Michigan Democratic Parter leaders are setting their sights on Republican State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. The Clark Lake State Senator represents the state's 16th Senate District covering parts of Jackson, Hillsdale, and Branch counties.

Democrats claim Shirkey may have connections to Michigan militia groups.  The push for an investigation comes after the Senator revealed during an interview in Jackson that he met with militia leaders before the alleged kidnap and murder plot against Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

WXYZ-TV in Detroit reports the exchange was revealing to those who viewed the interview. During the September interview, Shirkey said, “The militia groups are getting a bad rap.”

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The station says a transcript of the interview also includes Shirkey asking the militia leaders, “What do you want... you want people to hear what you say or you want people to see your guns. Because that’s a choice you have to make.” That meeting happened after a protest at the State Capitol building in Lansing where armed residents, legally, open carried firearms inside the capitol.  But since then, some political leaders are claiming that was a “dry run” for the violent takeover of the nation’s capitol in Washington D.C. on January 6th. WXYZ says Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s spokesperson Tiffany Brown is saying in a statement to the station, “It would be extremely troubling if Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has ties to any militia group. As Governor Whitmer has said before, when our leaders meet with, encourage, share stages with, or fraternize with domestic terrorists they legitimize their actions – they are complicit.”

The Michigan Democratic Party characterizes Shirkey’s actions in a public release, “His sympathetic approach to working with right-wing armed militia groups is disturbing and dangerous and must come to an end." Senator Shirkey has so far not responded directly to the calls for an investigation.

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