周四，在网上对州长格雷琴·惠特默发出死亡威胁后，密歇根关闭了国会大厦，取消了立法会议。
这些威胁是由计划参加国会大厦“审判日”抗议的抗议者发出的。抗议者表面上反对惠特莫旨在减缓冠状病毒传播的全州关闭令。
在私人邀请的脸书群中，数十条帖子呼吁绞死、私刑处死、枪决、殴打或斩首惠特莫。有人建议众筹资源雇佣一名杀手来杀她。
“我们还没有发生任何流血事件，但是人口众多的[原文如此]数到三，昨天是第二天，”戴夫·梅森海默在一个有385，000名成员的名为“反对过度隔离的道根人”的脸书团体中写道接下来是用暴君的鲜血浇灌自由之树，”他总结道。
许多其他帖子称惠特莫是“纳粹”、“魔鬼的后裔”、“邪恶的女巫”、“索罗斯傀儡”、“婴儿杀手暴君”等等底特律地铁时报。其他人承诺参加即将到来的抗议活动，他们“武装到死”，不戴面罩，威胁要袭击任何敢于与他们对抗的警察。
惠特默和司法部长达纳·内塞尔已经考虑禁止国会大厦内的枪支，但是正在等待由六名成员组成的密歇根州国会委员会来决定他们是否有合法的权力这样做。
“有些立法者穿着防弹背心去上班，”惠特默上周告诉美国广播公司新闻。“任何人都不应该被把突击步枪带进工作场所的人吓倒。”
新闻周刊联系惠特莫寻求评论。这个故事会随着任何回应而更新。
2020年4月30日，由密歇根自由联盟组织的“美国爱国者集会”在兰辛的密歇根国会大厦台阶上举行，示威者要求重新开业，武装抗议者提供安全保障。
5月13日，民主党州参议员马洛里·麦克默罗透露，她和同为民主党州参议员的戴娜·波利汉基共同发起了一项决议，禁止在国会大厦的公共区域使用枪支和危险武器，并设立检查点。
“我们有义务保证国会大厦所有游客和工作人员的安全，”麦克莫罗写道。
“当我读到本周发表的一些言论时，这不是关于呆在家里，也不是关于可能失去你的生意...麦克默罗在5月12日对立法机构的演讲中说:“这是关于在这栋建筑的前草坪上传播鲜血，如果我说坐在我的椅子上，身后有四名持枪男子，并没有让我认为我很快就会成为因枪支暴力而死去的[，那我就是在撒谎。”。
“是的，我们应该站在这里说我们很勇敢，我们没有被吓倒，”她继续说道，“但是你猜怎么着:那是该死的恐吓，不受欢迎，我的问题是我们到底要怎么做？或者我们要等到事情发生吗？”
周一，惠特莫要求副总统迈克·彭斯阻止正在进行的反封锁抗议，因为担心参与者可能会将COVID-19病毒传播到她所在州的农村地区。
4月29日，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统在推特上支持反封锁抗议者，“解放密歇根”特朗普为这些推文进行了辩护，称一些州的社会距离政策“过于强硬”
“他说的是，当他拥有成千上万的推特粉丝，并在美国和全世界得到即时报道时，这是非常非常危险的。”麦考德告诉我新闻周刊。“有些人，武装人员，听他说什么，然后以不总是和平的方式行动。”
接下来的周末，在4月30日在国会大厦举行的抗议活动后，一些抗议者携带枪支、邦联旗帜、套索和纳粹党徽抗议说“描绘了这个国家历史上最糟糕的种族主义和可怕的部分...你在所有视频片段中看到的行为并不代表我们在密歇根是谁。”
尽管有示威游行，民意调查显示大多数密歇根居民支持惠特莫实施的严格封锁措施。
MICHIGAN CLOSES DOWN CAPITOL IN FACE OF DEATH THREATS FROM ARMED PROTESTERS AGAINST GOV. WHITMER
On Thursday, Michigan closed down its capitol building and canceled its legislative session after online death threats made against Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The threats were made by protesters who planned to attend a "Judgement Day" protest at the capitol. The protesters ostensibly oppose Whitmer's statewide shutdown orders meant to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Dozens of posts in private invitation-only Facebook groups called for Whitmer to be hanged, lynched, shot, beaten or beheaded. One suggested crowdfunding sources to hire a hitman to kill her.
"We haven't had any bloodshed yet, but the populous [sic] is counting to three, and yesterday was day two," wrote Dave Meisenheimer in a 385,000-member Facebook group called Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine. "Next comes the watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants," he concluded.
Numerous other posts referred to Whitmer as a "Nazi," "spawn of the devil," "wicked witch," "Soros puppet," "baby killer tyrant" and more, according to the Detroit Metro Times. Others promised to attend upcoming protests "armed to the death" and without face masks, threatening to attack any police officers who dared confront them.
Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have considered banning firearms from the Capitol building but are awaiting the six-member Michigan State Capitol Commission to figure out if they have the legal authority to do so.
"There are legislators who are wearing bulletproof vests to go to work," Whitmer told ABC News last week. "No one should be intimidated by someone who's bringing in an assault rifle into their workplace."
Newsweek reached out to Whitmer for comment. This story will be updated with any response.
Armed protesters provide security as demonstrators take part in an "American Patriot Rally," organized on April 30, 2020, by Michigan United for Liberty on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, demanding the reopening of businesses.
On May 13, Democratic state Senator Mallory McMorrow revealed that she and fellow Democratic state Senator Dayna Polehanki co-sponsored a resolution to prohibit firearms and dangerous weapons in public areas of the Capitol building and to install screening checkpoints.
"We have an obligation to keep all visitors and workers at the Capitol safe," McMorrow wrote.
"When I read some of the words that were published this week, it's not about staying at home, it's not about maybe losing your business ... it's about spreading blood on the front lawn of this building, and I would be lying if I said that sitting in my chair with four men in rifles behind me didn't make me think that I was going to be [dying from gun violence] very soon," McMorrow said in a May 12 speech to the legislature.
"Yeah, we're supposed to stand up here and say we're brave and we're not intimidated," she continued, "but guess what: That is damned intimidation and it is not welcome, and my question back is what the hell are we going to do about it? Or do we wait until something happens?"
On Monday, Whitmer asked Vice President Mike Pence to discourage the ongoing anti-lockdown protests for fear that participants might spread COVID-19 to her state's rural areas.
On April 29, President Donald Trump offered support for anti-lockdown protesters by tweeting, "LIBERATE MICHIGAN." Trump defended the tweets, saying that some state's social distancing policies are "too tough."
"What he's saying, when he has a Twitter following of millions and millions of people and gets instant coverage in the U.S. and all over the world, it's very very dangerous," McCord told Newsweek. "There are people, armed people out there who listen to what he says and they act up on it in ways that are not always peaceful."
The following weekend, after an April 30 protest at the capitol in which some protesters carried firearms, Confederate flags, nooses and swastikas, Whitmer said the protests"depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country... The behavior that you've seen in all of the clips is not representative of who we are in Michigan."
Despite the demonstrations, polling has shown that a majority of Michigan residents support the strict lockdown measures put in place by Whitmer.
