And good morning to you from beautiful Detroit, Michigan. It is Sunday, October the 23rd. I'm Ali Velshi. This is a very special edition of Velshi Across America. I am in Belle Isle State Park in Detroit, Michigan, which is 16 days until the most

consequential midterm elections in recent memory. Michigan is arguably the leading edge of a

combustible Trumpist anti-democratic movement that includes fringe political figures, self-styled

militias, and the potential for violence. I sat down with a group of Michigan residents and voters from all across the political spectrum

to talk about this, plus women's reproductive rights, which is actually literally on the ballot

in Michigan this year, and how they think we can move forward as a country full of people

with different views, but the same set of facts.

More of that conversation will come up later in the show, but I want to start today with a darker aspect of contemporary politics that we nevertheless have to address

because in a recent years, this state has been the site of some high-profile cases of political

intimidation and violence. At the height of the pandemic, back in spring of 2020, hundreds of

people, some of whom were armed with rifles and other types of firearms,

swarmed the state capital in Lansing to protest Governor Gretchen Whitmer's COVID restrictions.

Two years ago this month, state and federal authorities arrested 13 men here in Michigan

in connection with a domestic terrorism plot to overthrow several state governments, according to the New York Times.

At least two of those men also took part in those earlier COVID protests at the state capital.

Federal authorities charged six of those men specifically for conspiring to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

In the affidavit, authorities laid out in detail the great lengths to which the men went in plotting this scheme,

which involved conducting two surveillance trips of Governor Whitmer's vacation home in northern Michigan,

taking photos and videos while driving around to scope out the area. While discussing what they wanted to do to the governor during one of those surveillance trips,

one of the men replied, quote, kidnapping, arson, death, I don't care, end quote. That's according to the affidavit.

In a separate exchange on an encrypted group chat, one man wrote, quote, have one person go to her house,

knock on the door, and when she answers it, just cap her. These men were said to be raising

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