American Patriot Council continues their attacks on Gov. Whitmer, tries to argue that those arrested in kidnaping plot are actually leftist plants
The American Patriot Council, founded by Ryan D. Kelley, continues to try to distance themselves from those arrested in the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer. What follows is an October 9 blog post from the American Patriot Council, a poorly written and unsourced opinion piece. What we will do is provide a deconstruction of this blog post, with their comments in italics and our comments in bold print.
Whitmer Smiles Proudly Amid Alleged Plot to Kidnap and Kill Her – The headline for this post demonstrates their ongoing effort to denigrate Gov. Whitmer, with petty observations about her facial expressions.
Michigan- It was a bizarre scene this afternoon as the infamous Governor Gretchen Whitmer stepped to the podium. All smiles and cheer, a notably happy Governor didn’t seem to notice the irony today, as she thanked the same law enforcement her and her party have been working to defund. Here the blogger provides no evidence that the Democratic Party or Gov. Whitmer has worked to Defund the Police. That’s because it is a false position. The fact is, according to No More Cop Money, Democrats and Republicans have been recipients of major funding from police unions, included among those receiving campaign funding from police unions in Gov. Whitmer herself.
Her behavior only became more strange as she quickly turned a press conference to give information about an alleged terror plot that was foiled by FBI and state police Wednesday night into a negative campaign ad in favor of Joe Biden. Notice that the blogger calls it an “alleged terror plot.” The blogger also suggests that Whitmer’s press conference was a campaign ad for Joe Biden. This is a bit of a stretch. Sure, Whitmer was critical of Trump’s handling of the COVID 19 crisis and his refusal to condemn White Supremacy, but the only other politician the Michigan Governor cited in her speech was Ronald Reagan and in a favorable way. Here is a link to the press conference, so make up your own mind.
The governor spoke about President Trump, strangely accusing him and the accused kidnappers of being white supremacists, in spite of all involved being of the same ethnic background. Ok, so this statement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and demonstrates that the writer doesn’t understand what White Supremacy is. White Supremacy has little to do with ethnicity, rather it is an ideological framework that elevates Whiteness and those of European descent, for the purpose of dominance.
As the camera zoomed gently in on Whitmer, she made the most of the opportunity to speak out against President Trump. The air in the room was almost celebratory, as if the men had already been tried and convicted. This statement is merely speculative, since Gov. Whitmer was primarily making the point that anyone who threatens people with acts of violence will be prosecuted.
Many have questions about the case though. Rumors of unorthodox arrest methods and accusations of mistreatment of the mens’ children during the arrests are abound. Others have asked what Whitmer and her far-left cohorts have to gain from the narrative they are spinning. And one glaring question: If these were heavily armed, violent extremists bent on murder, how did the FBI and State Police arrest all of them within a single shot fired? What rumors? Again, so sources are provided to substantiate the claims here.
It has been widely spread by media and political sources that the men arrested in the federal case were “boogaloo boys”, a group that is called far right by the left, but in conservative groups it is widely believed that they are actually “planted” by the left to defame good, law abiding citizens. At least one of them, Brandon Caserta, was very vocal on social media about his stance as an anarchist, and anti-police, a stark contrast with conservative gun rights activists who are traditionally pro-police. Here the blogger is making false claims about some of those arrested in the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, suggesting they are anti-police and anarchists. There is no hard evidence, and once again no sources are cited to substantiate the claims.
Other notable suspect was Adam Fox, was seen in a live Facebook video cussing at his young child, forcing him to get his marijuana paraphernalia while smoke a marijuana cigarette, live on camera. Again, behavior not indicative of conservative groups. Here the blogger is attempting some mental gymnastics, claiming that some of those arrested have questionable moral character. Interestingly enough, the blogger names two men, only hoping that readers will ignore the others arrested, several of which have attended American Patriot Council events, provided “security” at those events and others were directly invited by the American Patriot Council or Ryan D. Kelley.
Nobody knows what happened yet, but one thing is sure. These arrests have left many with more questions than answers. This closing comment is weak, demonstrating the blogger is grasping at straws. Of course there are lots of questions to be answered, but there are plenty of questions the blogger wants to avoid, specifically about the relationship between the American Patriot Council and some of those arrested in the attempted plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer.
In addition, the American Patriot Council, on October 10th, posted another blog piece that continues to attack Gov. Whitmer, saying she, “has created a totalitarian state right in the middle of the Midwest US.”
Celebrating Indigenous People’s Day in Grand Rapids also means coming to terms with Settler Colonialism
Earlier this month, the Mayor of Grand Rapids read a proclamation recognizing Indigenous People’s Day. The proclamation was a joint effort between members of the Anishinaabek community and the Community Relations Commission.
It is an important first step in Grand Rapids, for the City government to acknowledge and affirm the original people of this land, and to refuse to acknowledge or celebrate Columbus Day from here forward.
The proclamation is also important, in that it acknowledges the contributions of Anishinaabek people, along with the call to be part of the ongoing struggles indigenous people in this area are faced with.
However, the proclamation does not include terms like Genocide, Settler Colonialism or acknowledge the Euro-America theft of Indigenous land. If those of us who are not part of the Anishinaabek community are to truly celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, it is important that we come to terms with the history of Settler Colonialism in this area.
One important source of information on Settler Colonialism, is Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s book, An Indigenous People’s History of the United States. Dunbar-Ortiz does not write an exhaustive account of the ways in which native lands and native people were plundered, rather she gives us the framework for a new narrative how the history of the US. The primary analytical point that the author makes is that the US was founded on an ideology and practice of settler colonialism.
“Settler colonialism has best been defined as more of an imposed structure than an historical event. This structure is characterized by relationships of domination and subjugation that become woven throughout the fabric of society, and even becomes disguised as paternalistic benevolence. The objective of settler colonialism is always the acquisition of indigenous territories and resources, which means the native must be eliminated. This can be accomplished in overt ways including biological warfare and military domination but also in more subtle ways; for example, through national policies of assimilation.”
For Dunbar-Ortiz, we cannot talk about the US, past or present, unless we come to terms with the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism. Such a reframing of the narrative is indeed radical, but it is ultimately necessary of we are serious about how we read and make history now.
Settler Colonialism in Grand Rapids
Using the important analysis of Dunbar-Ortiz, one can see how Grand Rapids is the result of settler colonialism. Indigenous communities existed here for centuries before European colonizers came to West Michigan. This fact is usually noted in Grand Rapids history books, but only enough to merit a few pages.
In Z.Z. Lydens’ book, A Look at Early Grand Rapids, he attempts to portray what happened to the native population as tame compared to other parts of the country. “The history of Grand Rapids does not have a backdrop of conflict with the Indians. There were no tales of raids and scalpings and scourging of the settlement with flame.”
While it is true that the level of violence against Native people, in what is now called West Michigan, was not as overt as was done to other Indigenous nations, the violence was real and systemic. Lydens’ commentary is instructive, since it not only limits any understanding of violence, it ignores how settler colonialism functions.
The reality is that thousands of indigenous people lived along the Grand River prior to the European invasion. Most in these native communities experienced displacement by force, religious colonization, the flooding of their communities with alcohol, and displacement through legal maneuvers known as treaties. There were numerous treaties that resulted in the takeover of Native land by settler colonialists throughout what is now called Michigan (see map above), but settler colonialists have a long history of violation of those treaties.
In terms of what this meant for Native people who lived along the Grand River in what is now Grand Rapids, many of them fled to areas in the Great Lakes that in the first half of the 19th century gave them a better chance of surviving settler colonialism.
There is little of this history that is documented by settler colonial historians, but there are glimpses of what some of the consequences were to Native communities and Native culture. For instance, according to local historian Gordon Olsen, we know that many of the burial mounds were destroyed by settlers who excavated the burial mounds to use as filler for other areas of the developing city that had been removed to construct roads. In fact, according to Olsen (A Grand Rapids Sampler) Charles Belknap wrote about this process since as a young boy he brought water to the men involved in the excavation project. Much of the contents of the burial mounds were destroyed, while others were sold to museums or kept as souvenirs by settler colonialists involved in the early development of Grand Rapids. (see map for believed locations of Native burial mounds)
The Law and Settler Colonial Occupation
US expansion at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century required the ratification of legal agreements between the young settler colonial government and Native nations. I use the term nations, because treaties can only be signed between two sovereign nations. This fact, while evident, needs to be restated, since there is ongoing denial about the sovereign status of Native nations and a blatant refusal by the descendants of settler colonialists that the land we current live on is occupied. As Native activist and member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Lee Sprague, regularly reminds people in his public talks, by saying, “I come from the land currently occupied by the State of Michigan.”
The territory that would eventually become the state of Michigan in 1837, was negotiated through a variety of treaties. (see map above). This series of treaties was signed by the US government with members of the Odawa, Ojibway, and Potawatomi nations. This map below shows the areas of land that were inhabited by the Odawa, Ojibway, and Potawatomi nations.
The primary treaty that impacted what is now West Michigan, was the 1821 Treaty of Chicago. This treaty is significant, since it is with this treaty the process of land speculation and the construction of missions began along the Grand River.
The Treaty of Chicago was the major legal mechanism that allowed White Settlers to purchase and occupy land in West Michigan. However, it is important to note that between 1810 and 1830, when these treaties were being crafted and ratified between the US government and Native nations, the US recognized that the defeat of the British in the War of 1812 meant that England was no longer the primary barrier to US expansion. The primary barrier to US expansion was Native sovereignty.
While the Treaty of Chicago legalized relations with Native tribes in what settler colonialists call Michigan, the US government began to ignore such legal claims in their quest for access of more land. US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall began to interpret the US relationship with Native nations as problematic. Marshall put forth the notion that, “while native peoples are entitled to exercise some range of autonomy in managing our affairs within our own territories, both the limits of that autonomy and the extent of the territories involved can be ‘naturally’ and unilaterally established by the US.” (pg. 9, Perversions of Justice: Indigenous People’s and Angloamerican Law) In essence, Marshall’s interpretation of the law would eventually mean that Native land really belonged to Settler Colonialists and that Native people are simply an obstacle to US expansion. Thus the Marshall Doctrine began a period of forced removal of Native nations, implemented most vigorously by Andrew Jackson.
Therefore, even though there was a legal agreement between the US government and Native nations in Michigan, the expansion of white settlements superseded Native sovereignty. In the Michigan territories, forced removal was nothing like that of what befell the Cherokee nation, but with the assistance of christian missionaries, Native communities would decreased in numbers while white settlers began to slowly take control of the land along the Grand River.
Churches and the Expansion of Settler Colonialism in West Michigan
Before we look at the impact that christian missions had on Native communities in what is now Grand Rapids, it’s important to have a framework in which to understand this history. The United Nations Convention on Genocide provides clear principles for determining when genocide is committed. It is important to note that their definition is not simply limited to the physical destruction of Indigenous people, but can also include forced relocation and transferring children from one group to another.
In addition, the Genocide Convention provides insight into biological genocide (forced sterilization) and cultural genocide (suppression of language or religion). On the matter of cultural genocide, important questions are raised on the targeting of Native people by christians to convert. Does this qualify as cultural genocide?
We know that hundreds of Native children from the Three Fires Nations were taken and put into boarding schools by settler colonialists, many of which were run by christians. In these instances Native children were denied the right to speak their own languages and practice their own spiritual traditions. Most of the removal of Native children from their communities happened in the later part of the 19th Century and first half of the 20th Century.
However, on the matter of christian missions attempting to make converts of Native communities in the 1820s and 1830s along the Grand River, it is less clear on whether or not this could be defined as a form of genocide. How much free will did Native people have on choosing another religion? Was the adoption of christian beliefs a form of assimilation into the dominant culture and was it tied to larger socio-economic issues like food and land?
It should come as no surprise that right after the 1821 Treaty was signed, the first christian missions came to what is now West Michigan. The Baptist Church established a mission in 1824, under the leadership of Isaac McCoy, and Catholic missions were begun in 1833 by Fr. Frederic Baraga.
One of the things that lured missionaries to the area after the signing of the Treaty of Chicago, was a provision in the treaty which allowed funds for people to work as teachers of blacksmiths amongst the Native people along the Grand River. The government treaty called this, the “civilization fund,” a phrase that underscores the settler colonial mentality.
Isaac McCoy first arrived in 1823, only to discover: “Many Odawa were drinking and few responded to his call for a council. After some inquiries McCoy learned that the majority regarded the 1821 treaty as fraudulent and viewed his visit as an attempt to trick them into ratifying it.” (pg. 7, from Gathered at the River: Grand Rapids, Michigan and Its People of Faith)
Such a statement reflects not only that the Native people along the Grand were not in support of the government imposed treaty, but that many Natives were negatively impacted by alcohol. Alcohol was introduced by French fur traders, particularly Louis Campau and should be seen as another tool used by settler colonialism to control Native people.
McCoy, however, was not deterred from his initial observations and continued to use all means at his disposal to “win over” the hearts and minds of Native people. In 1826, McCoy set up the Thomas Mission on the westside of the Grand River (as shown in this map). McCoy’s greatest contribution during his time along the Grand River was his relationship with Native leader Nawequageezhig, whom the white settlers call Noonday.
Noonday was one of the few Native leaders who signed the 1821 Treaty of Chicago and was viewed by many as a traitor or collaborator with the settler colonialists. Noonday went as far as to be baptized by McCoy’s successor, Rev. Leonard Slater in the summer of 1827. Another Native leader in the area, Kewwaycooshcum, also known as Blackskin, did not sign the 1821 treaty, but did develop a relationship with the catholics through his connection to Campau. It is hard to know from the limited documentation of that time, whether or not the Native people were using the tensions between the various christian factions to their benefit or if the christian were using Native compliance with the government as a means to an end. One gets a sense of the christian rivalry in a comment from Fr. Baraga, who said, “Mary, to who it is given to root out all heresies of the world……to destroy the false [Protestant} teachings with which some of the poor Indians were already infected, and suffer on His gospel to reign everywhere.” (pg. 12, from Gathered at the River: Grand Rapids, Michigan and Its People of Faith)
However, whatever tensions existed, they were most useful in pushing Native people out of the area as more white settlers came to the area. This increase in settlers, along with greater desire for land and settler colonial expansion resulted in a new treaty being drawn up, the Treaty of Washington in 1836. This treaty turned over an additional 13,837,207 acres of land to settler colonialism’s expansionist desires.
It seems that all along, the goal with relations of Native people along the Grand were to take the rest of their land. Whether or not there was direct complicity with the early christian missions to this land takeover is not relevant, the fact remains that they did nothing to resist such an effort.
The end of chapter one from Gathered at the River: Grand Rapids, Michigan and Its People of Faith, states of the fate of Native people in West Michigan:
Keeping title proved difficult, however, as fraud, inexperience, and incompatibility of family farming with tribal tradition took their toll.
It indeed took its toll, but the authors of Gathered at the River do not call it land theft or settler colonialism or even acknowledge the role that early missions played here in the ongoing genocidal policies of US expansionism. The plight of Native people is not addressed in the rest of the book, which simply goes on to celebrate the history of christian churches in Grand Rapids. However, it seems apparent to this writer that the history of christianity in West Michigan is founded on genocide and settler colonialism. We would do well to acknowledge this history to inform how we move forward in the struggle for justice today.
The local news media has been complicit in White Supremacy by providing White Supremacist groups an uncritical platform to promote hate
All of the attention surrounding the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer, now has local news agencies scrambling to figure out how this happened…….or so we are led to believe.
The reality is that the local commercial news agencies have failed to public miserably when it comes to the rise of White Nationalists, White Supremacy and all of the hate groups that have been emboldened during the Trump administration’s own White Supremacist policies and rhetoric. In short, the local news agencies have been complicit in the harm perpetrated by systemic White Supremacy and the White Supremacist groups that have been very public since the COVID 19 crisis.
There are lots of reasons why this dynamic has occurred. One main reason is based on how the media functions, specifically around readership and ratings. Commercial news agencies rely on advertising dollars, so they want to attract viewers instead of providing information to the public, which is a necessary component of a vibrant democracy.
Look at what has happened since April in Michigan, when we began to see all of the anti-lockdown protests. The late April protest in Lansing is a good example. We wrote an article that deconstructed on the local news agencies reported on that demonstration, which you can read at this link. Our conclusion from the article stated:
Overall, the commercial news coverage tended to focus more on the spectacle of the protest, rather then offering any insight or analysis of what the protest was really about. In addition, the commercial news sources we looked at failed to mention that in all of the photos and video taken, it was essentially a sea of white people. Along with the whiteness of this protest, the news media also could have made a stronger connection to the message of those protesting, with that of the GOP legislators and the organizations who are essentially pushing for the same outcome……the opening up of Michigan’s economy, regardless of the health consequences.
We wrote a piece looking at the organizers of the protest outside of Gov. Whitmer’s home in late April. The commercial news media provided these people with a platform without looking into who these people were and what sort of political ideology they embraced. One of the organizers had spent 30 days in jail for election fraud, something the commercial news agencies failed to report on.
We then discovered a group named the American Patriot Council in early May. This group was the primary organizer of the April 30th rally with numerous heavily armed White Supremacists entering the capitol in Lansing. Ryan D. Kelley was the founder of the American Patriot Council and he and his associated celebrated the armed invasion in Lansing. Kelley had then announced a similar rally was being planned for Grand Rapids in mid-May, which we also wrote about, and made connections between various far right groups and Kelley’s relationship to high ranking Republican legislators.
We wrote an initial article on the American Patriot Council rally in Grand Rapids discussing what happened, but also providing some background on the speakers. We wrote a follow up story on May 25th, which took a closer look at some of the speakers and their political ideology, along with taking photos that featured some of the same White Supremacist groups that would be connected to the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer.
In early July we deconstructed a story from WOODD TV8 that essentially provide free airtime to a White Supremacist group known as the Michigan Liberty Militia, who had at least one of their members involved in the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer. In that article we wrote:
This story was a clear example of poor journalism. First, there is no evidence that the channel 8 reporter even bothered to ask substantive or obvious questions that any reasonable person would ask when inquiring about a group like the Michigan Liberty Militia. Secondly, the reporter did not bother to do any background checks on this group or the person they interviewed for the story, Phil Robinson.
Four days later, WOOD TV8 used White Supremacist sources to discredit anti-racist organizers in Michigan, thus further demonstrating that the don’t investigate sources and that they enable White Supremacist values.
In August, we began a new regular column called the West Michigan Far Right Watch, to further look at far right groups operating in West Michigan. In our September 10th West Michigan Far Right Watch, we wrote about the American Patriot Council and their plans for so-called Freedom Marches in October. We looked at lots of Ryan D. Kelley’s posts on FB and the American Patriot Council’s own blog posts, which was filled with lots of incendiary language and anti-government statements.
Ryan D. Kelley has since deleted his FB, which suggests that he does not want to be connected to the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer. We wrote on Thursday, that the American Patriot Council and Ryan D. Kelley have fostered a climate of hate and anti-government sentiment, which provides fertile ground for those who engage in acts of terrorism, like the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer.
However, the local news media is just now waking up to the seriousness of many of the groups that have been extremely visible over the past 6 months. Equally important is the fact that the same news agencies have been providing uncritical airtime and commentary to these White Supremacist groups, thus making them complicit in acts of hate and acts of terror.
Last night, WOOD TV8 ran a pretty weak story about Ryan D. Kelley, who is also on the Allendale Charter Township Planning Commission. The channel 8 story was typical, in that they provided Kelley a platform to dismiss any involvement in wrong doing, instead of questioning and challenging his role in fostering hate and anti-government actions.
We have to ask ourselves why commercial news agencies, which have tremendous resources, are unwilling to do serious investigative work to inform the public about groups like the American Patriot Council, the Michigan Liberty Militia. Not only have the local news agencies failed to serve the public interest, they have been directly complicit in fostering hate and White Supremacy by providing these groups a platform.
Sister Ardeth Platte: Warrior for Peace
I first met Sr. Ardeth in the early 1980s in Lansing, when Fr. Dan Berrigan came to speak at an event put on by the group Covenant for Peace. Covenant for Peace organized a multi-year campaign to expose and resist the manufacturing of nuclear weapons systems at Williams International in Walled Lake, MI.
After listening to Berrigan speak that night, I was invited by some of the organizers to meet with Fr. Berrigan and a small group of other activists. Sr. Ardeth was one of those in the small gathering.
(Sr. Ardeth is pictured here in the middle, with the big smile.)
People were having drinks and mingling. I also grabbed a drink and was being introduced to people. At one point I was introduced to Sr. Ardeth, who with a beer in her hand, said she was glad to meet me. I was a bit surprised that a Catholic Sister would be drinking a beer, but then again, I wasn’t raised Catholic and didn’t really know what to expect.
At that first encounter, I found Sr. Ardeth to be a warm and very deliberate with her words when she spoke. I remember feeling relaxed around her, like I could be myself, without having to worry about whether I might offend someone who had taken vows.
After that initial encounter, it would be another two years before I had seen Sr. Ardeth again. By then I had already spent a year in a Catholic Seminary, left and then was part of an intentional community called Koinonia. However, I did receive letters from Sr. Ardeth, while spending 48 days in jail after an action that 13 of us did at Williams International in December of 1984. I didn’t keep those letters, but I remember that her words were filled with encouragement and affirmation of my witness against the indiscriminate destructive power of nuclear weapons.
Beginning in early 1985, I participated in a group study/reflection process with other people of faith in Michigan, all of which were working to resist the nuclear arms race. Sr. Ardeth was part of that group, along with Sr. Carol, her best friend and partner in crime. When I say partner in crime, I literally mean that, since Sr. Ardeth and Sr. Carol were arrested together numerous times over the years, resisting weapons of death.
That same year (1985), Sr. Ardeth and Sr. Carol had organized an action at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan. The action took place on the anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima, which I have written about on the Grand Rapids People’s History site.
I did not take part in another action at Wurtsmith Air Force Base again until 1990, since the intentional community I was part of at the time had become a Sanctuary for Central American refugees fleeing US supported state terrorism.
During the action in 1990, people entered the Wurtsmith Air Force base in small groups, which we called affinity groups. I was with a few other people from Grand Rapids, and as we were waiting our turn to engage in Civil Disobedience, Sr. Ardeth suggested that our group should start closer to the entrance to the military base, since we were doing something very different from other affinity groups. We modeled our action after the Mothers of the Disappeared, with images of people (photo below) either killed by US militarism or people who were negatively impacted because the US puts a higher priority on militarism than they do on people. I had a picture of my brother Steve, who had been going to a day program for adults with disabilities, until the State of Michigan cut funding.
I was arrested that day in 1990 and because I had been arrested before at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, I would likely do months in jail for resisting nuclear weapons. Like the rest of the people who had been arrested more than once at that military base, we all received a letter to appear in court for our hearing, more than a month after the action. I was in communication with Sr. Ardeth and asked her what she thought about me refusing to go to the hearing. Sr. Ardeth was not only in favor of the action, she encouraged me to send a letter to the judge, telling him why I would not be coming. I wrote the letter, and in that I said that since the judge did not acknowledge the validity of International Law as a legal argument for my actions, there was no point in coming, since his court was a mockery of the law.
A few weeks went by and I received another letter, with a new court date. I wrote the judge a second time, using similar arguments, with different wording. A week later federal agents showed up at my door to arrest me. Fortunately, I saw them coming and snuck out the back, while one of my housemates distracted the agents.
For nearly three months I went underground, moving from place to place, always avoiding the federal agents. A friend of mine who did a show on the public access TV station, did an interview with me about the action at Wurtsmith Air Force Base and my reasons for going underground. Here is that video.
I had only seen Sr. Ardeth here and there over the years, sometimes at funerals for other amazing women, who, like Sr. Ardeth, were part of the Dominican Sisters. However, Sr. Ardeth continued her resistance to injustice, to militarism and to war. Years later she had joined the famous community in Baltimore, known as Jonah House, where she continued to value community and resistance.
So you see dear friends, Sr. Ardeth Platte had a tremendous influence on my own formation as an activist and war resister. Her quiet counsel over the years helped me to take a path that I never regretted. From our first meeting over a beer to her encouragement to take bold action, Sr. Ardeth was an inspiration, a kind, gentle person, and someone who took the words of Jesus to heart by being a warrior for peace. Thank you Sr. Ardeth, for welcoming me into your life!!! Rest in Peace.
American Patriot Council says they only support lawful action, but they have created a climate which led to the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
We have been writing about the American Patriot Council since April, along with one of their leaders, Ryan D. Kelley.
The American Patriot Council released a statement today, already trying to distance themselves from the failed plat to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Here is that brief statement:
The American Patriot Council in no way condones violence as a form of political action. As the public is well aware, any actions taken by the American Patriot Council have been legal and lawful. While we hold the view that many public officials are guilty of a litany of crimes, and it has been our goal to hold these officials criminally responsible, we must do so lawfully.
It has come to our attention that some other groups have allegedly plotted violence and lawlessness, so, we feel it necessary to tell our members, followers, and viewers that The American Patriot Council believes in law and order across the board and that no American citizen should be deprived of their right to due process of law.
We have no affiliation with any other groups, nor will we aid or abet anyone using threats or acts of violence. Please take note that we are on the side of law enforcement. To this point we have not been made aware of any plans of violence and we believe our members and followers to be patriots.
To be clear: The American Patriot Council will report any unlawful activity immediately upon becoming aware.
This statement from the American Patriot Council does NOT condemn the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, instead it uses language to try to distance themselves from the plot, while simultaneously saying, “that many public officials are guilty of a litany of crimes.”
However, there is plenty of evidence that the American Patriot Council has created a climate to nurture actions like the failed kidnapping attempt of Gov. Whitmer.
Members of the American Patriot Council organized the anti-lockdown protest in Lansing on April 30th, which featured lots of armed, white men that day.
They held a rally in Grand Rapids on May 18, with militia types and Proud Boys in attendance.
On the main page of the American Patriot Council, it says, Governor Whitmer Lies About 21 Day Continuance of Her Unconstitutional and Illegal Executive Orders, and if you scroll down a bit more it says, Petition to Arrest Whitmer, Nessel, and Benson.
On the Cases page of the American Patriot Council, it has pictures of Gov. Whitmer, AG Nessel and Sec of State Benson, with the word Felon over each picture. On that same Cases page, Ryan Kelley tells supporter in a video that the FBI needs to arrest Whitmer and company for crimes.
All of these actions have clearly created an anti-Whitmer climate that goes beyond partisan bickering to create a political and ideological climate that fosters hate and violence.
Lastly, the American Patriot Council is coordinating so-called Freedom Marches on October 24th, with several planned in Michigan, with the closest being in Allendale. The possibility of violence, hate and intimidation will be significant at these marches.
With thousands of families struggling with the pandemic economy in Grand Rapids, Grand Action is proposing a downtown Amphitheater
Last Saturday, it was reported by several of the dominant news sources in West Michigan, that the people who run Grand Rapids are still working on adding a large amphitheater and a soccer stadium.
The two primary entities involved in this effort are Grand Action and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority. However, there are several other organizations involved, like the Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., the Right Place Inc. and Experience Grand Rapids. All of these entities are made up of first & second tier members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
MLive reported on this story and said that one possibility for where the amphitheater could go would be where Charlie’s Crab sits, including the adjacent parking lot. The MLive article also reported:
The property at 63 Market Ave. is owned by a limited liability company with the same address as RDV Corporation, the DeVos family office. A nearby surface parking lot is owned by the Amway Hotel Corporation.
“It’s too big a parcel and too important to the future of the city to be developed independently,” Frey said of the two pieces of land. “It has a spectacular potential for the next big phase of what this city’s all about.”
Unfortunately, MLive did not contact the RDV Corporation (DeVos-owned) to ask if 63 Market LLC was indeed a DeVos-owned property. I think it is pretty safe to assume that DeVos does own this property, along with the adjacent parking lot. In addition, since Grand Action is involved in this project, that means Dick DeVos will be directly involved.
Equally important is what David Frey (also a member of the GR Power Structure) has to say in the MLive article, specifically that the parcel shouldn’t be “developed independently” and “It has a spectacular potential for the next big phase of what this city’s all about.”
When David Frey says that this development project should happen independently, what he really means is that those of us who run the city will make the decisions about this project, we’ll donate some money, but we’ll get taxpayers to foot the bulk of the costs to make the amphitheater a reality.
When David Frey says this project has a spectacular potential for the next big phase of what this city’s all about, he means that this is what the local power structure wants the city to be about. On the matter of the next big phase, Frey is actually referencing 2016 study that Grand Action had done to look at how to make Grand Rapids a tourism and entertainment destination, something we reported on that year. Unfortunately, MLive failed to mention that the amphitheater and the soccer stadium were not new ideas, but part of a larger plan make more profits for the members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
When we reported on the Grand Action tourism and entertainment study in 2016, we made a point about how those plans were happening in the midst of a major housing crisis in Grand Rapids. Today, it would be appropriate to say that the members of Grand Action are planning to get the public to pay for their projects, while thousands in Grand Rapids are still facing eviction, unemployment and food insecurity, all in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic. This is what we call good old fashioned Class Warfare!
MLive refuses to call Proud Boys a Hate Group, embraces the dominant narrative about policing
On Friday, MLive ran an article about an anti-lockdown protest in Lansing, which featured Steven Crowder, the far right social commentator who mocks those he doesn’t agree with.
The article also mentioned that there were “a handful of the Proud Boys” in attendance at the anti-lockdown protest. The Proud Boys have been part of every anti-lockdown protest in Lansing, since April, when far right groups began organizing these actions.
However, what is interesting about the MLive article that mentions the Proud Boys, is that they didn’t offer any qualifying comments about the group. The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the Proud Boys as an “extremist group” and a “far right” group that promotes hate. Political Research Associates also identifies the Proud Boys as a hate group, with their participation in the Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally in 2017.
Unfortunately, MLive (and most other dominant news organizations) don’t always identify the Proud Boys as a hate group or far right group. The day before, on October 1st, MLive ran an editorial about the aftermath of the Proud Boys presence in Kalamazoo.
In that editorial, I was hoping for greater illumination on the Proud Boys role in the protest in Kalamazoo in August, but the editorial did not provide any new information or analysis from the August 15 clash between protesters and the Proud Boys.
However, the editorial did include a link to a podcast between the vice president of content for MLive and Mark Tower, who is one of the news leaders for MLive in Kalamzoo. Again, the MLive staff member working in Kalamazoo was hesitant to call the Proud Boys at Hate Group or White Supremacist group, instead identifying them as a nationalist group.
Also disappointing in this interview between MLive news personnel, was the fact that not only was there limited discussion on the Proud Boys, there was a clear lack of understanding about the current wave of protest groups in the US, and their clear embrace of the dominant narrative surrounding the function of police departments.
It was clear in the podcast that MLive staff have internalized the dominant narrative about policing, especially when one of them said, “you would think that the police would have had a squad car or two there before the Proud Boys showed up at the protest.” Such a statement reflects the belief that the police act to prevent violence in all circumstances and that they are somehow neutral in their dealings with groups which have opposite ways of seeing the world.
Interestingly enough, the MLive staff members did acknowledge that there were police present before the Proud Boys showed up, officers who were doing surveillance on the top of a building. So, the police did have a presence, but were not interested in preventing violence from happening between the Proud Boys and anti-racist activists that day in August.
During the podcast interview, a question was asked about whether or not the Proud Boys would be back to Kalamazoo. The MLive staffer who works in Kalamazoo stated, “I don’t know if they’ll be back, but we did interview someone with the Proud Boys, who is from Michigan.” The MLive staff member from Kalamazoo did not offer anything illuminating about the interview with a Proud Boys member, which leads me to believe that maybe they didn’t ask probing questions.
The MLive editorial and podcast were just one more affirmation for this writer, that the public cannot rely on dominant news sources for critical information about far right and extremists groups like the Proud Boys, nor can we expect these same news sources to investigate and hold accountable police departments or any other system of power and oppression.
After Michigan Supreme Court ruling on COVID 19 policies, legislators, who are bought and paid for, will decide out fate
Last Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Whitmer had over-stepped her authority during the COVID 19 crisis. In a recent article in Bridge Michigan:
Sen. Shirkey told Bridge he expects a federal court could act on the decision and begin to invalidate Whitmer executive orders as soon as next week. The governor has claimed that cannot happen for at least 21 days under Supreme Court rules.
What this will mean is that the Michigan Legislature will now likely decide on how to deal with the COVID 19 crisis, which should concern anyone who cares about health and well being of people living in Michigan. This is especially the case when it comes to the Senate Majority leader Mike Shirkey and House leader Lee Chatfield. Both of these legislators initiated law suits against Gov. Whitmer in early May.
In April, Shirkey and Chatfield had already been complaining about Gov. Whitmer’s stance on COVID 19. Shirkey was quoted as saying:
We believe business owners will act responsibly and take care within their establishments to clean and disinfect their equipment, protect their workers and customers, and meet strict health and safety standards. We believe parents will protect their children, clergy will make worship services safe for their congregants, and neighbors will look out for their communities.
The data on how many people have died so far and how many have contracted the virus, seems to contradict Shirkey’s comments above.
Then, during the anti-lockdown protests in Lansing, it became clear that the groups involved in organizing those protests were in direct communication with Sen. Mike Shirkey, by their own admission. This is what we wrote on May 12th:
The fact that the anti-lockdown protestors we working in tandem with Sen. Mike Shirkey is confirmed in one of their blog posts, where it states:
“The irony is that the American Patriot Rally was organized with one thing in mind: to encourage the senate to vote no on extending Whitmer’s emergency declaration, which they did. It was a victory. If Sean had taken the time to be a journalist, he’d have known that we got exactly what we came for,” Kelley said.
These comments came from Ryan Kelley, who is with the American Patriot Council. Kelley has also been one of the primary spokespersons defending the Civil War statue in Allendale, Michigan. A week after Kelley confirmed he had been in contact with Sen. Shirkey during the anti-lockdown protests in Lansing, he invited Shirkey to speak at an anti-lockdown protest in Grand Rapids on May 18.
The business community has consistently been behind Shirkey and Chatfield on their COVID 19 position. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce has endorsed allowing businesses to re-open, even pushing this message in April. The West Michigan Policy Forum has also supported this position of profits over people, when they stated in April:
Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Mackinac Center for Public Policy & West MI Policy Forum think 75% of businesses could re-open now throughout the state
The principles offered by Senator Mike Shirkey today smartly allows for a regional and phased approach to safely reopening businesses and protecting employees as they go back to work. We must reject the false choice between work and safety, so these outlined principles rightly empower workers, protect customers and increase economic security. We applaud Senator Shirkey’s welcoming approach to further input by medical experts. We urge the governor, lawmakers and business leaders to further refine the appropriate and sensible proposal by Senator Shirkey to coalesce around one plan to protect both lives and livelihoods and provide a safe pathway to restart our economy.
The endorsement of the West Michigan Policy Forum should not surprise us, especially considering that two of their members, DeVos and Kennedy, have pretty much bankrolled both Sen. Shirkey and Rep. Chatfield, as we noted back in May.
The GOP controlled State Legislature now has the ability to implement opening more and more of Michigan businesses, which will likely lead to more and more people contracting the COVID 19 virus. Profits over people is not just an ideological reference, rather it will become more and more of a reality if the likes of Sen. Shirkey and Rep. Chatfield have their way.
(graphic by Brett Colley)
Welcome to the next installment of West Michigan Far Right Watch, where we keep tabs on the far right in this area and provide a summary of what they are up to and what kind of messages they are promoting in this community.
We have 3 new examples to share with you this week.
First up is Voice For the Badge (VFB), which is now proposing (Oct. 1) that all GR City officials should be require to o 4 ride-alongs with the GRPD every year, plus attend simulation shooting classes twice a year.
VFB leader, Johnny Brann Sr. said, This might wake up city officials to the fact that OUR GRPD go through hell on many of their shifts and the split second decisions they must make. I am willing to bet that most city officials will shoot an innocent citizen or get shot themselves.
Our second example is from the West Michigan Policy Forum, which was recently celebrating on FB the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling that Gov. Whitmer’s use of the 1945 law was in violation of the state’s constitution. The West Michigan Policy Forum, which is made up of powerful members of the local Capitalist Class, has been lobbying and financing political candidates that will defend business interests, even it is contrary to public health and well being.
Our last example has to do with the Far Right Think Tank, the Acton Institute. Last week, we posted a story about how the Acton Institute publicly endorsed Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. We noted in that article, that Barrett is part of a religious right group known as The People of Praise.
In a September 30th blog post, the Acton Institute defended People of Praise, in an article entitled, Amy Coney Barrett: handmaid of the Lord, not the state. The Acton Institute once again demonstrated their far right support for organizations and elected officials that impose monotheism in the public sphere, promote patriarchal values, such a making women subservient to men.
In all three of our examples this week, we see how far right groups are attempting to impose public policy that benefits those in power, attacks marginalized communities in West Michigan, and celebrates profits over people.
Trump, White Supremacy and Fascism: When voting is not enough
Tuesday nights Presidential debate was, as many have said, a shit show and a mess.
When President Trump was asked by the debate moderator if he would denounce White Supremacy, he refused to and instead told the some of the foot soldiers of White Supremacy, to Stand Back and Stand By.
Many non-state White Supremacist groups were encouraged by this statement and have been public about it. Groups like the Proud Boys, III%, Oathkeepers and Boogaloos are all groups that embrace a White Supremacist ideology. For an excellent assessment of these groups, check out the Activist Field Guide to the Armed Far-Fight, from Political Research Associates.
We all should be concerned about these groups and take them very seriously. However, White Supremacy is much more than groups like these. White Supremacy is a system of power and oppression that permeates all structures and institutions in the US. White Supremacy is not just people believing that White people are superior to every one else, it is more systemic. The best definition I have seen on what White Supremacy is, is what long-time anti-racist organizer Elizabeth Martinez uses, which is in the box above on the right.
An excellent resource for a deeper exploration of what White Supremacy is, is the Bay Area group called Challenging White Supremacy, which has great resources to use for workshops and further education materials.
When we expand our understanding of what White Supremacy is, we see that the state and capitalism are fundamentally rooted in White Supremacy. Mass incarceration, the “Drug War”, poverty, gentrification, are all rooted in White Supremacy and the primarily driven by government bodies, the state. The Proud Boys are not responsible for mass incarceration and the Boogaloos are not responsible for gentrification. These systems of oppression are the direct result of the state and capitalism, often working in tandem.
The Trump administration has created lots of political openings for White Supremacist groups to operate openly, even before he was elected in 2016. Since then, his administration, with little resistance from the Democrats, have adopted a neo-fascist platform. This neo-fascist platform, that the Trump administration has pushed, is now opening working to disenfranchise voters, spread propaganda about voting and is threatening to not concede the election if he does not win the election.
The question for all of us is, what do we do about the electoral threats coming from the Trump administration, in addition to the ongoing state repression that has escalated since the national uprising just after the police lynching of George Floyd? The Democratic Party is frantically trying to get voters to show up on November 3rd, but voting cannot and should not be the only option to confronting and dismantling the ongoing harm that the US government is perpetrating against the public.
Refuse Fascism
There is an interesting call to action coming from a group called Refuse Fascism. This group, which has organized chapters in many major cities across the US, is calling for mass protests to begin on Saturday, October 3rd and to continue through the election if Trump does leave the White House after an electoral defeat. https://refusefascism.org/
Refuse Fascism is following a model that other countries have used to force heads of state to step down, just like what we saw in Puerto Rico last July, where after 12 days of mass protests the Governor was forced to step down.
Here is one of the videos that Refuse Fascism is using to mobilize people to take to the streets and not wait for an electoral outcome.
If people around the country are going to actually escalate protests to call for the Trump administration to step down, the state will use whatever means necessary to repress such protests. This means that local police departments, Sheriff’s offices and state police, along with the National Guard will be use by the state to try and prevent the public from calling for the Trump administration to step down.
It doesn’t matter if mayors or governors in the cities and states that participate in these kinds of mass demonstrations are Democrats or even progressives. All we have to look at is what happened after the police lynching of George Floyd to see what cities and states were actively repressing the uprisings, just like what we saw in Grand Rapids.
What this should tell us is that the systems of power and oppression in this country only want us to believe that elections can solve our problems. Let’s say that Trump refuses to leave the White House if he his defeated in the November election. The Democratic Party will not call for mass demonstrations, they will likely try to rely on the courts or make speeches, but they are not likely to call for massive resistance to oust the Trump administration. This is why we need an independent, autonomous movement(s) to resist fascism in any form, which is what many groups that have been on the ground have been saying for a long time, groups like Black Lives Matter, NoDAPAL, Climate resisters, anti-war resisters, immigrant justice organizers, queer and trans organizers and many others.
Lastly, it is important to note that when the people in Puerto Rico forced the Governor to resign, they made it clear that they would force out any future politician that did not serve the public interest. This is revolutionary politics, and it is something we need to learn here in the US.
Resist White Supremacy!!!
