Thirteen men have been arrested on charges of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Seven of the individuals charged had links to an anti-government militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen.
They allegedly plotted for months to kidnap the representative and discussed plans about taking hostages and putting bombs under a bridge.
The plot comes amid rising tensions been the Republican President and the Democratic Governor over coronavirus measures.
Who is Governor Gretchen Whitmer?
She is an American politician serving as the 49th Governor of Michigan.
She joined the Democratic Party and served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.
In 2006 she became a state senator until the role's term limits forced her to step down in 2015.
She was the first female Democratic leader in the Senate and gained national attention in 2013 for a floor speech during a debate on abortion in which she shared her experience of being sexually assaulted.
In 2016, she became the county prosecutor for Ingham County.
When was she elected as Governor of Michigan?
Ms Whitmer was elected Governor in 2018 after defeating Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette.
During her time in the role, she focused on healthcare and infrastructure. In February 2020, she gave the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union Address.
What was the 'militia' kidnap plot and how did the FBI foil the plan
Thirteen men, seven of them with links to an anti-government militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen, have been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap the Michigan Governor, attack the state legislature and threaten police, US prosecutors have said.
The suspects had allegedly plotted to abduct Governor Whitmer, a Democrat who has clashed publicly with Republican President Donald Trump over state coronavirus restrictions.
According to state and federal criminal complaints, the suspects plotted to abduct her, ahead of next month’s presidential election.
Prosecutors said the men spoke about recruiting a force of 200 supporters to storm the state capitol building and take hostages but later changed their plan to kidnap Ms Whitmer at her holiday home.
At a news conference, Ms Whitmer accused Mr Trump of stirring up political extremism, referencing his comments during last week’s US presidential debate with Joe Biden in which he declined to condemn white supremacists and instead called for members of the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by”.
“When our leaders meet with, encourage and fraternise with domestic terrorists they legitimise their actions, and they are complicit,” Ms Whitmer said.
Trump lashed back at Whitmer on Twitter late on Thursday, saying the Governor “has done a terrible job” and casting her as being ungrateful to his administration.
“My Justice Department and Federal Law Enforcement announced ... today that they foiled a dangerous plot against the Governor of Michigan. Rather than say thank you, she calls me a White Supremacist,” Trump wrote.
Mr Biden weighed in with his own statement, accusing Trump of “giving oxygen to the bigotry and hate we see on the march in our country.”
Internal US security memos in recent months have warned that violent domestic extremists could pose a threat to election-related targets, a concern heightened by political tensions, civil unrest and foreign disinformation campaigns.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in September that his agency was conducting investigations into domestic extremists, including white supremacists and anti-fascist groups.
The agency became aware through social media in early 2020 of groups discussing the “violent overthrow” of multiple state governments and used confidential sources to track their movements, according to court records.
The six men named in the court documents - Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta - could face life in prison if convicted on charges of attempting to kidnap Ms Whitmer.
Fox and Croft, in particular, discussed detonating bombs as a diversionary tactic, “and Fox even inspected the underside of a Michigan highway bridge for places to seat an explosive,” Andrew Birge, US attorney for the western district of Michigan, told a briefing.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel unveiled state charges against seven other men affiliated with the Wolverine Watchmen and accused of violating the state’s anti-terrorism act by conspiring to kidnap the Governor and propagate violence.
The Wolverine Watchmen group has used Facebook since November 2019 to recruit members, and trained with firearms to prepare for the "boogaloo," a term used in the militia movement for an uprising against the government or impending civil war, according to affidavits in support of the state charges.
The Attorney General said the group sought to identify the home addresses of law enforcement officers to threaten them with violence. She said a total of 19 felony charges were filed against seven individuals - Paul Bellar, Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor, Michael Null, William Null, Pete Musico and Joseph Morrison - including allegations of providing support for terrorist acts.
According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, Fox indicated that he wanted to kidnap Whitmer before the national election on November 3 and he would put her on trial for “treason.”
Michigan, a key swing state in the 2020 presidential race, became a focus of agitation by Mr Trump and his supporters against stay-at-home orders Ms Whitmer imposed this year to curb coronavirus transmissions.
Thousands of protesters, including armed militia members, converged on Lansing in April to protest Whitmer’s social-distancing restrictions, some chanting “Lock her up.” Trump encouraged the demonstrators, tweeting, ““LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”
In one June video livestreamed to a private Facebook group, Fox called Whitmer a “tyrant bitch” as he complained about restrictions on gym openings.
“I don’t know, boys, we gotta do something. You guys link with me on our other location system, give me some ideas of what we can do,” Fox said on the video, according to the complaint.
Facebook said it first alerted law enforcement about content related to the Wolverine Watchmen more than six months ago and removed the group from its platform in June, after identifying some of the people running it as members of a boogaloo network.
