Facebook ‘proactively’ helping FBI investigate plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer

Six men were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and could face life sentences

Facebook says it “proactively reached out” to the FBI to assist in the investigation of a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, which was partially conducted over the social media site.

"We proactively reached out and cooperated with the FBI early in this ongoing investigation,” a Facebook spokesperson told CNN on Thursday. “We remove content, disable accounts and immediately report to law enforcement when there is a credible threat of imminent harm to people or public safety."

The FBI announced on Thursday it broke up a plot from a violent militia to kidnap Ms Whitmer. Six men from the militia, Wolverine Watchmen, have been charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and face life sentences.  

Authorities became aware of the plot earlier this year due to social media activity, and began monitoring the group. During a June livestream, one of the plotters, Adam Fox, told a private Facebook group that Gov Whitmer is a “tyrant b***h” for limiting gym access during the coronavirus pandemic, and told the group, “I don’t know, boys, we gotta do something.”

Pictures from Fox’s Facebook page also show him posing in fatigues with a military-style rifle in front of the American flag, as well sharing a logo for the Three Percenters, which is a radical anti-government militia movement, according to the Anti-Defamation League. 

Michigan has a deeply entrenched history of armed anti-government militias, and numerous armed demonstrators have protested Gov Whitmer’s emergency coronavirus business closures, including an attempt to storm the floor of the state legislature in May.

At the time, President Trump encouraged the demonstrators in Michigan in comments that seemed to echoed his infamous “very fine people on both sides” comments following Charlottesville. 

In a Thursday news conference, Whitmer thanked law enforcement for their efforts and criticized the president for encouraging what she called “domestic terrorists,” CNN reports.

"Just last week the President of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups ... 'Stand back and stand by,' he told them,” Ms Whitmer said, referring to Mr Trump’s comments during the first presidential debate. “Hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action.”

As Facebook has grown into an important channel across the world for political communication, it has faced criticism from both liberals and conservatives that it hasn’t done enough to protect free speech while stopping speech that is hateful or violent.