Members of private Facebook groups are calling for the assassination of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her stay-at-home orders to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Four private social media groups with a combined 400,000 members were deluged with posts and comments encouraging violence and ignoring Whitmer's social-distancing orders, reported Metro Times, which gained access to the Facebook pages and provided screenshots.
“Can we please just take up a collection for an assassin to put that woman from Michigan down,” wrote Facebook user Matthew Woodruff, a member of the group “People of Michigan vs. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer."
Armed demonstrators have protested outside the Michigan capitol and the governor's mansion against Whitmer's orders, and some lawmakers have called for a ban on guns at the statehouse.
“We need a good old fashioned lynch mob to storm the Capitol, drag her tyrannical ass out onto the street and string her up as our forefathers would have,” wrote group member John Campbell Sr.
Facebook told the Metro Times that one of the groups had been removed for violating the company's policy against inciting violence, and the tech giant also has threatened to remove groups and events encouraging people to defy social-distancing measures.
“Either President Trump sends in the troops or there is going to be a midnight lynching in Lansing soon,” posted group member Michael Smith.
Group members share conspiracy theories and misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, and commenters warned that last month's demonstrations were a prelude to violence against elected officials.
“We haven’t had any bloodshed yet, but the populous is counting to three, and the other day was two,” wrote Dave Meisenheimer in the group Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine, which has more than 385,000 members. “Next comes watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants.”
Threats were made against other elected officials, including Attorney General Dana Nessel, but most group members focused their anger on Whitmer.
“Plain and simple she needs to eat lead and send a statement to the rest of the democrats that they are next,” wrote James Greena, of Fennville.
