The thirteen Michigan white nationalist terrorists also considered a plan to kidnap Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam as well as Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to retaliate against their orders to lockdown their states to stop the spread of the coronavirus, USA Today reports.
During a bond hearing for five of the defendants U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Special FBI agent Richard Trask detailed the information collected by law enforcement in their months long infiltration of the group.
“The understanding at the time was to potentially kidnap a sitting governor and remove them from office,” Trask testified, later adding that the plan ultimately focused on Whitmer. “The plan was ultimately to take her and place her on trial at a different location.”
One of the defendants, Daniel Harris, texted the idea of mugging a pizza delivery person to get a uniform and approach Whitmer’s house with a gun. “Just mug the pizza guy and take his shirt,” and “just take a pistol and like 3 rounds,” he texted his co-conspirators.
The plot was devised through a series of electronic communications among various militia groups from multiple states, Trask disclosed.