LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that anyone could have foreseen Wednesday's riot at the U.S. Capitol in April when an angry mob of men — some armed with rifles — tried to force their way into the Michigan House of Representatives.
"This is a very familiar sight," Whitmer said on MSNBC about the storming and occupation of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. "Anyone who was paying attention saw this play out in Michigan eight, nine months ago."
Whitmer said that at the time of the April 30 incident — during which a line of state police and House sergeants kept insurgents opposing Whitmer's state of emergency off the House floor but others intimidated state senators by bringing rifles into the public gallery — she called on Republican leaders at both the state and national level to "bring the heat down."
"The death threats were rolling in and none of them did a damn thing," said Whitmer, who said she personally spoke to Vice President Mike Pence — a reported target of Wednesday's attack — about the issue.
Instead of trying to calm the waters, Republican President Donald Trump has been "egging this on," and "encouraging and excusing this," said Whitmer, a Democrat.
Some of the same men involved in the Capitol protests were charged in October with plotting to kidnap Whitmer. But Whitmer said Trump tweeted May 1 that they were fine people she should negotiate with, she told MSNBC host Chuck Todd.
Nobody in the Republican leadership publicly called for the level of anger to be calmed, she said. "Now, we see some people standing up and I'm glad that they are now."
Republican legislative leaders in Michigan condemned the plot against Whitmer, in which six men face federal kidnapping conspiracy charges and eight others face a range of state charges. But Whitmer has said they continued to stoke public anger over her coronavirus emergency orders.
Whitmer said politics are endangering the country and its democracy and that must stop.
