Hutaree

Judge Tosses Conspiracy Charges In Hutaree Militia Case

Ryan J. Reilly | March 27, 2012, 3:00PM

In a major blow to the federal case against members of the extremist Hutaree militia, a federal judge has thrown out conspiracy charges against all of the members, leaving five members of the group off the hook completely.

Two defendants -- accused ringleader David Stone Sr. and his son Joshua Stone, are still facing weapons charges, the Detroit Free Press reports. Nine members had originally been charged in a conspiracy to attack police and start a battle with federal authorities.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick Gets Slapped With New Extortion Charge

Jillian Rayfield | February 16, 2012, 11:41AM

Beleaguered former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was hit with an additional federal charge this week, as federal prosecutors allege that he and his friend Bobby Ferguson extorted a city towing contractor for around $90,000.

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Hutaree

Hutaree Defense Lawyers Argue Militia Was Just A 'Social Club'

Jillian Rayfield | February 14, 2012, 11:06AM

Opening arguments commenced this week in the trial of the seven members of the Hutaree Militia in Michigan, who are accused of plotting to kill police officers, but who defense attorneys argue were more of a "social club" than a serious threat.

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Hutaree

Judge: Bailed Hutaree Defendants Can Stay In Jail If They Can't Afford Trial Lodging

Jillian Rayfield | January 30, 2012, 12:08PM

Three defendants in the Hutaree militia case will not be staying in a taxpayer funded hotel for the duration of their trial, a federal judge has decided, but can instead take lodging in the local prison if they're too hard up to afford other accommodations.

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Michigan

Lawsuit By Michigan Conservative Christian Group Seeks To Overturn Hate Crimes Law

Jillian Rayfield | January 17, 2012, 12:02PM

Gary Glenn of the Michigan branch of the American Family Association thinks the federal hate crimes law is trying to promote "thought crimes" and "eradicate religious beliefs opposing the homosexual agenda."

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Mark Siljander

Ex-Michigan Rep. Gets One Year For Lobbying For Charity With Terrorism Ties

Jillian Rayfield | January 12, 2012, 6:18PM

Former Michigan Rep. and delegate to the U.N. Mark Siljander was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for lobbying on behalf of an Islamic charity that turned out to have ties to terrorists.

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Jason Bauer

Michigan Dem Gets Probation For Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | December 7, 2011, 5:03PM

A former official in the Oakland County Democratic Party in Michigan was sentenced to one year probation for his part in a scheme last fall to split the Republican vote by putting fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot.

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Michigan Tea Party

Second Michigan Dem Pleads No Contest In Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | November 22, 2011, 10:29AM

A former operations director of the Oakland County Democratic Party pleaded no contest to charges that he committed election fraud when he attempted to get fake Tea Party candidates on the Michigan ballot.

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Dale Kildee

Michigan Rep. Says Child Molestation Allegations 'Blackmail'

Jillian Rayfield | November 21, 2011, 10:37AM

Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI)

Michigan Rep. Dale Kildee (D) has strongly denied allegations that he sexually abused a family member 50 years ago, calling it an attempt at "blackmail" by his relatives and a plot to discredit him by "political adversaries."

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The Colbert Report

Colbert: Bullying Is Fine As Long As You Get A Permission Slip From God

David Taintor | November 10, 2011, 10:23AM

Stephen Colbert

You know, Herman Cain isn't the only man in America getting bullied. And if you ask Stephen Colbert, it has to stop.

But sometimes, well-meaning people go too far, he said, and anti-bullying laws just "replace the schoolyard bully with the bully of big government."

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Michigan

Michigan House GOPers Back Away From Loophole In Anti-Bullying Bill

Jillian Rayfield | November 8, 2011, 1:28PM

The Michigan Senate passed an anti-bullying bill last week that includes a "moral convictions" loophole, but the Republican Speaker of the House says the final legislation will probably not go that far.

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Bullying

Michigan GOP Gives Anti-Bullying Bill A Loophole

Jillian Rayfield | November 4, 2011, 5:32AM

Michigan Dems say the Republican Senate gutted an anti-bullying bill when they added a clause that allows bullying based on "moral convictions."

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Michigan

Michigan Dem Pleads No Contest In Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | October 20, 2011, 11:07AM

The former chair of the Oakland County Democratic Party pleaded no contest last week to charges that he committed voter fraud last November when attempting to get fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot in order to split the Republican vote.

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Reed Berry

Michigan Terror Suspect Feeling 'Caged' By Federal Tail Tried To Crash Into FBI Agent's Car

Ryan J. Reilly | October 3, 2011, 2:45PM

Reed S. Berry

A 26-year-old Michigan man the feds suspected of supporting terrorist groups has been ordered held by a federal judge after he crashed into the car of an FBI agent following him around the anniversary of Sept. 11.

Reed S. Berry, 26, of St. Joseph was being tailed by an FBI special agent and a Michigan state police detective on the night of Sept. 9.

Berry, described as "very surveillance-conscious," had spotted an FBI agent earlier in the day and allegedly got out of his car and "ran directly at her parked vehicle while staring directly at her." Around 10:30 p.m., Berry allegedly did the same thing to a Michigan detective who had been trailing him, except he screamed this time.

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Michigan

Inmate Allegedly Offered To Pay $500K For Kidnap Of Michigan State Representative

Ryan J. Reilly | September 28, 2011, 3:05PM

State Rep. Barb Byrum (D-MI)

A prisoner in jail for witness intimidation, assault and first-degree home invasion allegedly tried to offer a hitman $500,000 to kidnap, torture and possibly murder Michigan State Rep. Barb Byrum (D), MLive.com reported.

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John Francis Lechner

Man Charged With Possessing 4,000 Pounds Of Explosives, Saying 'We Will Be Mercenaries'

Jillian Rayfield | September 28, 2011, 10:45AM

A Michigan man was charged with possessing over 4,000 pounds of explosives and allegedly told an informant that "when the government takes over, we will be mercenaries."

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Michigan

Michigan AG Appeals 'Nutty' Ruling Against State's Affirmative Action Ban

Jillian Rayfield | July 29, 2011, 2:38PM

NAACP march to the Michigan state capitol to oppose Proposal 2

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette appealed a federal court's decision to overturn the state's 2006 ballot initiative that banned affirmative action.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick Tell-All Blames 'Enemies' For His 'Political Saga Of Epic Proportions'

Jillian Rayfield | July 7, 2011, 10:48AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Beleaguered former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has written a tell-all book, describing how he wound up in jail and blaming many of his troubles on a number of "enemies" who were threatened by his election. "Their bottom lines for me, then, became simple. Get rid of me. And they're not finished," he writes.

"Like any political saga of epic proportions, there are no simple explanations for the direction in which my career went. But there are two sides to the story and probably three. The world has heard the press' side for almost 10 years, and it's caused a tidal wave of sentiment against me," Kilpatrick writes in the memoir, according to excerpts published by the Detroit Free Press.

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Michigan

Court Strikes Down Michigan's Affirmative Action Ban

Jillian Rayfield | July 1, 2011, 3:52PM

NAACP march to the Michigan state capitol to oppose Proposal 2

A federal appeals court struck down Proposal 2 on Friday, a 2006 ballot initiative in Michigan that banned Affirmative Action in college admissions and government hiring.

In a 2-1 decision, the Appellate panel ruled that Prop 2 violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. "The majority may not manipulate the channels of change in a manner that places unique burdens on issues of importance to racial minorities," Judges R. Guy Cole and Martha Craig Daughtrey wrote in the majority opinion.

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Gay Rights

Former MI Asst. AG: I'm A Victim Of A 'Homosexual Activist Agenda'

Jillian Rayfield | May 11, 2011, 8:44AM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

Andrew Shirvell, the former Michigan Assistant Attorney General who was booted for harassing the student body president of the University of Michigan, Chris Armstrong, for being gay, is arguing that Armstrong's "course of conduct" and lawsuit against him are "politically motivated and intended to make an example out of [Shirvell] in order to deter others from criticizing [Armstrong]'s homosexual activist agenda."

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Terry Jones

Terry Jones Threatens To Sue MI Officials After Arrest Over $1 Peace Bond

Jillian Rayfield | April 25, 2011, 10:53AM

Anti-Islam pastor and Quran-burner Terry Jones is threatening to sue the Wayne County Prosecutor's office in Dearborn, Michigan, after he was briefly arrested on Friday for initially refusing to pay a $1 peace bond related to his planned protest in front of a mosque.

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Terry Jones

Dearborn Mayor To Terry Jones: If We Were Under Sharia Law Would We Have Three Strip Clubs?

Jillian Rayfield | April 21, 2011, 5:35PM

Mayor of Dearborn M Jack O'Reilly Jr. and Pastor Terry Jones

Jack O'Reilly Jr., the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, has written an open letter to publicity-seeking, Quran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones, in an effort to dissuade him from protesting in front of a Dearborn mosque. In the letter, O'Reilly tells Jones it's ridiculous to believe that the city is under Sharia law: "If Dearborn practiced Sharia law, would we have three adult entertainment bars and more alcohol-licensed bars and restaurants per capita than most other cities?"

"None of that should be allowed under Sharia law," O'Reilly said.

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Michigan

Michigan GOPers Put Teachers On Notice, As Strike Looms

Eric Lach | April 21, 2011, 11:40AM

On Wednesday, the Michigan House's Committee on Education discussed two bills aimed at upping the consequences on teachers who strike illegally, amid reports that the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, is considering just such a move.

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Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Student Sues Former Asst AG Who Harassed Him For Being Gay

Jillian Rayfield | April 6, 2011, 4:42PM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

University of Michigan student body president Chris Armstrong has filed a lawsuit against former Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell, who was fired in November of last year for a series of blog posts that targeted Armstrong for being gay.

The suit was filed on Friday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, and asks for more than $25,000 in damages for "defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, abuse of process, invasion of privacy, and stalking."

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Roger Stockham

Alleged Mosque Plotter Had Long History Of Crime, Mental Illness

Ryan J. Reilly | January 31, 2011, 10:30AM

Roger Stockham, the 63-year-old Vietnam vet who was arrested last week for allegedly plotting to attack the largest mosque in North America, has a long history of run-ins with the law and mental health issues.

Contemporaneous news reports spanning the past five decades chronicle a number of troubling incidents that resulted in both state and federal charges. Stockham has frequently argued that he's insane and has been put in a variety of programs.

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Detroit

Kwame Kilpatrick Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Corruption Charges

Rachel Slajda | January 11, 2011, 9:50AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Ex-mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick yesterday pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. His father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and three other defendants also pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors allege that Kilpatrick, his father, a mayoral aide, the former head of the water department and a city contractor colluded to extort millions from contractors. Kilpatrick allegedly forced firms looking for city contracts to pay kickbacks, fly Kilpatrick and his friends around the country and/or hire his friend, Bobby Ferguson, as a subcontractor. Ferguson is one of the five defendants.

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Detroit

Indictment: Kilpatrick Demanded Private Flights To Vegas For City Contracts

Rachel Slajda | December 17, 2010, 10:31AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

According to the federal racketeering indictment that came down Wednesday, former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick demanded a lot in exchange for a city contract. One of those things was, allegedly, all-expense-paid trips to swanky locales like Las Vegas via the private jets of city contractors.

In one case, according to the indictment, Kilpatrick had a couple of top aides inform the owner of a company that managed millions of Detroit pension funds that Kilpatrick wasn't happy the contractor had supported his opponent in the 2005 election. So the unnamed contractor allegedly flew Kilpatrick and five of the mayor's friends to Vegas for a golf trip in April 2007 -- a golf trip that included hotels, meals, limo service, concert tickets and massages -- to the tune of $16,000.

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Detroit

Kwame Tweet: 'Moral Responsibility May Compel You To Disobey The Law'

Rachel Slajda | December 16, 2010, 3:30PM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick -- or, more likely, a family member -- is defending the mayor on Twitter after his federal indictment yesterday charging him with racketeering, bribery, extortion and fraud.

"Is disobedience of the government ever justified?" the @KwameAndFamily Twitter account asked yesterday.

A few hours later: "We must obey God rather than men."

This morning: "Moral responsibility may compel you to disobey the law."

TPM confirmed the authenticity of the Twitter account with Mike Paul, Kilpatrick's public relations man.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Feds Indict Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Rachel Slajda | December 15, 2010, 3:52PM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

According to local news reports, former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been indicted on federal corruption charges.

Kilpatrick was charged along with his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and several other former city officials: city contractor Bobby Ferguson, former top Kilpatrick aide Derrick Miller and former water department chief Victor Mercado, according to the Free Press.

According to the Detroit News, the men are being charged under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, a law usually used to prosecute mobsters and other perpetrators of organized crime.

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Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas' Alma Mater Ends Diversity Award Named After Her

Eric Lach | December 9, 2010, 8:30AM

Helen Thomas

Retired journalist Helen Thomas reignited the controversy regarding her views about Jews and Israel last week at an Arab-American workshop in Dearborn, Michigan. Thomas, who was forced to apologize and retire last spring after saying Jews "should get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home," said in a speech last week that "Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by the Zionists."

In response, Wayne State University announced it would end the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award.

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Andrew Shirvell

Attorney: Michigan Asst. AG Fired For Attacking Gay Student On His Blog

Jillian Rayfield | November 8, 2010, 4:18PM

Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell was reportedly fired today following a series of blog posts that targeted a University of Michigan student for being gay.

Shirvell's attorney Philip Thomas told the Detroit Free Press today that a disciplinary hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday was pushed up to today, and in it the AG's office "said essentially that as a result of Andrew's conduct, it's become impossible for him to carry out his duties as an attorney general."

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Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Asst. AG Temporarily Suspended After Attacking Gay Student On His Blog

Jillian Rayfield | November 8, 2010, 10:11AM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has been temporarily suspended, pending a hearing by the AG's office over his blog posts that targeted a University of Michigan student for being gay.

[Late Update: Shirvell has been fired. Read the whole story here.]

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Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Asst. AG Who Harassed Gay Student Threatens To Sue University For Banning Him

Jillian Rayfield | October 26, 2010, 1:41PM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

Now that University of Michigan student Chris Armstrong has dropped his restraining order request against Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell, Shirvell's attorney has threatened to sue the school if it does not lift Shirvell's ban from campus.

The University of Michigan had banned Shirvell after he repeatedly harassed Armstrong on campus and on his blog for being gay. Shirvell wrote on his blog that Armstrong, who is student body president, has a "radical homosexual agenda."

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Andrew Shirvell

Student Drops Restraining Order Request Against MI Asst AG Who Harassed Him For Being Gay

Jillian Rayfield | October 25, 2010, 1:22PM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

Chris Armstrong, student body president at the University of Michigan, dropped his petition today for a restraining order against Andrew Shirvell, the Assistant Attorney General in Michigan.

For several months, Shirvell had been waging a campaign against Armstrong because he is gay. Shirvell blogged about Armstrong's "radical homosexual agenda" and repeatedly allegedly harassed him on campus. A hearing scheduled for today regarding Armstrong's petition has now been canceled.

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Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Assistant AG Taking Leave Of Absence After Attacking Gay Student On His Blog

Jillian Rayfield | October 1, 2010, 6:06PM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell will take a personal leave of absence amid much controversy over a series of blog posts attacking a gay University of Michigan student.

Shirvell has been blogging about University of Michigan student body president Chris Armstrong since April, accusing Armstrong, who is gay, of having "a radical homosexual activist" aiming "to promote a very deeply radical agenda at the University of Michigan."

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Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Assistant AG Blogging Against Gay College Student's 'Radical Homosexual Agenda'

Jillian Rayfield | September 29, 2010, 4:25PM

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has a blog. It's called "Chris Armstrong Watch" and is uniformly dedicated to keeping an eye on Armstrong, the openly gay University of Michigan student body president, who Shirvell maintains is "a radical homosexual activist" aiming "to promote a very deeply radical agenda at the University of Michigan."

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Michigan Tea Party

Evidence Mounts That Michigan Tea Party Is Democratic Front

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 29, 2010, 6:09PM

Tea Party activists in Washington, D.C.

As state officials in Michigan review a proposed Tea Party's petition to appear on the November ballot, evidence is mounting that the party is a front for Democratic supporters hoping to rescue embattled Democrats this fall.

Earlier this week, the party submitted the names of 23 candidates it wants to place on ballots across the state this fall. Though several are for statewide offices, most are running in districts where Republicans are threatening incumbent Democrats. The Detroit Free Press reports today that a local Democratic party official had a role in helping some of the candidates become members of the Tea Party. Combine that with previous reporting showing the nearly 60,000 signatures the party gathered to earn a place on the ballot having been collected by a Democratic firm called Progressive Campaigns, Inc., and you've got a recipe for some serious skepticism about the party's legitimacy.

Democratic party figures in Michigan continue to deny any connection with the Tea Party, just as tea party movement figures in the state continue to claim the party is in no way connected with them, either.

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MI-GOV

Michigan AG: Ex-Con's Claims That I Was At Ex-Mayor's Mansion Stripper Party Are 'Bold-Faced Lies'

Eric Lach | July 28, 2010, 11:56AM

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (R)

With days to go before Michigan's gubernatorial primary, Michigan Attorney General and Republican candidate Mike Cox is dealing with the fallout of a leaked affidavit that puts him on the scene of a long-rumored party supposedly thrown at the Detroit mayor's mansion in 2002 by then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Cox called the allegations "bold-faced lies," and says he's never set foot in the mayor's mansion. In an interview on WJR-AM, Cox suggested the leak of the affidavit was timed close to the primary to draw the most headlines.

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Michigan Tea Party

Is Michigan's Mysterious 'Tea Party' A 'Sham Organization' Hatched By Dems?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 28, 2010, 8:29AM

A mysterious "tea party" is causing a stir in Michigan politics this summer. It doesn't sound like the conservative-backed tea party you've heard so much about this year, and better known elements of the movement are disavowing it. To hear many political watchers in Michigan tell it, the new Michigan Tea Party -- which has submitted 60,000 signatures to the state in an attempt to get on the ballot, mostly in races where Democrats are facing tough Republican opposition -- is nothing but a Democrat-hatched plot to siphon votes from the right and help Dem candidates win.

The state Democrats have denied any involvement in the Michigan Tea Party.

Founded by Mark Steffek, a retired UAW worker in the Thumb area, the Michigan Tea Party is trying to field "23 candidates for offices ranging from Secretary of State to Oakland County Commission," the Detroit Free Press reported yesterday. Steffek says the party's for real, though he doesn't want to talk much about it. The Free Press only managed to snag an interview with him earlier this month after "weeks of avoiding the media," and even that didn't shed much light on the mystery.

Steffek says his party is focused on "concern over deficit spending and government debt, but is also opposed to free trade agreements like NAFTA that he believes cost American jobs." Those are all solidly tea party issues. But the man helping Steffek get the party off the ground is a former Democratic party operative and aide to former Gov. James Blanchard (D). That fact, coupled with other nuggets about the party, like Steffek's refusal "to identify the source of tens of thousands of dollars" that paid for a 60,000-name signature drive that got the party on the ballot, has left many conservatives in the state crying foul.

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Islamic American Relief Agency

Ex-Rep Pleads Guilty In Case Of Lobbying For Group With Terrorism Ties

Jillian Rayfield | July 7, 2010, 2:08PM

Former Rep. Mark Siljander (R-MI)

Former Rep. Mark Siljander (R-MI) pleaded guilty today to obstruction of justice and "acting as an unregistered foreign agent," in connection with his work as a lobbyist for a group with terrorism ties.

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