Michigan extremists stoke violent talk ahead of Thursday anti-lockdown protest as commission cowers

David Neiwert for Daily Kos

The armed militiamen, “Boogaloo Bois” and anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists who have been leading the protests against COVID-19 lockdown measures are gearing up for a repeat performance Thursday of their April 30 anti-lockdown protest in Lansing, Michigan, with rhetoric calling for an armed takeover of the state Capitol and assassinating Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “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,” one of them wrote on an anti-lockdown Facebook page—a sentiment that was repeated on that page and others.

Alarmed by the threats of violence, Whitmer and Democratic lawmakers—some of whom have said they intend to wear body armor to work Thursday—pleaded this week with the state’s Capitol Commission to ban guns from the Capitol grounds. The commission, dominated by Republicans, chose on Monday to study the matter instead.

The threats, as reported by Detroit Metro News, were not relegated to the fringes of the Internet, but could be found on Facebook pages with a combined 400,000 members. The pages, as the paper reported, were “filled with paranoid, sexist, and grammar-challenged rants, with members encouraging violence and flouting the governor’s social-distancing orders.”

The most common theme involved assassinating Whitmer. The participants also urged an armed takeover of the capitol on Thursday, replete with hangings of Democratic officials. Others announced they would refuse to participate in social-distancing and other anti-pandemic measures, notably wearing masks.

A sampling of the comments uncovered by the News:

“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.”

“Plain and simple she needs to eat lead and send a statement to the rest of the democrats that they are next.”

“She needs her ass beat. Most of these politicians need a good ass whooping. Just. Punch there lights out.”

[Responding to a suggestion to bring guillotines] “Good ol’ fashioned bullets work better, but I like the enthusiasm.”

“Wonder how long till she’s hit with a shotgun blast.”

“Can we please just take up a collection for an assassin to put that woman from Michigan down.”

“We could’ve taken over the capital last time if we wanted. This was just a display. Next time won’t be!”

“If she thinks the last protest was bad she hasn't seen anything yet.”

“We haven’t had any bloodshed yet, but the populous is counting to three, and the other day was two. Next comes watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants.”

[One man refused to wear a mask because he] “will not submit to their cultural Marxism.”

“I refuse to wear one. They cause more problems than they prevent and its a sign of being silenced and submission and its training for the forced vaccinations.”

“theres no such thing as Covid. Its radation [sic] poisoning coming from the 5g” [a reference to the conspiracy theory that 5G towers caused the pandemic].

Some of the bile was reserved for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who issued an opinion declaring that the Capitol Commission had the power to ban guns from the building. The threats against her were similar:

“We are sharpening a stick for you Dana.”

“DO you want me to bring the rope, shouldn’t be too hard to find a good tree.”

The pervasively violent nature of the rhetoric building up to Thursday’s “Judgement Day” rally in Lansing, combined with the ugly nature of the April 30 protest, convinced Whitmer to seek a ban on guns on the Capitol grounds from the Capitol Commission, comprised of six legislative appointees.

"There are legislators who are wearing bulletproof vests to go to work," Whitmer said Wednesday. "No one should be intimidated by someone who's bringing in an assault rifle into their workplace. And so there is conversation about changing that law. I think it's long overdue, and I absolutely support that change. You shouldn't be intimidated going to be the voice of the people who elected you."

Nessel had explained in her formal opinion that a ban on guns was fully in keeping with both state and federal gun law. "In Michigan, the concept of 'open carry' does not provide the unfettered right to bring firearms into any public space,” she wrote, noting prominently that the Michigan Supreme Court prohibited weapons through administrative order rather than any law approved by the Legislature.

“The Commission ... is a statutorily created instrumentality of state government, vested with broad authority to 'operate and manage' the Capitol site," she wrote.

Yet even at Monday’s meeting of the Capitol Commission the threats continued and intensified. According to commission member Margaret O'Brien, the virtual conference through which the meeting held received threatening messages throughout the session.

"They were saying things like they knew where people lived," said commission Vice Chairman John Truscott, a Republican. Another commission member who participated by phone, Bill Kandler, said "very vulgar" and "very racist" comments reportedly appeared on the Zoom app, including threats against commissioners and legislators.

Nonetheless, the commission voted 6-0 to “aggressively” study the issue further. A ruling before Thursday is unlikely. Whitmer said she was “very disappointed that the Capitol commission did not take action today to keep legislators safe.”

Some Democratic lawmakers announced that they would be wearing body armor to work on Thursday. Rep. Darrin Camilleri tweeted:

Because the Michigan Capitol Commission chose not to act today, I have to actively prepare for my safety this week when I go to Lansing.

Do I get a bulletproof vest?

Should I ask an armed guard to escort me?

The threatening rhetoric and behavior is not being reserved only for politicians; law-enforcement officers apparently are also in the line of fire. Michigan militiamen warned earlier this week that they would be blocking police from shutting down a barber shop in Owosso that had announced it would defy the lockdown orders.  

"Hopefully the police decide that fucking with pissed off armed men is a bad idea,” a commenter on Facebook wrote.