(CBS Local) – Tuesday is election day, and several states across the country are preparing for violence and unrest, regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. While shops come in their windows, in states like Michigan there are also militias that prepare differently for street violence.
CBS News 60 correspondent Lori Segal recently visited Michigan to talk to members of militia groups such as the Boogaloo Boys and the Michigan Home Guard about why these groups have formed and why they think the country is heading for civil war.
One of those groups is anti-government, and one of them says they want to help law enforcement, although they’re not allowed to, says Segal in an interview with DJ Sixsmith of CBS Local. It’s all this tension that’s building up before the election. I spent the weekend with a group of people from AR-15. It was certainly a fascinating look at people who feel that their voices are not being heard and who believe that there will be riots.
The possibility of civil unrest is one of the most pressing problems facing the police this election week. According to @LaurieSegall, members of extremist groups such as the Boogaloo Boys say they are fighting for violence, regardless of tomorrow’s outcome. https://t.co/pnzvug5lLe pic.twitter.com/hGXOgPKdCF.
– 1. 60 minutes (@60 minutes) November 2020
Segal says one of the most amazing things about these militia is how human they are. The CBS correspondent spoke to people who work as firefighters and mechanics during the day and then go home after work to train with their police officers. In his play, Segal reveals that the number of members of the Michigan National Guard has doubled since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. The two Section 60 of 6 groups have recently become notorious for their ties to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan kidnapping plot.
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I think it’s a fascinating background to all this. We were there a week and a half after this broken conspiracy to kidnap the governor of Michigan. It’s 2020, and I just said those words out loud, Segal said. If you look closely, both Bugaloo and the Michigan Home Guard are involved in the arrests. They said the detainees were thrown out of the groups. They said they wouldn’t apologize, but they said it was up to her [Whitmer]. This dangerous rhetoric is beginning to emerge. What’s happening more and more is that you have these people who want to take matters into their own hands. They are linked to the intention to kidnap or abuse, and this is a very sensitive moment. I was sitting in a living room in Lansing, Michigan, with a group of AR-15 men talking about keeping the peace with guns. It’s a recipe for disaster. I’m worried about the civil unrest. All these people thought their education would be necessary after the election.
You can view Segall’s article here and all interviews by DJ Sixsmith from the Sit-Down series here.
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