Michigan governor links Trump to foiled kidnapping plot

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer linked a plot to kidnap her to US President Donald Trump, arguing on Thursday in a speech hours after arrests were announced that Trump's words had been a "rallying cry" for extremists.

Whitmer's coronavirus response has faced criticism from conservatives, and the GOP-led Michigan Legislature sued her in May to try to invalidate her stay-at-home order and other measures.

The arrests and Whitmer's comments come less than a month before the presidential election in a key battleground state, where recent polls show Biden has a lead.

Thirteen people, including seven men associated with the Wolverine Watchmen militia group, were arrested in a sweeping takedown of plots to kidnap the Michigan governor, attack the state capitol building and incite violence.

The group aimed to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has traded barbs with Trump over her response to the coronavirus pandemic, ahead of the November 3 presidential election, according to a criminal complaint.

At one point, the alleged plotters discussed recruiting a force of 200 to storm the state capitol in Lansing and take hostages, but later abandoned the plan in favor of surveiling and kidnapping Whitmer at her vacation home, the complaint said.

At a news conference, Whitmer accused Trump of encouraging extremist groups like the "sick and depraved men" that targetted her, citing his failure to condemn white supremacists at the recent US presidential debate against Joe Biden as an example.

"When our leaders meet with, encourage and fraternise with domestic terrorists they legitimise their actions, and they are complicit," Whitmer said.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany pushed back at her remarks, saying Trump has condemned all forms of hate.

Democrat Joe Biden sought to tie Trump to the plot as well, pointing to the president's tweet earlier this year to "LIBERATE MICHIGAN."

Whitmer, a Democrat, said the Republican president has spent the last seven months of the coronavirus pandemic "denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division."

She singled out Trump's debate comments, when he didn't condemn white supremacist groups and told one far-right extremist group to "stand back and stand by."

Internal US security memos in recent months have warned that violent domestic extremists could pose a threat to election-related targets, a concern exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, political tensions, civil unrest and foreign disinformation campaigns.

The FBI became aware through social media in early 2020 that a group of people were discussing the "violent overthrow" of multiple state governments and used confidential sources to track their movements, according to the complaint.

The group of six facing federal charges -- Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta -- could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on charges of attempting to kidnap Whitmer.

The Wolverine Watchmen has used Facebook since November 2019 to recruit members, according to affidavits in support of the state charges. The group, which is anti-law enforcement, trained with firearms to prepare for an uprising against the government and what they believe is an "impending politically motivated civil war," according to the affidavits.

Michigan is a key swing state in the 2020 presidential race, and Trump and his supporters demanded the governor relax social-distancing rules. Militia members were among those that took to the streets in April to protest the various rules.

The militia movement in the United States became prominent in the mid-1990s and surged again a little more than a decade ago with the arrival of social media and election of former President Barack Obama, according to the Anti-Defamation League.