FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
February 9, 2021
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
The Call is Coming from Inside the House…and Senate
Report details how Michigan Republican leaders, including Sen. Mike Shirkey, fund and support right-wing extremism
MICHIGAN — A story from the New York Times details how Sen. Mike Shirkey, MIGOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, and other Republican leaders and organizations fund and support right-wing extremism in Michigan.
According to the New York Times, Shirkey said of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. that he could “understand where they come from.”
“This report shows the obvious: Sen. Mike Shirkey has deep ties to right-wing extremism in Michigan. He has courted the support of — and openly empathizes — with the same people who whipped up and allegedly participated in the far-right insurrection in Washington, D.C.,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “This is a dangerous situation for our state. We have seen the threats of right-wing violence firsthand. Kidnapping plots against the Governor. Proud Boys attacking people in the streets of Kalamazoo. A mob attempting to storm the counting room at TCF in Detroit. Militia members looming over lawmakers with rifles at the ready. The threat of far-right violence is real and it’s because of tacit or direct support from Republican leaders and organizations. Lies about our elections, misinformation about our democracy, and threats of right-wing violence are the calling cards of the Michigan Republican Party.”
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