Michigan militia members accused of conspiring to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer and potentially kill other state officials in a bid to overthrow the government, according to criminal affidavit filed in federal court by the FBI .

“In early 2020, the FBI learned via social media that a group of individuals were discussing the violent overthrow of certain elements of the government and law enforcement,” indicates the October 6 file filed with the court of US District of the Western District of Michigan.

According to the court record, 15 militia members from “multiple states,” including two from Michigan, gathered in Dublin, Ohio, on June 6 to discuss taking “violent action against several state governments which them violate the American Constitution.

“… Several members spoke of murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor. The group decided they needed to increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and broadcast. their message. “

Five men from Michigan and another man from Delaware were ultimately charged by the federal government with conspiracy to commit a kidnapping. State Attorney General Dana Nessel also announced charges against seven people suspected of violating state law.

After the Ohio meeting, one of the Michigan suspects contacted the leaders of a Michigan-based militia for help with the plan, the court record said.

The FBI already had an undercover militia informant who was developed after law enforcement learned of the group’s earlier plans to “target and kill police.”

An informant reported to the FBI that at the June 6 meeting in Ohio, one of the men currently indicted in the case said he needed 200 men “to storm the Capitol building. in Lansing, Michigan, and take hostages, including the governor, “the FBI said the affidavit. The suspect “explained that they would try the Michigan governor for” treason “and he said they would carry out the plan before the November 2020 election.”

As a result of that meeting and the connection to the Anonymous Michigan Militia, planning sessions were held at a store in Grand Rapids in June, the FBI said. Participants access the meeting space “through a trapdoor hidden under a carpet downstairs,” according to the FBI affidavit.

Discussions included plans to use “Molotov cocktails” to destroy police vehicles in an attack on the Capitol in Lansing and the scheduling of an armed training session in July.

At a June 28 meeting where audio was recorded, the FBI affidavit indicates that one of the indicted men described the kidnapping of Whitmer from his vacation home. He called it a “snatch and grab”.

“Catch the fucking governor,” the FBI affidavit states, the man said. “Just grab the bitch. Because then we do that, man, it’s over.”

The investigation continued to gather information about a conspiracy to commit acts of violence against Whitmer, usually through phone calls recorded by an informant. The FBI affidavit says suspects monitored the governor and the properties she owns throughout September.

Between September 14 and the November 3 election, suspects spoke of training and fundraising for explosives and other supplies, including $ 4,000 for an 800,000-volt Taser, in preparation for the attack, according to the court record.

Western Michigan District Attorney Andrew Birge said the investigation was ongoing and Attorney General Dana Nessel had laid additional charges against seven people, who she said were part of a militia group known as the Wolverine Watchmen.

Armed militiamen have participated in previous events across the state criticizing Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders put in place to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“When members of the armed militias were out of control screaming at the doorstep of the rooms of Michigan House, the GOP members embraced them,” State Representative Mari Manoogian, D-Birmingham, said in a comment that ‘she did on Twitter. “It is quite terrifying.”

State Senator Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, also commented on Twitter, saying: “There is no room for violence in American politics.”

“Americans act through the ballot box, terrorists use violence,” he said. “Prayer for the continued safety of Michigan’s first family.

It was not clear from the office’s announcement whether this is the investigation that will be discussed.