(RedState) Things have not been going well for the FBI of late. There have been all kinds of questions raised about their bias and objectivity, even before the raid on the home of President Donald Trump. But the raid raised the concern to another level and is causing more distrust of the FBI. The DOJ added more to that on Monday by moving to block the release of the affidavit, that would have revealed the probable cause for the raid.
Now, add one more question, this time related to the Whitmer kidnapping case.
On Monday, a jury heard from an FBI informant in the alleged case. Two of the people accused in the case of being involved in a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are being retried after a prior jury was unable to reach a verdict. The FBI informant, Dan Chappel, testified about his involvement with the Wolverine Watchmen, who was at a protest at the Michigan Capitol on April 30, 2020, against the COVID lockdowns.
According to Ken Bensinger who reports for Buzzfeed, Chappel was wearing a wire for the FBI at the event. So there was at least one FBI informant at that COVID lockdown protest. Chappel said that he was concerned about the event outside the building getting violent so he told his FBI handlers. According to Bensinger, the FBI specifically requested that the Michigan State Police let people into the building to “de-escalate” the situation.
NEW: According to an FBI informant, the Michigan State Police allowed armed protesters into the Capitol in Lansing on April 30, 2020, at the specific request of the FBI, which wanted to “de-escalate” the situation. pic.twitter.com/MAGn8bcmrx
— Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger) August 15, 2022
Protest moves inside Michigan Capitol. Crowd attempts to get onto Hoise floor. Lots of Michigan State Police and House sergeants at arms blocking door. pic.twitter.com/4FNQpimP4W
— Rod Meloni (@RodMeloni) April 30, 2020
So I have questions. How many of those events did they have FBI informants? And if you truly thought there was a possibility of violence, why would you be letting people into the building? How does that “de-escalate” the situation? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe it makes sense if you don’t want to de-escalate. Fortunately, there wasn’t any violence.
But the FBI’s reported actions in the matter caused a furor on social media. People both on the left and the right decried the FBI’s alleged action. You had the left saying things like the FBI has been infiltrating events for years and then suggesting they were siding with people on the right. Meanwhile, people on the right making a comparison to Jan. 6, since some of the people were let into the Capitol there as well, thought it was about escalating rather than de-escalating.
