Michigan House and Senate offices will close due to ‘credible threat’ as Michigan electors meet

The Detroit Free Press reports that the Michigan House and Senate buildings will be closed both to staffers and the public on Monday as the state’s electors to the Electoral College meet to cast their votes for the state’s presidential winner, Joe Biden. The Capitol was already expected to be closed to the public during the Electoral College meeting; this new, expanded closure also includes the building’s legislative staff.

While neither Michigan State Police nor a spokesperson for the House Speaker’s office would explain the reason for the closure, other than it being due to “security concerns,” State Rep. Kevin Hertel tweeted that it was due to “credible threats” that “have been made as Michigan’s electors” meet.

The state has been a hotspot of fascist militia activity. Michigan legislators has been the subject of armed protests by the far right and the Michigan governor, a Democrat, was the intended victim of a domestic terrorism plot in which members of a far-right group sought to kidnap and possibly execute her over the state’s pandemic safety measures.

Only a week ago, armed rightwing protesters with the intellect of flatworms demonstrated at the house of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over rabid Republican conspiracy theories claiming Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump was fraudulent and/or a conspiracy.

There is no word on what security measures are in place as a response to the apparent “credible” threats aimed at disrupting the electors’ official vote. Michigan state Republicans, however, have repeatedly encouraged the state’s violent conspiracy theorists, most recently by inviting Trump “lawyers” Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis to present their election conspiracy claims to the Republican-led House.