East Michigan News

Plots by domestic militia groups, such as the one recently uncovered trying to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, could discourage candidates from running for public office, a Michigan law professor and former U.S. Attorney told WJR's "The Frank Beckmann Show."

“A plot to kidnap our governor is something that is so frightening,” Barbara McQuade told Beckmann. “In recent years, we’ve seen protests that go not just around public buildings, but go into the homes of public officials, which is really a step too far. We can all disagree about policy choices and politics, but taking out our leaders is not something that we’ve seen in America. That’s something that happens in Third World countries.”

McQuade said she is concerned that “good people will not want to become public officials if that’s what it comes to.”

She was glad to see state and federal officials joining efforts to foil the plot.

“I was really impressed to see the unity they showed at the press conference, where they each had a piece of this case, and by coming together were able to use all legal tools -- federal and state -- to disrupt this plot,” she told Beckmann.

Members of an anti-government group discussed kidnapping Whitmer from a family summer cottage in Northern Michigan, according to testimony in a federal court hearing, USA Today reported. The group members conducted surveillance missions of the cottage, held planning sessions and drew a map.

There are militia groups that just like to train and practice shooting, and “that's not illegal, there’s nothing wrong with that,” McQuade told Beckmann.

“It’s just when group are united by an ideology to commit violence on others that it crosses the line,” she said on the radio program. “It’s conduct, not philosophy or speech that the government is worried about. In an instance like this, where they are plotting to kidnap a governor -- or anyone -- the FBI can’t sit idly by and allow that to happen.”