Michigan GOP candidates encourage constituents to go to polls armed, unplug voting machines

While opining on what he sees as the need for more Republican election observers at an event Saturday, Ryan Kelley — Republican candidate for Michigan governor — had some choice instructions for poll watchers.

“If you see something you don’t like happening with the [voting] machines, if you see something going on, unplug it from the wall,” he told the crowd. “Take control of the narrative.”

Kelley’s comments occurred during an event in Livingston County, which was livestreamed to his campaign’s Facebook page. He was joined by Republican state Senate candidate Mike Detmer.

Kelley encouraged attendees at the event to sign up as poll watchers for the upcoming midterm elections, saying Republicans need to “take action to take our country back.”

A few minutes later, an attendee asked what could be done to protect people and prevent what happened at the TCF Center in Detroit last November. The unnamed attendee claimed Republican observers had been pushed out and “police were used to manhandle people out of the building.”

The TCF Center, now called Huntington Place, was where the state’s absentee ballots were counted on the night of the 2020 election. The Detroit Free Press reported at the time that two Republican election challengers were ejected from the center Nov. 5, one for unruly behavior and another refusing to wear her mask properly.

Responding to the attendee, Detmer asked, “Are you armed?”

He said the Second Amendment was in the Constitution to “protect all the others. And it says to the government, the people have a right to stop what’s going on.”

While the election is ideally a peaceful process, Detmer said, Americans should be prepared for the alternative. “So you ask, what can we do? Show up armed … If we’re going to be facing injustice, it is our responsibility as the American people to make sure that justice is wrought. It’s not anybody else’s job. It’s our job.”

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said on Twitter both candidates were encouraging illegal behavior and any attempt to interfere with elections or threaten officials would be referred to the Attorney General for prosecution.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel tweeted her own unequivocal rebuke. “Unauthorized personnel tampering w/ election devices & the use of firearms to intimidate voters is illegal. Engaging in such conduct will result in arrest & prosecution.” She then asked whether the Michigan GOP would condemn their candidates encouraging felonies.

Follow Zach Cunning on Twitter @zcheartlandsig