Media Outlets In A Frenzy Over Militia Groups First Amendment Rights

Via America’s Lawyer: The thwarted kidnapping attempt against Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer begs the question: Are armed militia groups protected under the Constitution? Legal journalist Mollye Barrows joins Mike Papantonio to discuss.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Media coverage has been in a frenzy over the thwarted plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, which has ended with over a dozen individuals being charged with domestic terrorism. Mollye, your take on this, it's probably the same as everybody else. First of all, do they even have a right to, to organize like this? That's, that seems to be the talking point.

Right.

And yes they do.

Yes.

But where do you see this going?

Well, you know, it's interesting. I feel like these are a lot of wannabes, you know, and it seems like there's just a lot of hate and discontent in different circles. And then they get together, whether it's the internet that made it easier or maybe their neighborhood folks, but this particular group of individuals, they organized their plot to kidnap her from a vacation home. Basically they were mad at her. She's been a target since April when she did a harsh crackdown over COVID and they felt like it was their rights being violated. So I think whether it's this particular group that's in trouble, whether it's the proud boys, whether it's white supremacy groups, whether it's even Antifa, it's like anybody that has an ax to grind, there is an internet page for you where you can find likeminded individuals and create a plan.

All right, so I saw an interview that you, that's for this discussion that was.

On NPR yeah.

NPR.

Whether it was legal to have them.

Yeah. Whether, whether you can, whether it's legal to do this, it was so, it was so wrong. The answers they gave in this interview, this McCord woman.

Yes.

Were so off base. It was crazy.

Well, I thought it was interesting and so before you tell me why it's wrong, I'll explain for viewers, essentially she was just saying, hey, our constitution doesn't give them the right to exist. Militia groups were supposed to be formed by the government, for the government, in order to assist and help overthrow adversarial forces. So they're not authorized. That was her take and you're saying contrary.

Well, I'm saying the first amendment, look.

Free speech.

Everybody, if you've been, yeah, if you've been around more than 30 years, you understand the Nazis making this Nazi group marching through Skokie.

Right.

You know, and all of this, all of a sudden we find that they were, they were able to do that.

Because it was a peaceful protest.

It was a peaceful protest.

Even though it was a town of Holocaust survivors.

They, they've had situations where they've actually circled, they've, they've circled temples, synagogues. They've had demonstrations right out in the streets. The first amendment, like it or not, says they can do that and the US Supreme Court says, yes, they can do that. They can do this, of course they can't go plotting to kidnap the governor.

Right.

But they certainly can have this organization. The other part of it was this discussion, oh gee whiz, this has only started now because of Facebook or, or social media. This has been around for 40, 50 years, hasn't it?

Naysayers coup, you know, folks that want to start a coup or, or up, upend whatever power is in charge at the time. And I think that's what you're seeing now. It's almost like anybody with an ax to grind can find a group that will mirror their thoughts. And then I think part of this too, you know, it goes to even Whitmer talking about Trump not denouncing it and whether or not you agree with his policies or not, people do have the right. That is what makes our country great. We do have the right to express our opinion. We don't have a right to plot kidnappings and be armed and, and threaten the lives of other people.

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