美国国家公共电台 NPR 美执法人员挫败针对密歇根州州长的绑架图谋(在线收听

An alleged plot to violently overthrow the government of Michigan and kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was revealed by authorities today. Six men have been arrested and accused in the plot. They're facing federal charges. In a coordinated move, Michigan is also pursuing state felony charges against seven people with ties to far-right militia groups. NPR's Hannah Allam covers extremism. She's here to tell us more.

美国有关部门今天披露了一起阴谋,该阴谋计划暴力推翻密歇根州政府并绑架州长格雷琴·惠特默。六名男子已被逮捕并被指控参与这起阴谋。他们将面临联邦指控。作为一项协调一致的行动,密歇根州还将对7名与极右翼民兵组织有联系的人提起州重罪指控。NPR新闻的汉娜·阿拉姆负责报道极端主义相关新闻。下面她将带来详细报道。

And first, Hannah, how did these guys land on the FBI's radar?

首先,汉娜,这些人是如何被美国联邦调查局(简称FBI)发现的?

HANNAH ALLAM, BYLINE: Well, the basic story is early - earlier this year, the FBI started looking into social media posts that talked about the violent overthrow of government, the targeting of law enforcement. This is very much in line with the boogaloo or accelerationist trend we've been hearing about in extremism. And so they were watching a couple of guys in particular. And from very early in the investigation, the FBI had confidential informants and undercover personnel involved, even attending meetings. And so as a result, we have a fascinating window into this alleged plot through group chats and audio recordings that are in the court papers.

汉娜·阿拉姆连线:基本上来说,今年早些时候,联邦调查局开始调查社交媒体上有关暴力推翻政府和针对执法部门的帖子。这非常符合我们在极端主义中听到的布加洛或加速主义趋势。他们重点监视了几个人。从调查早期开始,联邦调查局就有秘密线人和卧底人员参与其中,甚至参加会议。因此,我们掌握了一个不可思议的窗口,通过群聊和录音来了解这起阴谋,这些均包含在法庭文件中。

And basically, over the course of the summer, prosecutors say, this plot starts to take shape. And the suspects go from talking about the desire for a self-sufficient society based on the Bill of Rights to perhaps using violence to achieve that goal, such as murdering tyrants — their words — or taking a governor. And then it just snowballs from there.

检察官表示,基本上来说,这起阴谋在夏季逐步形成。嫌犯先是谈论建立在权利法案基础上的自给自足社会的愿望,之后可能提出使用暴力来实现这个目标,比如谋杀他们称为的“暴君”或者绑架州长。然后情况会像滚雪球一样愈演愈烈。

CORNISH: There's a lot of details out there about this plot. What have you learned?

柯尼什:这个阴谋有很多细节。你了解到了哪些信息?

ALLAM: The court papers have some pretty chilling details. Prosecutors say the suspects held tactical trainings in different states. They met secretly at a business in Grand Rapids, Mich., where they had to go through a trapdoor hidden by a rug to get to a basement. Their phones were confiscated, but someone was still recording.

阿拉姆:法庭文件涵盖一些令人毛骨悚然的细节。检察官表示,这些嫌疑人在不同的州进行了战术训练。他们在密歇根州大急流城的一家企业秘密会面,为了见面,他们要穿过一个藏在地毯下的活板门到达地下室。他们的手机被没收了,但仍有人录了音。

And all this time, they're talking about different targets, prosecutors say. But over the months, they settle on a plan to kidnap Gov. Whitmer from her vacation home. One defendant is quoted as saying in the court papers, snatch and grab, man. And so prosecutors say the plan was to abduct Whitmer, take her to Wisconsin, put her on to — on some kind of mock trial. And the level of planning here is noteworthy. Prosecutors say the defendants used encrypted chats. They cased Whitmer's vacation home, bought a Taser, night vision goggles. And they also used code words. According to the FBI, the baker was an explosives provider, and a cake referred to a bomb.

检察官说,一直以来,他们都在谈论不同的目标。但几个月来,他们达成了一项计划,即在州长惠特默的度假屋绑架她。法庭文件中援引一名被告的话说,“抢夺,伙计”。检察官表示,他们的计划是绑架惠特默,把她带到威斯康星州,让她接受某种模拟审判。计划水平值得注意。检察官说,被告使用加密聊天。他们在惠特默的度假屋踩点,还买了一把泰瑟枪和一副夜视镜。他们也会用暗语。联邦调查局表示,面包师指爆炸物供应商,蛋糕指炸弹。

CORNISH: What does this case tell us about the overall threat of militias and armed vigilantes? — because this has come up during the summer protests. And I know that authorities said the suspects wanted to carry this out before the November election.

柯尼什:就民兵和武装民团的总体威胁而言,这起案件告诉了我们哪些信息?因为这起阴谋发生在夏季抗议活动期间。我知道有关部门说嫌犯想在11月大选前付诸实施。

ALLAM: That's right. I mean, this is a case that really speaks to this moment, the political divisions and how different elements of the, you know, militia movement respond. And I mean, first thing, there is this militia movement with its established groups and some level of organization. And then there are pop-up groups that are less organized, less disciplined kind of freelance vigilantes. And we've seen them show up to protests and sometimes involved in violence. And extremism researchers I spoke with say they're still waiting for more information on this case to situate the suspects involved in this case in that militia world. But broadly, there is infighting right now on the use of violence, how much to partner with organizations that are more explicitly racist and explicitly violent than some of the more self-described constitutionalist militias. I spoke to some militia leaders today, and they said this tarnishes the image of all militia-style groups. But at the same time, they worry about what they call entrapment, the use of a sting tactic by the federal government.

阿拉姆:没错。这件事说明了目前的政治分歧,以及不同的民兵运动组织作何反应。首先,这是一个民兵运动,有既定组织和一定程度的安排。此外,还有一些弹出式组织,这些组织的规范性和纪律性不强,相当于自由的护卫队。我们看到他们参加抗议活动,有时还会卷入暴力活动。接受我采访的极端主义研究人员表示,他们仍在等待更多有关这起案件的信息,以便在民兵组织的世界里找到与这个案件有关的嫌疑人。但总体而言,目前暴力使用问题存在分歧,比如,在多大程度上与种族主义和暴力程度比自称宪政主义民兵更严重的组织合作。我今天采访了一些民兵组织领袖,他们说这有损于所有民兵组织的形象。但与此同时,他们对他们称为的诱捕感到担心,即联邦政府使用的诱捕战术。

CORNISH: That's NPR's Hannah Allam.

柯尼什:以上是NPR新闻的汉娜·阿拉姆带来的报道。

Thank you for your reporting.

谢谢你。

ALLAM: Thank you.

阿拉姆:谢谢。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/npr2020/10/514019.html