On April 30th, armed protestors entered the Michigan State Capitol while the House and Senate were in session, evidently seeking to bully Michigan’s Democratic legislators into voting against Gov. Whitmer’s extension of her emergency stay-at-home orders. This tweet from Sen. Dayna Polehanki captured the scene:
Since then, many Michigan citizens have expressed their outrage that our state remains one of only three in the country permitting such antics. (At the same time, all signs are banned from inside the Capitol, an irony that many have noted.)
We citizens DO have a governmental body to contact: The Michigan Capitol Commission. It’s a six-member body charged with overseeing use of and activity within the Capitol Building. The statute creating and empowering that Commission is not very specific regarding the scope of its duties. That gives us some hope of action before we manage to flip both chambers of the Michigan Legislature back to blue. The Capitol Commission will meet tomorrow, Monday, May 11, to discuss this issue.
Last Friday, May 8, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel entered the discussion, as reported in Bridge Magazine yesterday:
[Nessel indicated her belief that] they have the power to ban guns at the building and will defend them in court if they choose to do so and are sued.
Allowing protesters clad in body armor to carry loaded rifles in the Capitol, including balconies that overlook the House and Senate, during controversial legislative debates is “an absurdly dangerous situation that would cause the heart of any security expert to skip a beat,” Nessel wrote in a letter to Capitol Commission Chairman Gary Randall.
That seems a remarkably understated description, under the circumstances.
It may be unlikely for a Commission with a 4-2 Republican majority to be willing to acknowledge the danger and the intimidation manifest through people carrying loaded guns into the Capitol, much less to take steps to bring an end to that practice. But the odds should not discourage us from making our opinions known.
Time is short, since the Commission meets tomorrow at 11:00 AM. (Link to agenda and to Zoom link for the meeting.) Please reach out to them ASAP to express your views as a Michigan citizen unwilling to allow people to bring guns into our Capitol.
Michigan State Capitol Commissioners
- Gary Randall (Chair) (517) 373-0135
- John Truscott (Vice-Chair) (517) 487-9320 [Edit: As noted below, this number does not reach him now and does not accept voice mails.]
- Joan Bauer jeb1211@sbcglobal.net
- Kerry Chartkoff joekerrychartkoff@gmail.com
- William C. Kandler kandlerw@krkm.com
- Margaret O’Brien (Secretary of the Senate) (517) 373-2400
Suggested script for a call or email, circulated by Michigan Resistance (and taken in turn from the language of this petition on Change.org, “Call to Action: Get Guns Out of the Michigan State Capitol”):
Hi, I’m calling to urge Commissioner _______ to support banning firearms in the state capitol. The armed protests on April 30th should be a wake up call that action must be taken now. It is dangerous and corrosive to democracy to allow lawmakers and staff to be threatened as they go to work. There is no constitutional right to bring a weapon into a public building—weapons are barred in the U.S. Capitol, courthouses, the White House, and almost all state capitols. It is your duty and within your authority to protect legislators, staff, future protestors, and the general public by prohibiting firearms at the Michigan Capitol. Please take action now, before we have a tragedy on our hands.
Please feel free to sign and share that Change.org petition also.
In case you’d like more incentive for your call or email, this YouTube video should provide plenty.
This panel was sponsored by Ypsi Can I Share and hosted by local Ypsilanti activist Alex Thomas with production assistance from Annie Sommerville, Ypsilanti City Council member. Panelists spoke honestly and plainly about racism in Michigan, the historical trauma that an event like this recalls, and the present-day significance of an overt, coordinated effort like this protest on April 30, planned to intimidate Democratic lawmakers seeking to safeguard all the state’s citizens. Speakers included U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12), State Sen. Jeff Irwin (MI Sen. 18), State Reps. Donna Lasinski (MI House 52), Ronnie Peterson (MI House 54), Yousef Rabhi (MI House 53), Washtenaw County Commissioner/Therapist, Felicia Brabec (also a clinical psychologist in private practice), and Jelani McGadney, Floor Operations Manager for Yousef Rabhi. It’s a sobering discussion, well worth the time to watch.
White supremacists like these vigilantes have always constituted a real threat in Michigan. In this time of crisis, with a fascist in the Oval Office actively undermining the health of our citizenry and our democracy, they feel emboldened. We need to counter their bullying tactics with a clear message of resistance at every opportunity.
Monday, May 11, 2020 · 4:20:04 PM +00:00 · peregrine kate
Threats against Gov. Whitmer in particular are escalating. Steve Neavling has a report on the Detroit Metro Times site today about multiple individuals in private Facebook groups expressing intent to harm Gov. Whitmer and whoever else seems to stand in their way. Be aware, the language and imagery are intense and alarming.
Someone must know these people; I hope that they are all tracked down and questioned in relation to these overt calls for violence. There is yet another damn terrorist rally planned for this Thursday. If you’ve not yet called or emailed the Capitol Commission, I’d encourage you to do so.