Of Militias and Misogyny: The Plot to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer Highlights Violent Sexism of White Supremacy
Last week 13 members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a right-wing extremist Michigan militia group, were charged by federal and state officials in an alleged domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Their plan was to put her on trial for treason, for violating the Constitution. Her crime? Putting in place restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state. It’s not at all clear which article of the U.S. Constitution Whitmer was violating; but that’s never an issue with such extremist groups who invoke this guiding document in self-serving rhetorical terms to justify any action they wish to pursue.
While it is true that the Michigan Supreme Court recently declared Whitmer’s emergency orders unconstitutional because they extended beyond the duration allowed by the state’s 1976 Emergency Management Act, I wonder where these militia men can find language in the U.S. Constitution for kidnapping a state leader and taking “due process” into their own hands.
While the federal complaint filed against the members of the Wolverine Watchmen indicated this kidnapping plot was part of a larger scheme to overthrow multiple state governments they believe were violating the Constitution, that Whitmer…
