Kidnap plot puts focus on governors’ security
A plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor has put a focus on the security of US state governors who have faced protests and threats over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the alleged plot against Gretchen Whitmer is the most specific and highest- profile to come to light, it’s far from the first threat against state officials, particularly Democrats who imposed business closures and restrictions on social gatherings.
In New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said news of the arrest of 13 men accused of planning the overthrow of Michigan’s government rattled members of her family. ‘‘I started to get calls from both my daughters, who were terrified and who were often included in some of the negative messaging.’’
In August, a man pleaded guilty to making threats against the Democratic governor on social media, and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
During the pandemic, the state capitol grounds have been the site of protests, including by some who are carrying weapons and are militia members.
Across the country, armed protesters have rallied this year against coronavirus-related shutdowns. In Michigan, some protesters with guns were allowed inside the state capitol in April after passing temperature screenings. Some lawmakers wore bulletproof vests.
Protests both against virus restrictions and racial injustice this year have targeted not just the offices but also the homes of government executives. Fourteen unarmed protesters calling for the release of prison inmates, for instance, were arrested outside the gates of the residence of California Governor Gavin Newsom in July.
The offices of governors and those in charge of protecting them have declined to say how security has changed because of specific threats they face or the Michigan case. Several praised the security efforts around them.
But some governors are linking the threats to President Donald Trump, who on Twitter on Friday condemned ‘‘extreme violence’’ while also blasting Whitmer, saying she has done a ‘‘terrible job’’.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, said elected officials ‘‘ but especially at the top, must realise that words matter’’ and that rhetoric can lead to violence.
‘‘We are reaching a boiling point in this country,’’ he said. ‘‘So it’s up to all of us to lower the temperature.’’
Washington Governor Jay Inslee singled out Trump, who has often criticised Whitmer, for responsibility. ‘‘It is very unfortunate that she has been troubled not just directly by these threats, but a constant barrage of, frankly, incendiary criticism from the president, and I think that’s been very unfortunate,’’ Inslee said.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who also serves as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, called on Trump to denounce extremist groups.
‘‘This shocking development is the most disturbing of the increasingly violent threats being made against Democratic governors by some of the most extreme and violent fringes of the right,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘Unless and until President Trump openly denounces such right-wing extremism, groups like the Michigan militia will continue to act as if they hold a permission slip from him to openly
engage in such terrorist plots.’’
The threat this year against public employees has risen enough that the bipartisan National Governors Association sent its members a memo in August laying out ways to try to discourage and deal with threats. They include encouraging civil discourse with protesters, personally complying with mask and social distancing orders, and prosecuting threats.
Violence against US state governors has been rare. The only time a governor died of assassination was in Kentucky in 1900, when William Goebel was shot in the chest days before he was sworn in after a disputed election. He died shortly after taking office.
In the same city this year, Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was hanged in effigy from a tree on the state capitol grounds in Frankfort in a protest against his coronavirus restrictions. In April, a man was charged after being accused of making threats against Beshear and Kentucky State Police online. This week, a fence began going up around the state’s executive mansion.
‘‘Unless and until President Trump openly denounces such right-wing extremism, groups like the Michigan militia will continue to act as if they hold a permission slip from him.’’ New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy