by: WOODTV.com staff
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) —During an exclusive interview with News 8, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was “disgusting, abhorrent, deplorable, all the terrible words I can come up with.” But, he said, it was not surprising.
Gilchrist, a Democrat, told News 8 during a virtual interview Friday morning, “The truth is these people have been empowered, encouraged, emboldened and given cover by people like the president of the United States, people like the Republican leadership in the state of Michigan who have met with and fraternized with these people, who have created the rhetorical space for them to plan these violent actions."
The FBI has revealed that months earlier, two of the suspects were among militia members who, carrying long guns, entered the Michigan Capitol Building and went into the Senate gallery during a protest in April.
Gilchrist, who was in the chamber that day, said. “It really speaks to just a culture of violence and being anti-Democratic that has been sown by Republicans. “They could have started carrying out this plot then.”
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