Far-right group also planned to kidnap Virginia governor, FBI says

An alleged far-right plot to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor also considered targeting Virginia Governor Ralph Northram, authorities revealed on Tuesday.

The FBI announced the arrests of 13 men last week allegedly involved with a far-right, anti-government attempt to storm Michigan’s Capitol to possibly kidnap the state’s governor Gretchen Whitmer and provoke a civil war as retribution for stringent stay-at-home measures during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, FBI special agent Richard Trask testified during a preliminary hearing in that case that the group “discussed possible targets” following “lockdown orders” across the US, including “taking a sitting governor, specifically governors of Michigan and Virginia, over shut down orders.”

"The understanding at the time was to potentially kidnap a sitting governor and remove them from office," he said.