Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has appeared to join a growing list of Democrats blaming President Donald Trump for an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which the FBI foiled (D).
“I think all roads lead back to Donald Trump,” Lightfoot stated, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
“Unfortunately, every single time he attacks a public official, and I know this personally, there are those who take that as license to come after us.”
“When somebody’s calling in the middle of the night repeatedly, that’s an issue, and that has only happened since Donald Trump has been trying to attack me personally,” the mayor said in a separate statement. “And it’s an issue that many of us as mayors have, and he seems to have a particular obsession with female and particularly mayors of color.”
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get some kind of harassment,” she added. “There is a real cause and effect when the President names me in a disparaging way, which is usually what he does, and people feeling like they have license to make what I regard as real threats.”
On Thursday, 13 men were charged in connection with the plot. Officials say militia group members monitored Whitmer’s movements and trained to kidnap her. They also allegedly purchased weapons and wanted to put on her “trial” for treason.
As Breitbart News reported:
Several media outlets, including the New York Times and the UK Daily Mail have attempted to cast the individuals as “right-wing” and “Trump supporters,” but at least one suspect, Brandon Caserta, held views more nuanced than that.
Breitbart News reviewed Caserta’s Facebook profile shortly before it was deleted. In several YouTube videos, Caserta opined about rights and the illegitimacy of government. “The Constitution is illegitimate,” he said in one posted on May 16, 2020, which was removed after Caserta’s account was terminated. […]
Other videos, including some Breitbart News reviewed on Caserta’s Facebook page prior to deletion, the suspect criticized the police, calling them “obedient order-followers.”
The FBI described the plot as an act of domestic terrorism. [State Attorney General Dana] Nessel said she and other authorities were troubled that the plan had moved toward an action stage.
“At times [Whitmer] and her family have been moved around as a result of activities that law enforcement was aware of,” she said. “[The suspects] had all the means to do it. They had been in training exercises.
“We think they had the necessary equipment, artillery, explosives, things of that nature.”
The Democrat governor said on Thursday she had been aware of the plot and pointed to President Donald Trump as part of the cause, saying he has repeatedly encouraged right-wing hate groups and armed militias.
The UPI contributed to this report.
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