were to take hostages, execute tyrants and have it televised. It would take about one week and that no one is coming out alive.
“The secondary plan was to storm the Capitol building in Lansing when Congress was in session. They would then lock the entrances/exits to the structure. They would then set the building on fire.”
11/5/2020 Neo-Nazi Terror Leader on Russian TV: 'I'm a Family Man', by Ben Baakuch and Mack Lamaoureux, Vice.com
The leader of the neo-Nazi group the Base described his group's "self-defense" mission in a Holocaust museum during the news segment.
The neo-Nazi leader of a hate group under a sweeping FBI counter-terrorism probe appeared in a Russian television interview to denounce media scrutiny of his group and describe himself as a “family man.”
New Jersey native Rinaldo Nazzaro, 47, a former Pentagon contractor who is said to have worked with U.S. special forces, made the comments to Russia-24, a state-owned media channel that has been accused of spreading disinformation. It was the Base founder’s first public appearance since 2018.
10/30/2021 Whitmer kidnap suspect wants out of jail. He's diabetic, and fears COVID-19, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
10/30/2020 Accused neo-Nazi leader had manifesto, wanted race war, prosecutors say, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
Accused leader of the Base, Justen Watkins, 25, of Bad Axe, and associate Alfred Gorman, 35, of Taylor, represent the "last vestiges" of the neo-Nazi group that has been the target of repeated arrests and raids nationwide, Assistant Attorney General Sunita Doddamani said.
Same guys, from front, doing the Nazi salute.
10/30/2020 FBI arrests white supremacy leader in extremism crackdown in Michigan, by Robert Snell and Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News
Watkins and Gorman are linked to a December incident in Dexter in which a local family was terrorized by the men, who tried to intimidate a husband and wife and shared their address with members of the Base, Michigan Attorney General Nessel said in a statement.
10/30/2020 Kentucky State Police Training Slideshow Quotes Hitler, Advocates ‘ruthless’ violence" by Satchel Walton and Cooper Walton, Manual Redeye
A training slideshow used by the Kentucky State Police (KSP) — the second largest police force in the state — urges cadets to be “ruthless killer[s]” and quotes Adolf Hitler advocating violence.
The slideshow was included in KSP documents obtained via an open records request by local attorney David Ward of Adams Landenwich Walton during the discovery phase of a lawsuit. Ward requested KSP materials used to train a detective who shot and killed a man in Harlan County, and Ward shared the presentation with Manual RedEye.
Although the presentation also features quotes from a variety of other sources including Sun Tzu and Albert Einstein, Dr. Jack Glaser —a professor at the University of California Berkeley who studies police practices — found the Hitler quotes inexcusable.
“Hitler is, justifiably, the archetype of a bad person with the worst, inhumane morals. It’s controversial enough to quote him when trying to illustrate a point about genocidal despots. Quoting him in the manner that these trainings do —prescriptively —is unfathomable,” Glaser wrote in an email to RedEye reporters.
10/28/1010 Accused Whitmer kidnapper seeks get-out-of-jail card, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
Kaleb Franks, 26, known as "Red Hot," made the request two weeks after being ordered held without bond.
Some of their other double-naught secret agent online monikers:
• Adam Fox, 37, of Potterville, known as "Alpha F--- You"
• Ty Garbin, 25, of Hartland Township, known as "Gunney"
• Daniel Harris, 23, known as "Beaker"
• Brandon Caserta, 32, known as "Debased Tyrant"
10/23/2020 Texas member of Boogaloo Bois charged with opening fire on Minneapolis police precinct during protests over George Floyd, by Andy Mannix, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Feds say Texas adherent of far-right group fired on precinct building, conspired with cop killer to ignite civil war.
Two hours after the police precinct was set on fire, Hunter texted with another Boogaloo member in California, a man named Steven Carrillo.
“Go for police buildings,” Hunter told Carrillo, according to charging documents. “I did better lol,” Carrillo replied. A few hours earlier, Carrillo had killed a Federal Protective Services officer in Oakland, Calif., according to criminal charges filed against him in California.
Hunter had bragged about his role in the Minneapolis riots on Facebook, publicly proclaiming, “I helped the community burn down that police station” and “I didn’t’ [sic] protest peacefully Dude … Want something to change? Start risking felonies for what is good.”
“The BLM protesters in Minneapolis loved me [sic] fireteam and I,” he wrote on June 11. According to the complaint, “fire team” is a reference to a group he started with Carrillo “that responds with violence if the police try to take their guns away.”
10/21/2020 The ties that bind the men behind the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, by Gus Burns, Roberto Acosta and John Tunison, MLive - This is a comprehensive and well researched profile.
They love guns, but hate government
Rebecca Timmerman, a former neighbor, wasn’t surprised by the accusations. She lives in the Child Lake Estates mobile home park in Milford Township where Bellar previously lived before moving to South Carolina, where his father resides. Police arrested Bellar in South Carolina and he is awaiting extradition back to Jackson County.
“Nobody had really seen him much too except for screaming up and down the street with guns in his hands all the time, marching around,” she said while watching her kids play in the yard at their corner lot. “He thought he was the one that everybody is supposed to answer to supposedly.”
10/19/2020 'It is serious and intense': white supremacist domestic terror threat looms large in US, by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian
On 6 October Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, released his department’s annual assessment of violent threats to the nation. Analysts didn’t have to dig deep into the assessment to discover its alarming content.
In a foreword, Wolf wrote that he was “particularly concerned about white supremacist violent extremists who have been exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent, targeted attacks in recent years. [They] seek to force ideological change in the United States through violence, death, and destruction.”
Two days later, the FBI swooped. It arrested 13 rightwing extremists who had allegedly been plotting to carry out a range of attacks in Michigan, including the kidnapping of the Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer.
At least at the federal level, the FBI is having some success in infiltrating extremist groups as the arrests of the alleged Michigan kidnap plotters attested. The record among state and local law enforcement looks far less impressive.
Among local police forces, the pattern is less likely to be infiltration of far-right groups by officers than the other way round – extremists are inveigling themselves into police forces. German’s work for the Brennan Center, drawing on FBI policy documents, has pointed out that white supremacist and anti-government groups often have “active links” with law enforcement officials.
10/15/2020 Baseless, Sounds Like Hate, Southern Poverty Law Center
With eighty three hours of exclusive secret audio recordings Part One goes inside their “Vetting Room.” We expose their methods of recruiting deliberately from the U.S. military, the ways they encourage terroristic behavior, and their expressions of paranoia. It’s also about one reporter who infiltrated their group and a network strategizing for the collapse of America.
10/15/2020 FBI agent: Suspects wanted to take Whitmer out on boat and leave her in Lake Michigan, by Tresa Baldas and Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
FBI Special Agent Richard Trask agent told a federal judge in detail how more than a dozen self-identified militia members plotted to kidnap Whitmer as part of a violent revolt against the government that included "firebombing" police cars in a parking lot.
10/12/2020 'Snatch and grab': The winding path to plot against a governor, by Matthew Dolan, Detroit Free Press staff, Detroit Free Press
Federal and state criminal complaints spell out in remarkable detail the alleged plot against the government of Michigan. Follow along day by day.
July 27: “OK, well how’s everyone feel about kidnapping?” Fox asks in an encrypted group chat.
10/11/2020 All The President’s Men: Looking back at four years of MAGA terror, by Christopher Mathias, HuffPost
This past week, 13 men belonging to paramilitary groups were arrested in a horrifying plot to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Based on what can be gleaned from the men’s social media pages, they fit a familiar profile of far-right vigilantism in America.
They are white men. Most appear to be supporters of President Donald Trump. They consume disinformation and conspiracy theories online with abandon. They see a new American civil war on the horizon, and they’re more than eager to fire some of the first shots.
These men are part of an insurgent Make America Great Again fascist movement here, the size and power of which keeps me up at night. Although it’s a movement with origins that long predate the president, it’s one that today generates much of its cruel energy and momentum from his words.
10/10/2020 Under the 'trap door' of a vacuum shop: Where Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot unfolded, Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
"He had this thing going on. He was doing it after hours and he was doing it when I wasn’t here," Titus said. "Thank God, there was an FBI planted in his militia, who went to all his meetings, recorded everything. ... That cleared me because I had no idea what he was doing."
As for the allegations against Fox, [vacuum shop owner] Titus said:
"What he did is just uncalled for, (he) just crossed the line. And he put his mom, me and his family all at risk, even his dogs are homeless."
10/10/2020 Two men arrested in plot to kidnap Michigan governor were Marine veterans, by Philip Athey, Marine Times
Joseph Morrison was a Marine reservist who joined the Corps in March 2015 and was discharged from the reserves as a lance corporal on Thursday, Capt. Joseph Butterfield, a headquarters Marine Corps spokesman, told Marine Corps Times Saturday.
His exit from the reserves had nothing to do with the alleged kidnapping plot, Butterfield said. The men were charged on Thursday.
Daniel Harris was an 0311 who joined the Corps in June of 2015 and was discharged in June of 2019 after serving with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Butterfield said.
10/10/2020 Michigan’s Attorney General Will “Pounce” If Militias Mess with Voting, by Will Peischel, Mother Jones
10/9/2020 Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot: How the FBI spent months tracking down the case, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
10/9/2020 Susan J. Demas: The feds foiled a plot to murder Whitmer. The GOP attacks on her haven’t stopped, Susan J. Demas, Michigan Advance
It’s hard not to be haunted by what Whitmer told CNN on Thursday, “The fact of the matter is, I have raised this issue with the White House and asked them to bring the heat down. I have asked leaders — Republican leaders in this state — ‘Let’s bring the heat down.’ I was aware of many of the threats made to me and my family and I asked for their help. And they didn’t do a darn thing about it and then denied it was a problem.”
10/9/2020 Wolverine Watchmen, extremist group implicated in Michigan kidnapping plot, trained for ‘civil war’, by Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post
In some ways, the Wolverine Watchmen resembled many self-styled militia members who were angry at Michigan’s governor in the spring over measures to fight the novel coronavirus — seen as government intrusion into their lives, experts say.
The Watchmen and their associates did not stop at demonstrations, state and federal officials said Thursday, and eventually plotted to attack the Capitol and kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Their broader goal, according to a state affidavit: “civil war leading to societal collapse.”
10/9/2020 Extremist plot to storm the Capitol, kidnap lawmakers unlikely to change Capitol gun policy, by Carol Thompson, Lansing State Journal
10/9/2020 Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot: How the FBI spent months tracking down the case, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
10/9/2020 Legal experts reveal one reason Gov. Whitmer kidnap case is strong, by Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press
Barbara McQuade, who served the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit as U.S. Attorney from 2010-17, told the Free Press that federal prosecutors have a tough time with "domestic terrorism" cases, unlike international terrorism, because there is no domestic terrorism statute.
"If it is a plot to engage in violence generally, it can be very difficult," McQuade said. "But I think one thing about this (Whitmer) case that indicates to me it is likely to be very strong is that they were able to charge under the kidnapping statute instead of having to charge something that feels a little vague, like seditious conspiracy, which is sometimes all you’re left with in a domestic terrorism case."
The seditious conspiracy charge involves plotting to overthrow the government or declare war against it or forcefully oppose authority. It can clash with free speech protections in the U.S.
"In this case, because their plan involved kidnapping, they can charge it under a very solid statute that I think most members of the public and most juries will understand — that it’s a very serious crime to commit kidnapping," McQuade said. "I think for that reason this will be a strong case."
"Having a charge other than seditious conspiracy would be beneficial," McQuade said. "I’m sure they were careful to find a statute that could be strong and the kidnapping statute is strong. In that regard, they’re better situated. ... I also think that we live in a different time when perhaps people will take more seriously the threat that’s posed by militia groups. Ten years ago, people were quick to accept the defense that they were just a bunch of losers who were talking tough and enjoyed shooting and blowing things up and they weren’t really dangerous."
The conspiracy to kidnap charge creates a legal super glue, she said. To win convictions, prosecutors must prove the defendants agreed to commit a kidnapping and took some action toward making it happen.
"Many of these groups have as part of their ideology opposition to the government," McQuade said. "So police officers are the ultimate symbol of authority of the government. Sometimes they want to attack police officers. Sometimes it’s easily dismissed as irrational talk."
Michigan has had a "tradition" of militia activity since the 1990s. Federal authorities said domestic terrorist Tim McVeigh hatched a plan with Terry Nichols in Evergreen Township near Decker in rural Sanilac County in 1995 to blow up Oklahoma City's Murrah Federal Building, which killed168 people. Militia activity has simmered ever since.
"I suppose when you have an area that’s known for it, people are attracted to it," McQuade said. "The same way you have a strong sports program, people gravitate to it, if you have a strong militia program, like-minded individuals are inclined to join."
10/9/2020 Nessel: Other groups planning terrorism, more arrests expected, by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News
“There remains a number of individuals, a number of groups that are out there and that continue to plan attacks of domestic terrorism, not just in Michigan but in a multi-jurisdictional fashion across many states,” Nessel told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Thursday.
“This is not just a Michigan problem. This is now an American problem."
Nessel criticized President Donald Trump for sympathizing with protesters at rallies against stay home orders early on in the pandemic, when he encouraged Whitmer to meet with some of the armed protesters and tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”
“When they say these things, people not only listen, they respond,” Nessel told CBS. “It’s not just a dog whistle, but a rallying cry.”
She noted her department's investigations involve right-wing groups, but no Antifa or left-wing groups.
10/9/2020 A History of the "Republic, Not A Democracy" Slogan, On The Media
GOP Senator Mike Lee tweeted, "We're not a democracy," tapping into an age-old anti-majoritarian strain of conservatism.
10/9/2020 Even After The Plot To Kidnap Gov. Whitmer, Michigan Militant Groups Continue To Thrive On Facebook, by Salvador Hernandez and Ryan Mac, BuzzFeed News
The Michigan Liberty Militia, for example, was banned from Facebook in August. On Sept. 11, it reappeared under a page with new, slightly altered moniker — MLM Michigan liberty minutemen — and marked its return with a picture of a flag bearing two hatchets, the Liberty Bell, and two assault rifles.
10/9/2020 Here’s How A Group Of Radical Militants Hatched A Plan To Kidnap Michigan’s Governor Before The Election, by Ken Bensinger, Jany Lytvynenko, Paul McLeod and Ellie Hall, BuzzFeed News
It turned out that law enforcement had been surveilling the group and other militants since early in the year and moved in after Fox and three others arranged to buy explosives from an undercover agent for $4,000.
10/9/2020 Untrusted U.S. Attorney General Barr calls alleged kidnapping plot 'abhorrent,' says he was briefed only this week, by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News
U.S. Attorney General William Barr wasn't briefed on the alleged kidnapping of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer until this week, spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Friday after Michigan's attorney general questioned the extent of his knowledge this summer.
10/9/2020 Delaware last year pardoned man charged in Whitmer kidnapping plot, by Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News
10/9/2020 Man Charged With Plotting To Kidnap Michigan's Governor Was Kicked Out Of A Local Militia/Terrorist Group For His “Rage Issues” by Paul McLeod, BuzzFeed News
“He has rage issues,” Foreman said. “He seemed fine until it was time for him to get patched in. And then all of the sudden he’s all anti-government, he wants to start a war, he wants to take people out.”
Foreman said members of the group believed Fox was taking steroids and regularly teased him for having “roid rage.” Foreman said Fox’s social media posts about taking out the government quickly raised red flags. “That’s not what the militia does,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Free People of Lansing confirmed this series of events, but said it was more than just Fox who opposed them passing through.
“We encountered multiple militia members who, when we began our demonstration on the ground, held guns over our heads, spit on, stepped on [us] while blowing bull horns in our ears and called us racial epithets,” said the spokesperson, who did not give their name, via the group’s Facebook account. “There were a few people [on the other side] who did stop them, saying it was our Second Amendment right to be there.”
10/9/2020 Barry County Terrorist sympathizer - and Sheriff - Dar Leaf splains and defends his support for the arrested Trump supporting terrorist gun thugs
10/9/2020 ‘Words matter’ from leaders like President Trump, Gov. Whitmer says after kidnapping plot revealed, by Emily Lawler, MLive
10/9/2020 Some of those charged in Whitmer plot attended Michigan Capitol rallies, witnesses say, by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News
10/9/2020 Gov. Whitmer’s family was moved as kidnapping plot advanced, AG Nessel says, by Emily Lawler, MLive
A.G. Nessel: "I’d rather have the weakest conspiracy case rather than the strongest homicide [case.]"
10/9/2020 Whitmer's family had to be "moved around" for safety due to alleged kidnapping plot, Michigan AG says, by Elizabeth Elkind, CBS News
10/9/2020 Fourth Man Charged in Antrim County in Connection With Plot to Kidnap Gov. Whitmer, by David Lyden, 9&10 News
Shawn Fix was charged with firearms and terrorist act charges. Michael and William Null and Eric Molitor were arraigned on the same charges Thursday. Prosecutors say Fix, along with Michael and William Null and Eric Molitor, did nighttime and daytime surveillance of the governor’s home. Fix is being held on a $250,000 bond
10/9/2020 Man Charged in Antrim Co. for Plot to Kidnap Governor Attended 2nd Amendment Rally in Lansing, by Dan Firnbach, 9&10 News
The first, third and fourth men in this picture were arrested for their roles in the plot against the governor.
The man on the far right is William Null, one of the four men charged in Antrim.
10/9/2020 Northern Michigan town grapples with plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer from local vacation home, by Justine Lofton, MLive
Nessel filed additional state charges under the Michigan anti-terrorism against seven now-jailed members or affiliates of the Wolverine Watchmen. The charges include: making a threat of terrorism, providing material support for terrorist acts and gang membership, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison; and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, punishable by a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence.
“This is something we haven’t dealt with before,” Sheriff Daniel Bean told 9&10 News.
10/9/2020 Whitmer knew of kidnapping plot for weeks, she tells CNN, by Emily Lawler, MLive“
Of course, we know every time that this White House identifies me or takes a shot at me, we see an increase in rhetoric online, of violent rhetoric, and so there’s always a connection and certainly, it’s something we’ve been watching but this took it to a whole new level,” Whitmer said.
10/9/2020 Did Donald Trump incite a militia plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer? | Planet America Fireside Chat, Australian Brodcasting System
10/9/2020 Man accused in Whitmer kidnapping plot defended Confederate statue at June, West Michigan Civile War Statue protest, by Samuel J. Robinson, MLive
“Everyone has a right to their opinion, that’s why we’re constitutionalists, but as soon as you become violent — this violence is getting out of hand,” William Null told MLive on June 27.
10/9/2020 What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About White Supremacists, by Daniel Angelo, Quora
10/9/2020 These 13 men were charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer: Here's what we know, by Joe Guillen, Jennifer Dixon, Eric D. Lawrence, with contributions by John Wisely, Dave Boucher, Gina Kaufman, Elisha Anderson and Free Press photographer Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press
10/9/2020 “These are the types of things you hear from ISIS. This is not a militia, this is a domestic terror organization,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Good Morning America
10/8/2021 Michigan kidnapping plot, like so many other extremist crimes, foreshadowed on social media, By Craig Timberg and Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Washington Post
10/8/2020 Read the FBI affidavit in the militia plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
10/8/2020 Mysterious Wolverine Watchmen militia group 'flew under radar' by George Hunter, The Detroit News
Assistant Michigan Attorney General Gregory Townsend said during a Thursday arraignment announcing 19 state criminal charges against seven Michigan residents that defendants Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico were “founding members” of the Wolverine Watchmen. The group was "committed to violence" against the government, Townsend said.
“There are multiple members of the Wolverine Watchmen,” Townsend said. “Mr. Morrison was considered the commander.”
10/8/2020 Wolverine Watchmen members plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: Here's what we know, by Darcie Moran and Angie Jackson, Detroit Free Press
The federal government has charged six people in a plot to kidnap the governor, and the state has charged seven people with ties to the plot. Officials say all 13 are in custody. The group is made up of members or associates of the militia group Wolverine Watchmen, Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday, as she announced the state charges.
Charged at the state level with providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership, felony firearm and threat of terrorism.:
- Paul Bellar, 21, of Milford
- Shawn Fix, 38, of Belleville
- Eric Molitor, 36, of Cadillac
- Michael Null, 38, of Plainwell
- William Null, 38, of Shelbyville
- Pete Musico, 42, of Munith
- Joseph Morrison, 42, of Munith
Charged at the federal level with conspiracy to commit kidnapping:
- Adam Fox
- Barry Croft
- Ty Garbin
- Kaleb Franks
- Daniel Harris
- Brandon Caserta
10/8/2020 Men detonated explosive, used encrypted messages in Whitmer kidnap plot, feds say, by Christine Ferretti and Robert Snell, The Detroit News
They were tired of being controlled by the "tyrannical government" and hatched a plan that called for an 800,000-volt taser and explos ves to ensure its collapse, according to the government. They discussed the need for "200 men" to storm the Capitol building in Lansing and take hostages, including the governor.
10/8/2020 F.B.I. Says Michigan Anti-Government Group Plotted to Kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, by By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Shaila Dewan and Kathleen Gray, The New York Times
The F.B.I. said it had monitored the kidnapping plot throughout the summer as the target narrowed to the governor’s personal vacation home. The group discussed the governor in vulgar terms and called her a “tyrant.”
“Have one person go to her house. Knock on the door and when she answers it just cap her,” one of the men said in an encrypted group chat, according to the F.B.I.
The group spoke of a “baker” and a “cake,” the F.B.I. said, which its agents interpreted as code words referring to explosive devices. Mr. Fox spoke of the need to train for three months in preparation.
“I just wanna make the world glow, dude,” the affidavit quoted him as saying in a profanity-laced tirade. “We’re gonna topple it all, dude.”
10/8/2020 FBI affidavit: Conspirators wanted to kidnap gov to remote Wisconsin location, The Detroit News
10/8/2020 President Trump tweets on kidnapping plot, criticizes Gov. Whitmer, by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News
America's hate-preaching Divider in Chief took time out of his busy schedule of rage-watching Fox news to whine that Governor Gretchen Whitmer had been insufficiently thankful to him, the great leader personally, for the efforts of still independent federal authorities to foil the plot against her. Attorney General Barr has still not commented, presumably brought down by Covid-19 contracted during a heavy rotation of ass-kissing at Trump's triumphalist super-spreader supreme court nomination announcement.
10/8/2020 The FBI Said It Busted A Domestic Terror Plot To Kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, by Amber Jamieson, Stephanie K. Baer, Jane Lytvynenko and Ellie Hall, BuzzFeed News
"Snatch and grab, man. Grab the fuckin' Governor. Just grab the bitch," one of the alleged domestic terrorists said.
At a press conference Thursday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also announced that state prosecutors have filed charges against seven additional men known to be members or associates of the militia group Wolverine Watchmen under the Michigan Anti-Terrorism Act. These men allegedly wanted to target law enforcement officers in their homes, made threats of violence intended to start a civil war, and were planning an attack on the state's capitol building that involved kidnapping government officials, including Whitmer. They have also been arrested.
Fox, whom the charging documents indicate was the ringleader and instigator of the plot to kidnap Whitmer, was a member of at least two public Facebook “militia” groups: “Militia Wanted Michigan” and “Michigan Home Guard.” Although Fox’s profile and the groups’ pages have been removed from the website, cached versions of these sites show that he regularly posted and participated in discussions with other members over the past year. On June 23, he posted in the “Militia Wanted Michigan” group that he had created another (now-deleted) Facebook group called “Michigan Patriot III%ERS.” The “Three Percenters” are a far-right militia group with chapters across the country, named for the false historical claim that only 3% of Americans fought against the British in the Revolutionary War.
10/8/2020 Feds identify leaders they say were behind Whitmer kidnap plan, by Christine Ferretti, Oralandar Brand-Williams and George Hunter, The Detroit News
“In all honesty right now ... I just wanna make the world glow, dude," Fox said, according to the affidavit. "That’s what it’s gonna take for us to take it back, we’re just gonna have to everything’s gonna have to be annihilated man. We’re gonna topple it all, dude."
10/8/2020 FBI thwarted plot to kidnap Michigan governor, Erin Burnett, CNN
10/8/2020 Michigan lawmakers react on Twitter to kidnap plot: 'This is utterly terrifying' by Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press
10/8/2020 Feds say plot was bigger than kidnapping Gov. Whitmer. It was civil war attempt, by Tresa Baldas and Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider for the Eastern District of Michigan:
"All of us can disagree about politics, but those disagreements should never, ever result in violence. The allegations in this complaint are deeply disturbing."
10/8/2020 Gov. Whitmer denounces hate groups, says President Donald Trump is 'complicit', by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
10/8/2020 Fascism Enabling Trump adviser: 'If we want to talk about hatred, then Gov. Whitmer, go look in the mirror,' Gretchen Whitmer called out Donald Trump for 'fomenting anger' after a plot to kidnap her was thwarted. Trump stooge Jason Miller said her comments were 'ridiculous' by Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press
10/8/2020 Militia group plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, feds say, by Paul Egan and Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
10/8/2020 Expert: Michigan 'a hotbed for militia activity,' with growing potential for violence, by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press
The Wolverine Watchmen was founded by Pete Musico, 42, and Joseph Morrison, 26, who lived together in Munith, Michigan, and are now each charged — among others — with a threat of terrorism, gang membership, providing material support for terrorist acts, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The Wolverine Watchmen, the Michigan group accused of plotting to kidnap and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others, is one of an estimated two to three dozen Michigan militia groups that some fear could pose a growing threat.
Michigan has had a long history of militia groups, which are active in every state, according to Amy Cooter, a senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University, who has studied them for more than a dozen years. Modern militias, she said, date to the early 1990s as a response to perceived fears of tyrannical government.
The state "has always been a hotbed for militia activity," Cooter said, adding the state has had a strong militia presence ever since the early 1990s. "The militias in Michigan have always been the kind to which other states' militias look up to."
10/8/2020 Replay: Michigan AG announces charges in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot, by Amy Huschka, Detroit Free Press
10/8/2020 Security upgrades underway at governor's Lansing residence before kidnapping threat, by Carol Thompson, Lansing State Journal
10/7/2020 How One Man Built a Neo-Nazi Insurgency in Trump's America, by Mack Lamoureux, Ben Makuch and Zachary Kamel, Vice News
10/7/2020 MSP, FBI On Scene for Large Scale Operation in Wexford County, by Nichelle Hulka, 9&10 News
The FBI and Michigan State Police are on scene at what they called a large scale operation on 39 Road in Wexford County.
10/7/2020 How One Man Built a Neo-Nazi Insurgency in Trump's America, by Mack Lamoureux, Ben Makuch and Zachary Kamel, Vice
This is the inside story of how Rinaldo Nazzaro built the Base, a neo-Nazi terror organization—and how it all came apart.
It was August 2019 and the eight men, clad in camouflage gear and armed with semi-automatic rifles and pistols, never expected the cops to show up.
This was supposed to be a secret meeting in the woods of rural Pennsylvania where they would sharpen their skills for the coming genocide, in which people of color and race traitors would die by the millions. The leader, thinking quickly, ripped off the neo-Nazi patches from his camo gear and walked towards the officers.
4/23/2020 Dozens gather at Gov. Whitmer's Lansing residence to protest stay-at-home order, by Kara Berg, Lansing State Journal
4/15/2020 See what the Michigan gridlock protest against ‘excessive quarantine’ looked like, by Nate Chute, Lansing State Journal
A few days earlier, in Madison Heights...
10/7/2020 Ruby Ridge echoes in deadly Madison Heights FBI shootout, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
The troubled life of Madison Heights resident Eric Mark-Matthew Allport, 43, started to emerge as details about what led to the fatal shooting remained shrouded in secrecy and as believers of the right-leaning anti-government Boogaloo movement hailed Allport as a member and martyr.
The shooting, which left an FBI agent wounded, served as a violent end to Allport's life 28 years after federal agents, including an FBI sharpshooter, shot and killed Allport's friends and neighbors on a remote mountaintop in Idaho. The deadly Ruby Ridge standoff has served as a rallying cry for white nationalists and inspired the 1995 domestic terror attack by Michigan native Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City.
10/5/2020 FBI agent released from hospital as Madison Heights fatal shooting review continues, by Robert Snell, The Detroit News
10/3/3030 Man killed, FBI agent wounded in Madison Heights shooting, by Steve Marowski, MLive
The man killed was identified as Eric Mark-Matthew Allport, officials said. No additional details were released.
Background links, the Confluence in Lansing of ReOpen protests, Strutting Fascists, Boogaloos, Proud Boys, Libertarian Fantasistas, Anti-Authority Authoritatians, Cognitive Dissonance, Threats overt and unsubtle, Pandering Conservatives, a Legislature Term-limited to Terminal Stupidity
- Many more links here: Hate: Made in Michigan, Made in America
9/24/2020 Neo-Nazi Terror Leader Said to Have Worked With U.S. Special Forces, by Ben Makuch and Mack Lamoureux, Vice News
9/14/2020 No weapons ban at the Michigan Capitol. For now, at least, by Carol Thompson, Lansing State Journal
9/9/2020 The Violent Defense of White Male Supremacy. Trump and his supporters are defending an America where white men can rule and brutalize without consequence. By Ibram X. Kendi, Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, The Atlantic
8/15/2020 Proud Boys Kalamazoo march leads to violence, arrests, Chris Dumond, The Detroit News
8/5/2020 Neo-Nazi Terror Group Atomwaffen Division Re-Emerges Under New Name, by Ben Makuch, Vice.com
Only months after an FBI crackdown and announcing its disbandment, ex-members of the Atomwaffen Division formed a new group.
6/24/2020 Neo-Nazi Memoir Describes Terror Group’s Acid-Soaked Ram Sacrifice, by Ben Makuch and Mack Lamoureux, Vice Motherboard
The bizarre ritual by the terror group The Base was infiltrated by the FBI.
5/22/2020 Sexist attacks cast Michigan Gov. Whitmer as mothering tyrant of coronavirus dystopia, by Malachi Barrett, MLive
5/12/2020 Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer threatened in private Facebook groups: report, by David Matthews, NY Daily News
“We need a good old fashioned lynch mob to storm the Capitol, drag her tyrannical ass out onto the street and string her up as our forefathers would have,” John Campbell Sr. wrote in to the group “People of Michigan vs. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.”
“Plain and simple [Whitmer] needs to eat lead and send a statement to the rest of the democrats that they are next,” James Greena wrote.
5/11/2020 Gov. Whitmer becomes target of dozens of threats on private Facebook groups ahead of armed rally in Lansing, by Steve Neavling, Detroit Metro Times
Metro Times gained access to four private Facebook groups that can only be seen by approved members. The pages, which have a combined 400,000 members, are filled with paranoid, sexist, and grammar-challenged rants, with members encouraging violence and flouting the governor’s social-distancing orders.
Assassinating Whitmer is a common theme among members of the groups. Dozens of people have called for her to be hanged.
“We need a good old fashioned lynch mob to storm the Capitol, drag her tyrannical ass out onto the street and string her up as our forefathers would have,” John Campbell Sr. wrote in a group called “People of Michigan vs. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,” which had nearly 9,000 members as of Monday morning.
Steve Doxsie had the same idea: “Drag that tyrant governor out to the front lawn. Fit her for a noose.”
“Either President Trump sends in the troops or there is going to be a midnight lynching in Lansing soon,” Michael Smith chimed in.
Others suggested she be shot, beaten, or beheaded.
“Plain and simple she needs to eat lead and send a statement to the rest of the democrats that they are next,” James Greena, of Fennville, wrote.
Russel Christopher Rozman said, “She needs her ass beat. Most of these politicians need a good ass whooping. Just. Punch there lights out.”
When someone suggested the guillotine, Thomas Michael Lamphere responded, “Good ol’ fashioned bullets work better, but I like the enthusiasm.”
“Wonder how long till she’s hit with a shotgun blast,” Chris Parrish wrote.
Matthew Woodruff had another idea: “Can we please just take up a collection for an assassin to put that woman from Michigan down,” he asked.
4/16/2020 ‘You Have to Disobey’: Protesters Gather to Defy Stay-at-Home Orders, by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Jeremy W. Peters, The New York Times
4/13/2020 Gov. Whitmer OKs protest, takes shot at DeVos family in process, by Aaron Parseghian, FOX 17 West Michigan
10/3/2020 The Cruelty Is the Point. President Trump and his supporters find community by rejoicing in the suffering of those they hate and fear. By Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
1/24/2020 Neo-Nazi Rinaldo Nazzaro running US militant group The Base from Russia, by Daniel De Simone, Andrei Soshnikov & Ali Winston, BBC News
1/23/2020 Revealed: the true identity of the leader of an American neo-Nazi terror group, by Jason Wilson, The Guardian
1/22/2020 A New Face of White Supremacy: Plots Expose Danger of the ‘Base’ by Neil MacFarquhar and Adam Goldman
A secret domestic terrorism investigation revealed that the violent neo-Nazi group was recruiting cells across the United States.
The “defendants did more than talk,” Robert K. Hur, the United States attorney for Maryland, said after a detention hearing on Wednesday in federal court in Greenbelt, Md. “They took steps to act and act violently on their racist views.”
11/21/2019 Shirkey calls Whitmer and Michigan Dems ‘batshit crazy,’ gov’s office calls comments ‘sexist and partisan’, by Laina G. Stebbins, Michigan Advance
11/13/2019 Officer: I quit Proud Boys over fears of ‘far-left’ attacks, by Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
Wilcox, 53, retired from the East Hampton Police Department on Oct. 22, one week after the AP reported that Wilcox had been a Proud Boys member and made online payments to a group leader.
In his letter, addressed to East Hampton’s police chief, Officer Kevin Wilcox said he was a dues-paying Proud Boys member for about eight months. He said he quit the group because he suspected its members would be attacked by "far-left political organizations" and labeled as bigots due to their "love" for President Donald Trump.
In September, East Hampton Police Chief Dennis Woessner told the organization that Wilcox's Proud Boys membership didn't violate department policies.
9/4/2019 The neo-Nazi boot: Inside one Marine’s descent into extremism, by Shawn Snow, Marine Corps Times
The former Marine junior ROTC cadet and North Carolinian was interested in communism and antifa before he joined a neo-Nazi organization known as Atomwaffen Division — an organization described by some as a terror group.
His ideology has drifted across a spectrum of contradictions from antifa — a group whose name stems from “anti-fascists” and is known to use violence against those it deems fascist or supremacist — to a hate group prepping for a race war and the collapse of the U.S. government.
Marine Lance Cpl. Vasillios G. Pistolis ultimately was booted from Corps mid-summer 2018 for his ties to a hate group. But, his ability to enlist in the Corps highlights a challenge to the military recruiters armed with few tools from records checks to interviews to keep supremacists out of the ranks.
An investigation into his hate group ties by Naval Criminal Investigative Service — obtained by Marine Corps Times through a government records request — reads like a psychological evaluation into extremist thought and behavior, detailing his own path to radicalization and views on various hate groups.
8/16/2019 Homegrown hate, by Ryan Thorpe, Winnipeg Free Press
While the far-right movement has ebbed and flowed, Charlottesville marked a co-ordinated attempt by white supremacists to reassert themselves into the public domain, crawling out from the dark corners of the Internet they’d been relegated to. The two-day "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 11 and 12, 2017, was the largest far-right gathering in the U.S. in more than two decades.
The new generation of neo-Nazis rejects much of the old extremist right. They don’t believe in centralized organizations. They want to foment "leaderless resistance." They’re not content to be "keyboard warriors" and they don’t care about optics.
The Base’s membership, which is primarily located in the U.S. but includes Canadians and Europeans, appears to be gearing up for the ethnic cleansing they want to perpetrate when the "race war" comes.
They want terror attacks that destabilize "the system" and hasten its demise. This is exemplified by their promotion of "accelerationism," the idea that extremists should seek to make society unliveable in order to drive radical social change.
11/20/2017 The Nationalist’s Delusion. Trump’s supporters backed a time-honored American political tradition, disavowing racism while promising to enact a broad agenda of discrimination. by Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
9/9/2017 Is 'antifa' a gang? By: James Queally, Benjamin Oreskes and Richard Winton, The Winnepeg Free Press
"The question is going to become, have they engaged in a pattern of criminal activity... and is that part of their primary purpose for existing? When you talk about AntiFa, a group engaging in civil disobedience, I am very hesitant to label them a street gang," Imes said.
Those standing across Bay Area battle lines from anti-fascists seem to have more in common with what the average citizen associates with gang lore. The Proud Boys, a national collective of "western chauvinists" founded by former Vice media executive Gavin McInnes, has a formalized initiation process that includes being beaten by members, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
After an April rally, the Bay Area Proud Boys claimed Berkeley as its "territory," according to a post pinned atop its Twitter page.
"When they do things like that, and they put things in writing like bylaws... it makes our job a lot easier," Imes said. "It makes proving the associational organization much easier."
Whitmore Lake's Unlinked Explosion Death of 2020
10/4/2020 Man killed in [200 block of Barker Road, Whitmore Lake] house explosion north of Ann Arbor, police say, by Samuel Dodge, MLive
Whitmore Lake's Mad Bombings of 2008
5/27/2020 Trial Date Set For Accused Lottery Thief, by Jon King, WHMI
42-year-old Christopher Bandy was charged with one count of embezzlement of $100,000 or more after an investigation by Fowlerville Police. The owner of Buddy's Mini Mart called authorities after noticing that approximately $120,000 in lottery sales was missing.
2/26/2020 Party Store Employee Charged In Lottery Ticket Theft Headed To Trial, WHMI.com
42-year-old Christopher Bandy was bound over to Livingston County Circuit Court on count of embezzlement of $100,000 or more.
12/1/2010 Whitmore Lake pipe bomber sentenced to more than 8 years in prison, by Lee Higgins, The Ann Arbor News
Sandra Donovan still lives in fear 20 months after her neighbor's son, Christopher Bandy, detonated two pipe bombs in her chimney, causing an explosion that shook her Howell home.
Bandy, 33 — who detonated seven pipe bombs at five homes in Whitmore Lake and Howell and admitted setting fire to a Milan home during a nine-month crime spree — was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison.
7/9/2009 Man indicted in pipe bomb case, by Shaun Byron, The Oakland Press
Christopher V. Bandy, 32, was indicted Tuesday on allegations of being behind the bombings, which started Aug. 30, 2008, and continued through April 3, 2009.
A reminder:
9/5/2020 The Terrible Nazi Medical Experiments, by Andrei Tapalaga, Medium.com