What will Trump say about the Wolverine Watchmen?


We know that Donald Trump cannot bear to say anything negative about white supremacists, white militia groups, QAnon crazies, and all the other flotsam and jetsam that can be found in the fever swamps of right wing extremism in the US who see in him the leader they have longed for. So it will be interesting to see his response to the reported plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan and attack the state capital building. (Back in May, Trump was calling on people to “Liberate Michigan” (presumably from their despotic governor who was mandated mask wearing) and spoke of the heavily armed Michigan militia members as ‘very good people’. It was after that episode that this plot apparently started gaining steam.)

Six people have been been charged with plotting to kidnap the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, that involves links to a rightwing militia group, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced.

Additionally another seven people were charged with plotting to target law enforcement and attack the state capitol building. The state attorney general, Dana Nessel, announced additional charges under Michigan’s anti-terrorism law. Seven men, all in custody, are linked to the militia group Wolverine Watchmen.

They are suspected of attempting to identify the homes of law enforcement officers to “target them, made threats of violence intended to instigate a civil war”. They also planned and trained for an operation to attack the Michigan capitol building and to kidnap government officials, including the governor, Nessel said.

Wait, Wolverine Watchmen is the name this group? If that is any indication, these may be be cosplayers who decided that the comic books that inspire them did not provide them with enough excitement in their lives and decided to carry out their fantasies in the real world.

“Several members talked about murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor,” an FBI agent wrote in the document. “The group decided they needed to increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and spread their message.”

“The group talked about creating a society that followed the US Bill of Rights and where they could be self-sufficient,” the affidavit said. “They discussed different ways of achieving this goal from peaceful endeavors to violent actions. At one point, several members talked about state governments they believed were violating the US constitution, including the government of Michigan and Governor Gretchen Whitmer.”

Through electronic communications, two of the alleged conspirators then “agreed to unite others in their cause and take violent action against multiple state governments that they believe are violating the US constitution”, the FBI said.

One of the alleged conspirators, Adam Fox, said he needed 200 men to storm the capitol building in Lansing and take hostages, including the governor, according to the FBI. He said he wanted to try Whitmer for “treason” and would execute the plan before the 3 November election, the government said.

Yep, these people are definitely living in a comic-book world. What did they think would happen if by some miracle they did manage to kidnap Whitman? Did they not realize that despite having Trump’s support, the federal government would feel obliged to go after them with massive force?

Comments

  1. Ridana says

    Did they not realize that despite having Trump’s support, the federal government would feel obliged to go after them with massive force?

    I’m not entirely sure this federal government would feel that obligation. It’s not hard to imagine Bunko Baby saying, “democrat governors didn’t want Our Help when ANTIFA TERRORISTS were burning down their Cities, so let them just handle it themselves since that’s what They want.” Hell, at this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if he fired Wray for letting the Bureau get involved -- he’s already pissed at him for not Investigating Obama and buttery mails Strongly enough, and now he’s wasting Resources going after our Graet White PatRiot MILITISA!!!?

  2. Steve Cameron says

    As a comic book reader I resent being identified with these yahoos! Not all overweight, bearded white men!
    Besides, no one who reads super-hero comics would be crass enough to name themselves after big properties from two competing companies, no matter who they vote for — some things are bigger than politics. Anyways, isn’t the state animal of Michigan the wolverine? QED, lol.

  3. Janicot says

    Are you sure the ‘Wolverine’ name is from the ‘X-Men’ comic? Or is it from that terrible old ‘Red Dawn’ film? Or both maybe?

    In any case they are apparently living in a violent fantasy universe — which makes them ideal Trump and Republican supporters.

  4. says

    Back in the days of the Occupy Wall Street several gullible knuckleheads were enticed by the FBI into taking part in a faux plot to blow up a bridge here in Cuyahoga County. They were, of course, all arrested and sentenced to prison terms. At no time was there ever any actual real explosives and those drawn in had no idea of what they were doing.

    I have no evidence that this might be the case, but I have to wonder if the Wolverine Watchmen were a similar cluster of gullible knuckleheads rounded up by FBI agents looking for promotion.

  5. TGAP Dad says

    @Janicot: I’m a native of Michigan, and one of the many nicknames for our state is “the Wolverine state”. We also have “the Great Lakes state”, and “Water Winter Wonderland”. Also the University of Michigan’s nickname is “the wolverines”, and college football is huge in Michigan.

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