Members of anti-government paramilitary groups discussed kidnapping Virginia’s governor during a June meeting in Ohio, an FBI agent testified Tuesday during a court hearing in Michigan.
The June meeting was part of the FBI’s investigation of various anti-government groups, leading to the months-long case in Michigan relying on confidential sources, undercover agents and clandestine recordings to foil the alleged kidnapping conspiracy.
It was not immediately clear whether talk of targeting Virginia's Democratic governor went beyond the June meeting of anti-government groups in Dublin, Ohio.
Trask said members of anti-government groups from “four or five†states attended that meeting.
“They discussed possible targets, taking a sitting governor, specifically issues with the governor of Michigan and Virginia based on the lockdown orders,†Trask said.
He said the people at the meeting were unhappy with the governors’ responses to the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump urged supporters to “LIBERATE†Michigan, Virginia and Minnesota in a series of tweets in April, encouraging protesters who turned up at state Capitols to oppose restrictions aimed at minimizing the spread of the virus.
In the Michigan case, authorities said the men were trying to retaliate against Whitmer due to what they viewed as her “uncontrolled power†during the coronavirus pandemic.
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