“Here at home extremist rhetoric online, rising political tensions and the proliferation of disinformation have brought us to a boiling point," Slotkin said. "We’ve seen flashes of it in the last few years. Moments that have given us a window into the threat posed by violent domestic groups. In Charlottesville in 2017 and in my own district Lansing in 2020 and tragically on Jan. 6 at the nation's Capitol.” 

Three of the 13 men charged with plotting to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are from the eighth district. All of the men were found to be associated with the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group in Michigan.

U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11), who serves as a high ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism said, “It’s incumbent upon us to ask those hard questions and get to the root of any sort of violence that is affecting our country. Violent extremism in any form is unacceptable.”

“Whether it’s far-left groups our far-right groups, including a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan, it is completely unacceptable in this county to live or have a threat of fear, which is what terrorism, foreign or domestic, would have us do,” Pfluger said.

Michigan has encountered several cases of domestic terrorism in recent years. Attorney General Dana Nessel said that her office created a special procedure for complaints and expanded prosecutorial resources. 

“In light of this serious and growing threat, I have expanded my department’s hate crimes unit to now include domestic terrorism because of the overlap of extremist ideologies,” Nessel said.

The attorney general’s office will also work closely with the FBI and the Michigan State Police to prioritize cases of domestic terrorism and racist hate crimes. 

However, crimes involving domestic terrorism and hate crimes were more often prosecuted on the state level than federal level because Michigan has more laws against those types of crimes. 

Michigan has some of the most strict laws in the country against domestic terrorism and hate crimes. The Michigan Penal Code said that:

• Acts of domestic terrorism are felonies punishable by up to life in prison and/or up to a $100,000 fine. 

• Soliciting support or providing support for terrorist acts is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. 

• Using electronic devices to communicate to commit acts of terrorism is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. 

“The most important thing is to ensure that you have a task force that is multi-level and that, honestly, it is properly resourced," Nessel said. In addition to … us having the right laws in place so that we can appropriately investigate and prosecute any set of circumstances that involves harm to the public, or harm to public officials or anyone in government."