A Texas oil billionaire with deep ties to the Christian Nationalist movement and a rising presence in the national GOP scene, has contributed $5 million to a super PAC backing Republican Mike Rogers’ U.S. Senate campaign in Michigan, marking a foray into Midwest politics.

Tim Dunn’s contributions to the Great Lakes Conservative Fund, or GLCF, were made in two installments of $2.5 million each in April and June and accounted for more than 98% of the PAC’s total fundraising during the first half of 2025, according to a mid-year report filed July 31 with the Federal Election Commission.

Dunn, the CEO of Midland-based CrownQuest Operating, has long been a major financier of far-right political causes in Texas and beyond, with his deep-pocketed influence drawing national attention for pushing Christian nationalist ideology, which critics say aims to reshape American democracy to reflect a narrow interpretation of Christian values.

Former Republican Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, who is Jewish, told the Texas Tribune that Dunn felt he was unqualified to hold that position, telling him in 2010 that “only Christians should hold leadership positions” in that state’s lower chamber.

CNN also reported that former associates of Dunn said his ultimate goal was to “replace public education with private Christian schooling.”

A request for comment by Michigan Advance was sent to Dunn, but has yet to be answered.

Dunn’s support of Rogers, a former mid-Michigan congressman seeking the GOP nomination to run for U.S. Senate in 2026, marks a significant foray into Midwest politics by an out-of-state donor known for reshaping Texas’s Republican Party in his own image, but who has also shown an increasing interest in influencing national politics.

While the Great Lakes Conservatives Fund is an independent expenditure-only committee and is legally prohibited from coordinating directly with Rogers or his campaign, Rogers has not publicly spoken about Dunn’s involvement in the race, and his campaign did not respond to a request for comment by Michigan Advance.

The Detroit News reported that the PAC spent more than $21 million on Rogers’ unsuccessful 2024 U.S. Senate run, which he narrowly lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly).

However, Dunn’s political network has also come under fire for its ties to white supremacists and antisemites.

In 2023, a top official at one of Dunn’s Texas-based PACs, Defend Texas Liberty, met with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has openly espoused antisemetic views including that the Holocaust was “exaggerated”.

While Dunn called the the Fuentes meeting “a serious blunder,” the Texas Tribune uncovered numerous close ties between other associates of Fuentes and the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which Dunn later shut down before launching a new PAC called Texans United for a Conservative Majority.

Regardless, Dunn has become one of the most influential Republican donors in the country, donating $5 million to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House, while also co-founding the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that has produced more than a dozen officials now staffing the Trump administration including Education Secretary Linda McMahon and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

Rogers, meanwhile, has cleared the GOP field and is the lone Republican seeking the nomination for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit filed by nearly a dozen Michigan Republican lawmakers seeking to roll back voting rights measures passed by voters in 2018 and 2022.

The suit, filed in 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, argued that because the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, found in Article I, Section 4, provides for state legislatures to regulate the times, places, and manner of holding federal elections, measures passed by citizen-led petition initiatives are unconstitutional as they infringed on the state Legislature’s role within state election law.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to take the case was the third, and now final, rejection after the lawsuit was initially dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, in April 2024 for a lack of standing, a decision which was then affirmed by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2024.

The lawsuit was sponsored by Michigan Fair Elections and the Great Lakes Justice Center and named Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Michigan Director of Elections Jonathan Brater as defendants.

Benson hailed the decision not to take up the case as a “victory for the people of Michigan,” saying the U.S. Supreme Court had correctly upheld the right of Michigan voters to amend the state constitution.

“In recent years, voters in Michigan have overwhelmingly supported ballot initiatives to create a citizen-led independent redistricting process, to guarantee at least nine days of early voting for every statewide election, and to make voting more accessible for every eligible citizen. Today’s action ensures that the will of the voters will stand on these and other issues important to the people of our state,” Benson said.

Proposal 3 of 2018 and Proposal 2 of 2022 both passed with at least 60% of the vote and guaranteed the rights to same-day voter registration, nine days of early voting, absentee voting, among other rights. After voters approved the constitutional amendments, the Legislature passed legislation implementing the measures.

The suit sought not only to halt the changes brought on by the voter-passed initiatives, but also prohibit the future use altogether of citizen-led petition initiatives when they pertain to state election law.

“We also have procedures in place at the state level to amend election law,” state Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater), one of the 11 lawmakers who filed the suit, said at the time. “However, these processes were violated in 2018 and 2022 when an alternative amendment process was used without regard to federal constitutional requirements. This lawsuit challenges recent attempts to subvert our constitutional process and will protect against such actions in the future.”

The legal argument behind the lawsuit, known as the independent state legislature theory, was mostly rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2023 when it ruled in Moore v Harper.

In that case’s 6-3 majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that there were limits to state legislative power in such matters, effectively repudiating the claim that only state legislatures had the power to make election rules, thus providing state and federal courts, and by extension, state constitutions, a role in that process.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

Michigan officials are reacting to President Donald Trump’s executive order overhauling how U.S. elections are administered, including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Signed Tuesday, the directive orders the federal Election Assistance Commission, which distributes grants to states, to start requiring proof of citizenship for those registering to vote within 30 days or face a cutoff in funds.

“If the election denier-in chief tries to interfere with any citizen’s right to vote, with this or any other action, we’ll see him in court,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is running for governor in 2026.

The order aligns with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE, that has been a priority for House Republicans to pass and is the latest salvo in Trump‘s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen due to voter fraud, specifically alleging without evidence that widespread noncitizen voting is occurring in federal elections.

Also condemning the order is Common Cause Michigan, a nonpartisan pro-democracy watchdog group, which encouraged state lawmakers to reassert their right to control Michigan elections.

“A president does not set election law for Michigan and never will. Trump’s executive action is just another transparent attempt to enact baseless voter suppression here in Michigan. Whether it is the block the ballot resolution Michigan Republicans are advancing or this executive order, voter suppression is unwelcome in Michigan, and we will fight it tooth and nail,” said Quentin Turner, Common Cause Michigan Executive Director.

Trump’s order follows a similar attempt by GOP legislators in Michigan who introduced House Joint Resolution B in late January, which House Democrats condemned as a de facto poll tax.

That critique was echoed by Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie, a Democrat who is running to replace Benson as Secretary of State.

“Trump is attempting to implement the SAVE Act, via executive fiat, rather than through the legislative process. This is a modern day poll tax as this would impose a cost to vote, because the required documents are usually not free,” posted Edevbie.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

A former white supremacist and KKK leader from Livingston County who turned away from extremism was present Thursday night in Howell to answer questions following the U.S. theater premier of a documentary detailing his journey.

“Face of Hate” tells the story of Jasen Barker, who made headlines when he and a cousin were sentenced to prison after assaulting a Black Michigan State Police trooper at a bar in Brighton in 2001.

The film, made by Dutch journalist Steffen Hou, begins with Barker deep into white supremacy and espousing pro-Nazi ideology, but then shows him questioning those beliefs, and eventually seeking redemption and forgiveness from his children after accepting the pain his white supremacy had caused.

Following the film’s screening, which was hosted by Stand Against Extremism Livingston County (SAGE) at the Historic Howell Theater, Barker joined a panel discussion about his story and its relation to the rise in extremism being seen across the country.

“I was a lost soul and I didn’t know how to deal with things. I didn’t know how to express myself, and I was just hurting really bad,” Barker told the audience about his former life.

Barker described how he was indoctrinated into hate groups, who he says found ways to meet his psychological needs and provide a family-like stability that was missing in his life.

“They like to twist and use it when they can, and manipulate an issue. I didn’t understand what I do now,” he said. “They talk to you, they spend time with you, they listen to what your interests are, what bothers you, and it’s all just manipulation.”

Dr. David Hayes, a forensic psychologist who served as the panel’s moderator, said the kind of manipulation Barker talked about is a key element extremist groups use to recruit people to their cause.

“People filled with hate, like people with white supremacist groups, are willing to do some terrible and awful things, and it comes from the basis of feeling maligned, being forgotten. And that anger that built up from being forgotten translates itself into having to find the appropriate group that you can fit into,” he said.

A key moment in Barker’s turnaround is shown in the film when Hou, who was interviewing Barker on his Livingston County property in 2017, asked if he would take down a sign he used for a pig enclosure that said “Dachau,” the infamous Nazi death camp from the Holocaust.

After Hou said members of his own family, who he noted were “white Christian Danes” also died in the Holocaust, Barker complied and apologized, even agreeing to forgo plans to name another enclosure after the Auschwitz death camp.

Many in the audience said they were surprised by the exchange, and Barker said because the request by Hou didn’t come from anger, it caught him off guard.

“I didn’t expect it, for one [thing]. And I think you’ve seen in the video, I thought about it before I answered that and I had already developed a friendship with Steffen, so it just really kind of hit home,” said Barker. “It was the turning point; it really was.”

Hayes said it was a pivotal moment because it demonstrated an essential truth about how we can change hateful behavior.

“We talk about big societal change and ask, ‘How can we change our culture? How can we change our neighborhood and our community?’ Really, the very, very hard truth about that is that as a group we can’t. We can’t change groups of people, but we can change a person,” said Hayes.

Hou was able to join the discussion from the Netherlands via Zoom, saying Barker’s transformation may have begun with the request to remove the Dachau sign, but he deserved credit for staying on that path.

“Change is possible and because of that we have been able to with this film tell a story that started out gruesome and evil, but seeing how it turned into a beautiful love story of a man who chose the right course in life because he had the guts and was brave enough to do it, which is also exemplified by him showing up today,” said Hou, which drew applause from the audience. “He chose to be an example for others, and now it’s up to the rest of us to allow him and others taking the same direction as he did to go through with it.”

As the event drew to a close, a group of about half-dozen protesters waving flags with swastikas gathered across from the theater yelling slogans like “White power” and “We are not going to be replaced.”

It was just the latest in a series of similar white supremacist protests that have occurred in Livingston County since last summer, including a march through Howell in July, which prompted a symbolic scrubbing away of hate by SAGE members. About a month later the same group protested in downtown Brighton.

SAGE also held a counter-protest on the steps of Howell City Hall in November after white supremacists with Nazi flags protested outside a production of the play “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

Michigan officials are responding to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump over the weekend that a recent report said will disproportionately impact Michigan’s economy, whose automotive industry makes it “particularly vulnerable.”

On Saturday, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, set to become effective Tuesday, initiating a full-blown trade war.

An analysis by Fitch Ratings, which looked at U.S. Census Bureau trade data, highlights which states have the highest level of economic exposure to a “broad-based trade war” which it determined would “likely be disruptive” to U.S. states’ economies.

Of those states, Michigan would potentially be hardest hit, as it tops all other states with 19% of its imports, as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) coming from Canada, Mexico and China. Illinois is next at 12%, while no other U.S. state tops 10%.

Following the tariff announcement, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement saying the decision will raise costs on goods and services critical to Michiganders, while placing more than a million Michigan jobs at risk.

“Michiganders are already struggling with high costs — the last thing they need is for those costs to increase even more. A 25 percent tariff will hurt American auto workers and consumers, raise prices on cars, groceries, and energy for working families and put countless jobs at risk. Trump’s middle-class tax hike will cripple our economy and hit working-class, blue-collar families especially hard,” said Whitmer.

In response, all three nations targeted by the Trump tariffs have said they will respond in kind, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing a similar 25% tariff to be phased in on more than $100 billion worth of American products and calling on Canadians to “buy less American products [and to] choose Canadian products and services rather than American ones.”

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has also ordered the implementation of retaliatory tariffs, while China said it would “safeguard its own rights and interests,” although it did not detail what those would be. However, China did say it plans to challenge the American tariffs through the World Trade Organization (WTO).

According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Michigan’s largest export market in 2023 was Canada, with the state shipping $27.5 billion in goods there, representing 42% of the state’s total goods exports. Mexico was second with $14.9 billion, followed by China at $2.4 billion.

In addition to the Trump tariffs targeting Michigan’s top three export markets, the Fitch analysis noted that the state’s place at the center of domestic automotive manufacturing also placed an outsize target on its economy.

“The U.S. automotive industry relies heavily on the movement of parts and finished vehicles across the U.S., Canada and Mexico,” states the analysis, which notes that Michigan is home to nearly one-fifth of all U.S. auto production, the most of any other state.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) said Sunday that Trump’s tariffs will hurt workers and the manufacturing industry.

“Parts for a car built in Michigan can be shipped back and forth across the Northern Border upwards of 8 times before final assembly,” he said on social media. “Trump’s tariffs on Canada will do nothing but hurt American workers and auto manufacturers. He’s giving our overseas competitors a leg up.”

Despite calling the tariffs “Trump’s middle-class tax hike,” Whitmer said she would “be glad to work with him, and anyone, to protect Michigan’s auto manufacturing, lower costs, and fight for Michigan’s working families.”

That part of her message was more along the lines of Whitmer’s more conciliatory approach to Trump since he retook office, which included a congratulatory statement following his inauguration and an executive directive for state departments and agencies to review programs and services for compliance to Trump executive orders on DEI, “EV mandates” and gender issues.

But manufacturing is not Michigan’s only vulnerable sector to the tariffs, particularly to the effects of the retaliation against its exports.

According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Development (MDARD), Michigan’s total agriculture exports in 2023 were $2.7 billion, which had an economic impact equivalent to $5.22 billion across the state.

With Canada the top importer of Michigan’s agricultural and food products, and Mexico in second place, MDARD Director Tim Boring also expressed concern about the impact the tariffs will have.

“While there are still a lot of unknowns, it’s important to remember two things: Canada and Mexico are our biggest export destinations, and the last time this happened retaliatory tariffs specifically targeted agriculture,” said Boring. “We have to expect tariffs will immediately threaten agriculture jobs, our rural economies and ultimately what it costs to put food on the table.”

That point was echoed by Michigan Agri-Business Association (MABA) President Chuck Lippstreu.

“As a border state, leading agricultural exporter, and major North American trade and transit hub, Michigan deeply values our strong, long-term commercial relationships with Canada and Mexico,” said Lippstreu. “We are deeply concerned that across-the-board tariffs risk substantial negative economic consequences for Michigan agriculture and rural communities in our state.”

According to MABA, in addition to Canada being the state’s top export market, Michigan also imports key agricultural products, including crop nutrients and feed ingredients from Canada, while key agricultural industries in Michigan have forged lasting, long-term commercial ties in Mexico.

“MABA is concerned retaliation could disrupt current and future market opportunities and open the door to international competitors,” said the association.

There’s another effect the tariffs may produce, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

According to a report published Friday, the institute says because Mexico ships one-sixth of its annual economic output to the United States, and because many of those exports originate in duty-free factories located within 30 miles of the border, the livelihoods of those workers would be heavily impacted and “could compel some of them to migrate to the United States, undercutting U.S. efforts to stop border crossings.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

It was a highly contentious Thursday session in the Michigan Senate as a resolution to condemn the pardons issued by President Donald Trump for those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol drew angry accusations with multiple senators gaveled down for exceeding either the rules or decorum of the chamber.

The resolution, SR 6, which passed the Democratic-controlled chamber strictly along party lines, was introduced by Senate Floor Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) and sought to officially condemn the pardons as “an act of betrayal to the brave law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line on January 6, 2021, as well as to the citizens of the United States.” The measure noted that among the “1,500 criminals pardoned by President Trump, 169 of them were found guilty of assaulting police officers,” and that the pardons were condemned by both the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police.

After a heated debate, where several Republican senators were gaveled down for straying from the resolution at hand, SR 6 passed 19-13, with state Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) not voting.

Trump issues pardons for 1,500 defendants charged in Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol

On his first day back in office, Trump granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to approximately 1,560 defendants and commuted the prison sentences for 14 of the most serious offenders on Jan. 6, including leaders of the paramilitary groups the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. The decision drew both widespread acclaim from the President’s allies and MAGA followers and condemnation from Democrats and law enforcement groups.

Thursday’s resolution in the Michigan Senate broke along the same lines.

Singh implored his colleagues to support the measure, saying that democracy, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power should transcend partisanship and politics.

“All those things that we value came under attack on January 6th with the actions of a violent mob seeking to overturn the election and keep Donald Trump in power,” said Singh. “We had to relive that painful part of our history this month when that same person, now returned to the White House by the very democracy he spent so long questioning and eroding, pardoned these members as well as the most egregious of offenders.”

Singh closed by saying it was disturbing that his Republican colleagues did not stand up and condemn the pardons.

“I often hear about your support of law enforcement, but I saw you walk away from law enforcement by not condemning the actions of this president. I want to give you that opportunity with this resolution to fix that,” said Singh.

State Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) spoke out in opposition to both the resolution as well as Singh’s characterization, saying that while there were certainly “bad players on Jan. 6” there were also defendants he asserted were simply “walking through the Capitol” and did nothing wrong.

“There’s a lot of people like that, and that’s the focus of President Trump,” he said. “President Trump was attacked by all of this lawfare with state charges. He’s seen firsthand this stuff. What did the Democrats do? What did [former President Joe] Biden do during the summer of love when people were murdered, when the entire cities were up in flames? Nothing! Nothing!”

Runestad was referencing the Black Lives Matter protests and ensuing riots that occurred in 2020 following the death by Minneapolis Police of George Floyd. Trump was president at the time.

“Biden pardoned murderers, hundreds of people, thousands of people, many of them terrible murderers,” said Runestad before being gaveled down by Senate President Pro Tem Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield).

“Senator, I’ve given you a lot of leeway, but this is really straying off the path of the resolution. You’re questioning the motivations of members and you’re straying off of the intent of the resolution,” said Moss, as Runestad could be heard yelling in the background, although his microphone had been turned off.

Runestad is currently a candidate to chair the Michigan Republican Party, along with former party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, GOP consultant Scott Greenlee and Joe Cella, former ambassador to Fiji during the first Trump administration.

Sen. Jonathan Lindsay (R-Allen), called the prosecutions “one of the worst examples of weaponization of our government against its citizens that has ever happened in our history,” alleging that the pardoned defendants were met at the Capitol “with open doors and police officers waving them inside.”

More than 140 police officers were injured in the Capitol attack, which caused roughly $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol.

“How long does somebody have to be sent to a gulag and have their rights violated, their due process violated? How long?” asked Lindsay, who then questioned why they weren’t discussing Dr. Anthony Fauci receiving a preemptive pardon from Biden shortly before he left office.

Fauci, who served as the chief medical expert during the COVID-19 pandemic and was often at odds with Trump, has been the target of investigations from congressional Republicans.

“I would encourage us to have a more open mind and think about things like President Biden pardoning criminals from his family and Gen. [Mark] Milley who was accused of treason,” said Lindsay.

Milley, who served as a top military adviser to Trump during his first term, later called him a “fascist.” The second Trump administration has since stripped Milley of his security detail and ordered an investigation into his conduct.

“I want us all to reflect for a moment that just now on the floor of the Michigan Senate, a Republican senator stood up and said that a man who was convicted of using bear spray against police officers and striking police officers with a metal whip was treated unfairly by our justice system and that he was rightfully pardoned and let out with a slap on the wrist,” said Irwin, referencing Andrew Taake of Texas, who was released by Trump’s pardon and is now wanted by authorities on a 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.

Irwin also mentioned the cases of Daniel Ball, of Florida who was arrested just days after being pardoned on federal gun charges, and Matthew Huttle of Indiana, who was shot dead after confronting police with a gun.

“Again, we see here on the floor people trying to make false equivalencies pointing at other incidents that happened like when folks were out protesting. You know what? You’re not correct when folks were out protesting in the street and they broke the law, they were prosecuted. There were hundreds of people prosecuted,” said Irwin, who then addressed Runestad’s comments.

“When [Runestad] says those things, he is either not telling the truth or he just doesn’t know the truth,” said Irwin.

Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) rose and made a point of order, saying Irwin was “impugning the motives of other members.” Moss agreed.

Other Democrats speaking in support of the resolution included Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) who recalled receiving a voicemail from the mother of a Capitol police officer who died as a result of the Jan. 6 attack who said if only more people had stood up in “opposition to conspiracies and anger and fear and lies and calls for violence” her son might still be alive today.

Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), who was tearful while speaking, read a quote from Caroline Edwards, a Capitol police officer who suffered a brain injury in the attack, describing “officers on the ground … bleeding. They were throwing up. I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people’s blood. It was carnage. It was chaos.”

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) attempted to offer an amendment, but was turned down by Moss, who said it did not pertain to the resolution at hand. That was also put to a vote and upheld by majority Democrats.

Nesbitt, who is running for the GOP nomination for governor in 2026, criticized majority Democrats for the way they ran the chamber, something also echoed by McBroom.

“Transcribing MSNBC segments into state resolutions like this one is and blindly seeking to sue their political opponents, your actions and inactions speak volumes about the priorities of this chamber with this majority,” Nesbitt said.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

An attorney for a fired University of Michigan said Monday her client denies allegations that she made antisemitic remarks while at a conference.

U of M fired Rachel Dawson, who had been director of the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, Dec. 10 after being accused of saying the university is “controlled by wealthy Jews” during a conversation with two professors at an academic conference on diversity and equity in late March.

“What is currently being left out of the story is the full context of the conversation which she was fired over,” said Amanda Ghannam, a Detroit attorney representing Dawson.

“Two women approached her and began to ask her questions about whether or not the University of Michigan harbors an antisemitic environment, and Ms. Dawson actually defended the university,” Ghannam told Michigan Advance.

“She noted the multitude of resources, campus organizations, representation, resources that are available to all students, including Jewish students. And when she did not agree with these two women who approached her, they became visibly angry with her. She responded that she believed multiple groups of people have origins in that region, and they did not like what she had to say. She disagreed with them, and they went after her employment.”

The New York Times was first to report the allegations, and said the conference in question, sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, took place in March in Philadelphia. The newspaper reported Dawson told the two women that Jewish students were “wealthy and privileged” and had no need for her office’s diversity services, adding that “Jewish people have no genetic DNA that would connect them to the land of Israel.”

One of the women later contacted the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan, which filed a complaint with the university. According to the Times, the complaint prompted the university to hire an outside law firm, Covington & Burling, to investigate the matter. A subsequent report by the law firm said while it was “not possible to determine with certainty whether Ms. Dawson made the exact remarks” the “weight of the available evidence supports A.D.L. Michigan’s report.”

Ghannam, however, emphatically denied Dawson made those statements when asked by the Advance.

“She did not make the statements attributed to her,” Ghannam said. “These two women who approached her and initiated the conversation…they took her words completely out of context, mischaracterized her, and again, went after her employment and after her livelihood because they didn’t like what she had to say.”

When asked to comment on the situation, the university’s director of public affairs, Kay Jarvis, sent this statement to the Advance:

“Ms. Dawson was fired by the Provost because her behavior as a university representative at a conference and during an on-campus protest was inconsistent with her job responsibilities, including leading a multicultural office charged with supporting all students, and represented extremely poor judgement,” said Jarvis.

Ghannam says the on-campus protest referenced an incident on Aug. 28, when four people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest on the Ann Arbor campus’ Diag.

“What Ms. Dawson did there was advocate for student protesters not to be violently arrested,” she said, pointing to allegations that the subsequent prosecution of protestors by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had been initiated by university officials urging her office to bring felony charges against those involved in the various incidents.

“The fact that they would rely on Ms. Dawson attempting to protect these students from violent arrest by police as a reason for her termination, I think it speaks to a wider and more troubling pattern of the University of Michigan’s abdication of its responsibilities to uphold people’s First Amendment rights,” said Ghannam.

Dawson initially received a written warning in October about her actions, but was then placed on leave a little over two weeks later when the warning was revoked, said Ghannam who pointed to the New York Times reporting that the termination came at the behest of a regent, who was “disgusted” with the university’s response, and demanded Dawson be “terminated immediately.”

“It’s clear that her constitutional rights have been violated, and we are going to take the appropriate legal action,” said Ghannam.

This latest controversy follows the targeting of Regent Jordan Acker on Dec. 9 when someone threw Mason jars through the front window of his Oakland County home, shattering the glass. Police believe the jars were filled with urine. The vandals also spray painted the words “Divest” and “Free Palestine” in red on his wife’s car in the driveway. That incident remains under investigation.

It was at least the third time Acker has been targeted since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, including in May when he said a masked intruder came to his home and those of other regents and left a list of demands, and the vandalism of his Southfield law office in June.

It also follows protests earlier this month prior to a Board of Regents meeting in which scaling back the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were discussed.

When asked if she thought Dawson’s firing was connected to those efforts, Ghannam said she couldn’t speak to that.

“I do believe that the university just decided to roll back some of its DEI efforts, so whether there’s any connection there, I truly can’t say. I don’t have any personal knowledge and can’t speak to that,” she said.

However, Ghannam did say she believes the university is not acting within the scope of what the public expects from an institution of higher learning.

“Our public institutions cannot fire employees because they don’t like what they had to say. Even when speech makes us uncomfortable, even when it offends some of us, it is the cornerstone of our democracy to uphold and defend those free speech rights,” said Ghannam.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

Content warning: This story contains discussion of suicide. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What had been just a theoretical blueprint for an authoritarian takeover of the federal government is now a looming reality, with trans individuals squarely in the crosshairs.

Although there was extensive reporting about the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the 922-page mandate that promises to overhaul government agencies and “restore the American family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children,” and its multiple connections to President-elect Donald Trump, it failed to sway a majority of American voters.

If you need help The Trevor Project bills itself as the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people, and provides information & support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Its crisis line can be reached at 1-866-488-7386 or by texting “START” to 678-678.

But among the groups who are alarmed at the prospect of a Project 2025-driven agenda, are trans individuals, particularly trans kids.

“These kids don’t know where to turn,” said Kim Dorey of Ann Arbor, who is parenting two trans kids. “They’re scared outside their house. They’re scared inside their house. They’re scared at school. They’re scared at the doctor. They’re scared at church. They’re scared at the store. So where are they safe?”

The fears of trans individuals are now a palpable reality with the expected implementation by the incoming Trump administration of Project 2025, which specifically targets their health and well-being, beginning with seeking to outlaw their very existence.

On the first page of the document, it says that in “America under the ruling and cultural elite … children suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries.”

The document equates “transgender ideology” with pornography, which it says should be outlawed, further claiming it, along with “critical race theory … poison our children” and that it denies “the givenness of our nature as men and women.”

Project 2025 also said that educators and public librarians who “purvey” even just the concept of being transgender “should be classed as registered sex offenders,” while labeling as “child abuse” parents or physicians who “reassign” the sex of a minor, an ambiguous enough description to cover all forms of gender-affirming care.

In the face of that explicit intent to undermine and assault trans rights, organizations that serve the trans community are girding for what lies ahead.

“There are a lot of people in panic mode,” said Roz Keith, founder and executive director of Stand with Trans, who told the Advance that the group’s phones started ringing the morning after the election at 6:30 a.m.

“One caller was in tears. They needed crisis management. They were petrified,” she said. “The best we can do in those situations is to refer people to the crisis resources. We don’t provide crisis management. We don’t have a crisis line, but we have that handy because people need that,” she said.

Keith noted that Stand with Trans now has a mental health therapy program with two therapists who can see clients anywhere in Michigan through either telehealth appointments or in-person two days a week in Brighton.

Either way, people are struggling to understand what the future may hold for them.

“A lot of families are wondering how they’re going to protect their kids. Families wondering how they’re going get access to gender affirming care. There are young people, adults who want to know what’s going to happen if same sex marriage is dissolved? What will happen to their legal unions? There are so many concerns right now, and many of those concerns don’t have immediate answers because we just don’t know what’s going to happen. But we know that people need support, and they need to know that there is a place to go,” she said.

Keith says families with trans loved ones are now left to wonder what will happen if their child is in the middle of getting gender-affirming hormones, but their supply is cut off.

“People are stockpiling now. They’re going to stockpile pregnancy tests. They’re going to stockpile Plan B pills. They’re going to stockpile their HRT (hormone replacement therapy) if they can,” said Keith. “I know someone who’s been doing this for a while now. They have been stretching out their weekly meds to maybe every ten days, so they end up with a little extra if they can’t get it [in the future].”

‘A population of scared people’

Dorey, meanwhile, says she has spent the better part of a decade navigating the health care system for her children, but the concerns extend beyond gender-affirming care to needs that are more basic.

“When we talk about people that identify as transgender, we’re not only talking about what they look like or where they go to the bathroom. And when we’re talking about health care, they still have migraines or ulcers or whatever. They need good health care and doctors that can understand how to talk to them and treat them,” she said.

Dorey says once parents understand their child is trans and needs help, there are many aspects that they absolutely have to turn to medical professionals to provide.

“You cannot do it alone. So you have to go to your pediatrician. You have to go to a social worker or therapist, whatever you’ve got to do,” she said.

But Dorey says the targeting in the last several years of health care professionals who provide any form of gender-affirming care, compounded by concerns over new restrictions under a new Trump administration, has taken its toll.

“They’re scared,” she said of the medical professionals. “So, now you’ve got a population of scared people getting treated from scared people. It’s not going to work.”

Dorey has found that most people lack a basic understanding of the issues involved with trans kids, starting with the mental health toll exacted by a society that actively targets them.

“I’ve found that if parents literally haven’t lifted their kid off the ground or called 911 or had to house a friend because their parents kicked them out of their house, or because they don’t feel safe because their mom married this person that they don’t feel comfortable with, they don’t get it and what happens to them or someone they love,” she said. “And until somebody opens up and shares that those things have happened. They won’t get it.”

According to The Trevor Project, 41% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously consider suicide, with transgender and non-binary youth reporting even higher rates. Meanwhile, only about half of transgender and nonbinary young people found their school to be gender-affirming, and those who did reported lower rates of attempting suicide.

The concerns and fears extend beyond just those portions of Project 2025 that explicitly target trans kids, but also those portions that would have devastating secondary effects.

Lori Grover of Morrice in Shiawassee County has a 16-year-old trans daughter who is on the autism spectrum.

“One good thing about her disability is that she doesn’t understand or really see the hate and vitriol targeting her and others like her and is unaffected at this time,” Grover told the Advance.

Grover says her daughter has an individualized education program (IEP), a written document for students with disabilities outlining their educational needs and any programs or services the district can provide to help them make educational progress. She worries that dismantling the Department of Education, as called for in Project 2025, will have a direct negative impact on her daughter.

“While she has experienced some bullying at school, it’s been addressed and she has a lot of support from other classmates and the staff, even with her starting a new school this year with kids who are aware of her trans status,” said Grover. “The new administration’s policies will have a huge impact on her rights, safety, health and education. I worry that the current protections she has at school will be discarded at a national level, forcing our state to implement those changes.”

Grover said that beyond the fear about Project 2025, she has anger toward those who have enabled the targeting of her daughter, including friends and family members.

“I am still processing how I want to proceed in any relationship with these people,” she said.

‘Mind-boggling, willful ignorance’

Dorey says she, too, has anger, but has focused her energies into co-hosting the “Moms 4 Trans Kids” podcast with Dr. Lulu, a queer Nigerian pediatrician and mother of a transgender child.

“We’re supporting our kids and we don’t give a f–k what anybody else thinks,” she said. “Your opinions do not matter. Your science-based facts, opinions, and guidance are appreciated. That’s it.”

However, the fears and anger extend beyond just those who are trans, but to many others in the LGBTQ+ community.

Jared Bickford and his husband live in Howell, located in deep red Livingston County. He says their anger is not about the politics as much as it is about Trump himself, who they believe has mainstreamed hate toward them.

“We are devastated by the outcome of the election,” he said. “Fearful for our friends, both in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the sexual assault victims we know. I consider myself to be an independant, and don’t always vote Democrat, but I really can’t believe where we are today.”

Bickford said while his father and sister have always been supportive of the fact that he’s gay, they still voted for Trump and the policies for which Project 2025 advocates.

“[Trump] has normalized bullying people,” said Bickford. “He enables hate. He certainly has many followers that are decent people, [and] love and support me everyday, yet turn a blind eye to the damaging comments as if they don’t mean anything. It is mind-boggling, willful ignorance.”

Madison LeMieux of East Lansing echoed that feeling of confusion as to how so many people do not seem to understand the hostility they see being aimed at them.

As an openly bisexual woman who grew up in the conservative community of Fowlerville, LeMieux said she wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the election as much as she was disappointed.

“I am just shocked that we clearly don’t learn as a society and we still don’t care about people that we perceive to be different than ourselves. There is a very clear difference between a difference in opinion and a difference in values and that’s exactly what makes it so hard to maintain a friendship with people who voted for someone that wouldn’t see me as a person, let alone an equal,” she told the Advance.

“By electing a sexist, homophobic, and transphobic fascist, voters of Trump have shown they do not give a single f–k about the rights of the LGBTQ+ community,” said LeMieux. “I have been let down by both my community and my country and I don’t know how to restore that faith. I just thought we were better than that and we aren’t.”

‘We were built for this moment’

With the election over Equality Michigan is now focused on the immediate action that can be taken in Lansing, Executive Director Erin Knott said.

“We know that the winning candidate’s platform featured a number of attacks on the transgender community, particularly regarding access to health care and fair treatment in schools,” said Knott. “I think it’s critical that organizations like Equality Michigan … we were built for this moment, right? We’ve faced challenges before. We’re ready.

“It’s critical that we continue to stand up for our community, including the most vulnerable members of our community, which is the trans and non-binary individuals, especially our kids, and and we’re going to do that by pushing back at all times on disinformation and mistruths, which were very much a part of the presidential campaign,” Knott continued.

Knott said from Equality Michigan’s standpoint, its mission is now more focused than ever.

“We’re going to be vocal advocates against LGBTQ+ hate. You’ll see us lifting up leaders who support equal rights and continuing our ACE [Advocates for Community Empowerment] program to support victims of bias and hate crimes.”

Of more immediate concern, Knott said, will be moving legislative priorities across the finish line. While the Michigan House lost its Democratic majority in the Nov. 5 election, which makes it much more difficult to move forward pro-LGBTQ+ legislation, lawmakers have until the end of the year to get things accomplished before the Republican majority takes control in January.

Equality Michigan backs House Bills 5300, 5301, 5302 and 5303 which would remove some of the requirements placed on Michiganders when they change their name outside of marriage, as well as make it easier for a person to select the sex marker they feel is appropriate for them on their birth certificate and driver’s license.

“There were always going to be some things that we are going to try and tie up during the lame duck session, and now we also have the added need of trying to address things that we know a Republican House majority will not address, as well as try to provide some safeguards for an incoming Trump presidency. So, the work has expanded greatly, both caucus wide and certainly for me personally,” said Pohutsky, a member of the Michigan Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus.

Pohutsky said her top priority is doing everything possible to provide protections in Michigan for marginalized groups.

“I think the next four years are going to be incredibly difficult for the LGBTQ community, particularly our trans family members. And I know the level of fear that I have right now, and I say that as somebody who has a lot of privilege and safety because of the fact that I’m a cisgender bisexual white woman in a straight-presenting relationship. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be a trans person right now. It is terrifying,” she said.

“And it is going to call for a lot of courage from policymakers to set aside what was said in the election cycle and just do what needs to be done because we need to protect members of the community right now.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

A far-right activist testifying against bills to ban guns from the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, which he claimed targeted white people, was gaveled down Thursday and dismissed after using the n-word.

The individual in question identified himself as Avi Rachlin, while his sign-in card said he was representing “Groypers for America,” referencing a far-right movement associated with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

Testifying to the Michigan Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, Rachlin immediately began his remarks by angrily denouncing the bills, talking so loud that it distorted the audio being recorded.

“Absolutely not. That is the message that voters sent last week when they decided to eject representatives from the state House and send Donald Trump into the White House. And rather than recognizing the will of the people in deciding to restore Republicans to the state house, Democrats have embarked on an effort of retaliation and retribution …”

At that point, the committee chair, state Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), cut off Rachlin and asked him to speak to the bills at hand.

From there, Rachlin, who is a former regional director for Michigan Open Carry, alleged a racial component behind the legislation.

“This is legislation that targets white people. It is racial because the people who carry in the capital are primarily white. People who have CPLs [concealed pistol license] are primarily white, and this is retaliation for the only demographic that overwhelmingly voted to support Donald Trump. And that is why it is being taken out on us because you don’t like us,” Rachlin said.

Rachlin became increasingly angry leading up to when he used the slur.

“If you want to address gun violence, we would be focusing on the people who bring guns into communities and shoot people like where I live in Detroit where you represent Stephanie Chang, which are overwhelmingly 13-to-34-year-old Sub-Saharan African ni—rs. Those are the people who …”

Chang immediately gaveled down Rachlin and said they were moving on.

“I am testifying,” said Rachlin.

“Yep. And I am the chair, and I have gaveled you down,” said Chang.

Rachlin then angrily asked if Chang was going to have armed guards remove him.

“Armed men with guns?” he said.

Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) then spoke up.

“Did I just hear you call a group of people by some epithet?” he asked Rachlin.

“Yes,” said Rachlin.

“The idea that this is aimed at white people. I know so many different groups from minority communities that are armed, that carry concealed. It’s just a ridiculous argument,” said Runestad.

Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) then interjected.

“The term that you used is inappropriate and it will not get you anywhere in this Legislature,” she said.

The committee then moved on and Rachlin gathered his things and left.

The committee voted 4-2, with Runestad and Johnson opposed, to send SB 857 and SB 858 to the full Senate for debate.

The package would largely prohibit guns inside the three buildings that make up the Capitol complex in Lansing: the Michigan Capitol, the Anderson House Office Building and the Binsfeld Senate Office Building. The main exception would be for a lawmaker with a CPL, who could still carry a weapon in the buildings.

The bills essentially codify a decision made last year by the bipartisan Michigan State Capitol Commission to institute the ban in the Capitol building, and extend it to the Anderson and Binsfeld buildings where lawmakers’ offices are located.

After the committee hearing, Chang posted Rachlin’s name to social media, and noted that when he was a student at Penn State University, his peers referred to him as a “violent, misogynist, homophobic, white supremacist,” referencing a petition initiated by students to have him expelled after an incident in which Rachlin got into a physical altercation with an assistant professor during a vaccine rally in 2021.

Rachlin uses the username “avsterbone” on social media and responded to Chang’s post with one of his own.

“Trump’s Project 2025 will deport you and your parents back to Taiwan,” he posted. “Maybe living under the constant fear China will one day seize your island might make you reconsider your current push here to disarm White people. Thankfully, you’re termed out and will be gone in 2026.”

Chang is the first Taiwanese American Michigander elected to the Legislature.

State Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-East Lansing) called out Rachlin’s comments.

“This is the rhetoric of [a] weak person who has run out of any valuable argument. While I don’t like giving it any attention, it’s important to be clear eyed that this type of hatred still exists,” posted Hertel.

One of those testifying in favor of the bills who spoke prior to Rachlin, was state Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), who recalled COVID-19 pandemic protests in 2020 in which gun rights advocates were allowed to bring long guns into the Senate gallery.

“It was just a few years ago that many of us were in this building absolutely terrified as firearms were pointed at us while we were trying to do our jobs,” said Anthony, who was interrupted several times by Runestad, who questioned if she had reported to Capitol security that guns had actually been pointed at her. Anthony said she had done so, both to the Michigan State Police, as well as House sergeants.

When Runestad again interrupted Anthony, she reminded him that she was speaking and said, “I raised a lot of nieces and nephews, and I’m not shy when it comes to addressing temper tantrums.”

Speaking with the Michigan Advance after the session, Anthony said the exchange with Runestad may have indirectly encouraged Rachlin’s later comments.

“He just wouldn’t let me talk, and he wouldn’t let me speak in an honest manner and so I was a little shaken up by it,” she said. “I don’t like bullies. I’ve never liked bullies, even when I was a child. I just have always felt like people should give folks respect, even when you disagree.”

Anthony said the combative comments from Runestad created an environment in which someone else felt comfortable enough to use a racial slur.

“Myself and Rep. Felicia Brabec (D-Pittsfield Twp.), were the two Black women that were testifying about this issue. And so when you use the n-word as a part of your justification of why you want to continue to have firearms in the Capitol, it’s hurtful, right? It’s hurtful. It’s direct and the lack of civility amongst colleagues creates an environment, in my opinion, that makes it easier for the public to come in and use derogatory terms,” said Anthony.

Lavora Barnes, the first Black woman to chair the Michigan Democratic Party, also spoke out against Rachlin.

“The vile language used today was unacceptable, and every lawmaker in attendance should be making it very clear that no matter who you are or what you support — bigotry and hatred have no place in our legislature or political discourse. The group he belongs to, Groypers for America, is known for espousing racist, antisemitic language, and they should be nowhere near Michigan politics.”

Anthony says she just hopes this isn’t a glimpse into the new normal in political discourse.

“I hope we’re not in a place that this becomes the norm. That whether it’s lawmakers or the public, just don’t treat each other with respect and civility, and a lot of that, folks feel very emboldened by Trump. And I’m sad for what that looks like for the future,” she said. “I don’t want to have to go back to wearing a bulletproof vest to work. It’s very, very, very uncomfortable. I want to focus on doing things like balancing the state’s budget, not making sure there’s not bullets that’s flying in this building.”

Advance reporter Kyle Davidson contributed to this story.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

For at least the third time in recent months, white supremacists with Nazi flags protested in Livingston County, this time outside of a production of the play “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

The incident, which was captured on video, occurred Saturday night outside the American Legion Post 141 in Howell, where the iconic play about a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis during World War 2 was being staged by the Fowlerville Community Theatre.

In the video, recorded by former Post 141 Commander Bobby Brite, a group of people can be seen waving Nazi flags across the street from the post, while deputies with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office are nearby with the lights on their vehicles activated as traffic passes by.

‘We love Hitler. We love Trump.’: White supremacists march through Howell

A press release from Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy says deputies responded just before 8 p.m. Saturday to the post, technically located in Howell Township, on the report that five demonstrators wearing face masks had pulled into the parking lot to demonstrate against the play.

“The demonstrators were asked to leave the property and did,” stated the release. “The demonstrators then went across the street and waved flags adorned with nazi (sic) insignia. A subject then approached them, and an argument ensued. Nothing physical transpired and ultimately the parties involved separated.”

Murphy told the Michigan Advance that the protesters said they were from Fowlerville, but because it “was peaceful and they were in the right of way,” there were no grounds to request their identification.

He said the final performance of the play went on as scheduled Sunday afternoon without further incident, and that deputies continued to patrol the area for the remainder of the weekend with no further issues reported.

Brite, meanwhile, is heard on the video commenting about the white supremacist protesters.

“The downside to hosting something like this is you bring out extremists,” said Brite. “Of course, we believe in the Constitution. That being said, we are certainly against all acts of extremism, acts of hate, and hate groups.”

Brite added that the individuals were “certainly seeking attention” and advised people to not provide that.

“If you see them out there, just drive on by. Ignore them,” he said.

Another video, posted at WLNS and apparently taken later in the evening shows the group in downtown Fowlerville, also waving flags prominently featuring swastikas.

A Fowlerville resident, Peter Damerow, posted to Facebook about his encounter with the group.

“There were Nazis in downtown Fowlerville tonight,” he said. “When I asked what they were doing in Fowlerville, they insisted this town is now ‘Pureville’ and that they were here to keep it that way. ‘You look Jewish,’ one of them yelled, so I corrected him. I’m actually Hispanic. One of the Nazis then shouted, ‘SO GO BACK TO MEXICO.’ I let them know that I actually grew up just down the road and they responded all at once, showering me with insults.”

Damerow added a message to his friends who supported President-elect Donald Trump in last week’s election.

“They were comfortable being there because of who you just voted into office. What they had to say made it quite plain. I’m very curious how knowing this makes you feel,” he said, adding thanks to those in the community who have made him feel welcome for over 25 years.

“The love and joy of knowing your neighbors and taking part in community events is what makes Fowlerville a great place to live and grow,” said Damerow. “Needless to say I will not be going back to any country because I have only ever lived here. Mexico sounds lovely, but I was born an American, a Michigander and a Fowlervillian. And I am proud of it.”

The incident follows a similar protest that took place in Howell in July, when a dozen masked white supremacists marched through the downtown chanting “Heil Hitler,” and then later hung Nazi and KKK flags on a nearby overpass while yelling “We love Hitler. We love Trump,” through a loudspeaker.

Signs at anti-white supremacist counterprotest in downtown Howell. July 28, 2024. Photo by Jon King.

About a month later the group also protested in downtown Brighton.

But the fact that Howell, which lies between Lansing and Detroit, was again chosen by the white supremacists is not necessarily a coincidence.

The community has long had a reputation for extremist activity. It became known as a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hotspot in the 1970s and 80s when infamous Michigan KKK Grand Dragon Robert Miles held hate rallies and cross burnings at his Cohoctah Township property north of Howell until his death in 1992.

That reputation has lingered, continually fueled by incidents such as a well-publicized auction of a Klan robe in 2005, and hate messages posted online by Howell students in 2014 after a basketball game with a racially-mixed Grand Blanc basketball team.

Community leaders have worked hard to fight that image, including a symbolic scrubbing of the steps of the historic Livingston County courthouse in 1995 following a KKK rally.

A similar scrubbing was held following the march in July.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

Six Michigan cities will be monitored by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) for compliance with federal voting rights laws during Tuesday’s general election.

On Friday, the DOJ announced that personnel from the Civil Rights Division will be among those present at a total of 86 jurisdictions in 27 states across the country including the cities of Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck and Warren.

According to a press release, the department regularly deploys staff to polling sites to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws and maintain contact with state and local election officials throughout the day.

“DOJ is aware of what’s happening nationally, that this is a very close election,” Bruce Adelson, an attorney and former DOJ official who led monitoring teams in the early 2000s, told the Michigan Advance.

“There’s been a lot of incidents that are of concern to [the Department of] Justice, whether they’re voter intimidation or allegations of vote manipulation. As a swing state, they wanted to be in Michigan to gather information about incidents that may occur and also potentially take action as needed,” he said.

Also participating will be personnel from various U.S. Attorney’s Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, all of whom will help enforce the civil provisions of federal statutes that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act and Civil Rights Acts.

Adelson, who now works as an elections consultant and also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, said that typically jurisdictions are chosen with an eye toward trying to diffuse potential areas of contention.

“I know there’s been a lot of attention paid to former President [Donald] Trump’s visit to Hamtramck recently, and the endorsement by the mayor. There’s been a lot of attention paid to the Arab community’s reaction to the conflicts in the Middle East as well as the Jewish community,” Adelson said. “In my opinion, that would be why DOJ will have folks in Hamtramck to observe the election, monitor developments, and if something serious happens, potentially take action.”

The rights of voters with disabilities are another potential area of concern, with the division’s Disability Rights Section working to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), while the Criminal Section enforces federal criminal statutes that prohibit voter intimidation and voter suppression based on race, color, national origin or religion.

On Election Day, DOJ personnel will be available throughout the day to receive questions and complaints from the public related to possible violations. Reports can be made through the department’s website www.civilrights.justice.gov or by calling toll-free at 800-253-3931.

Officials say complaints related to polling place disruptions should always be reported to local election officials, while complaints related to violence, threats of violence or intimidation at a polling place should be reported immediately to law enforcement by calling 911, and then reported to the department after local authorities have been contacted.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

With polls indicating that the 2024 election will be a tossup, not just for the White House, but in many other key races in Michigan, candidates are looking to avoid any disadvantage that could turn off independent voters.

One of those disadvantages may be directly identifying what party they belong to.

That is not an issue in the presidential race, where both Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, and Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, are each strongly identified as the leaders of their respective parties. But for candidates in very tight congressional races, partisan affiliation can be something to avoid or play down.

“Some of these states and districts are very close. They could go either their way. If I’m a Democrat, maybe the Republicans who might be open to at least doing some research about me, if they just see my sign, they start to kind of tune me out. Maybe that’s something they want to avoid,” J. Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia Center for Politics told the Michigan Advance .

Both candidates have numerous yard signs and digital ads in which the words “ Democrat” or “Republican” are not present.

The same is true for hotly contested mid-Michigan congressional races.

In the 7th District, former state Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-Lansing) is going up against former state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) for the seat left open with Slotkin pursuing the Senate. Both candidates have signs sans party references One Hertel digital ad has him criticizing Democrats on immigration without mentioning he’s a Democrat.

“I work with Democrats and Republicans to get it done. And when Democrats got soft on the border, I called them out,” said Hertel in the ad in which he portrays himself as a “regular guy.”

A Barrett TV ad on heavy rotation highlights that he “isn’t a millionaire” and makes plain his status as an Army veteran helicopter pilot, but nowhere does it say that he’s a Republican.

Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet and former Trump administration appointee Paul Junge are both vying for the 8th District seat, and both have ads that don’t mention their party affiliation.

McDonald Rivet’s ad, which gained notoriety for appearing to show her husband jump out of a car rather than listen to his wife talk about cutting taxes, doesn’t say she’s a Democrat.

While Junge’s ads also don’t specifically say he’s a Republican, two of them released prior to the August primary, in which he faced several competitors for the GOP nomination, feature Donald Trump and label Junge as a “ Trump Conservative.”

Coleman says that’s something he’s seen in other races across the country.

“I’ve noticed on the Republican side, some of the Republicans in the key races, instead of putting ‘Republican’ on their side, they’ll say ‘Trump endorsed.’ A lot of them tend to prefer the term ‘conservative’ over ‘Republican,’ because in a state like Michigan, you may have some Democrats who are more open to a conservative than a Republican,” said Coleman. “I’m thinking a district like the 8th or even the 7th, you may have some working class Democrats who would agree with conservatives on something, but who’d be less open to a named Republican.”

A Junge ad released after he won the nomination attacks McDonald Rivet, but again doesn’t mention the party affiliation of either candidate.

Lansing-based PR consultant Andrea Bitely told the Advance that another factor in this trend is data overload.

“I think one thing it comes down to is people’s attention span. They can maybe get through 30 seconds of issue advertising, but they can’t make it through much more than what they are already listening to,” said Bitely, owner of Bitely Communications who’s been a spokesperson for GOP former Attorney General Bill Schuette. “It’s also not necessarily winning them more votes by identifying their political party. And at the top of the ticket, everybody is so already aligned and matched with what their party affiliation is, it’s almost unnecessary to include it.”

Bitely says it also provides no positive benefit for many candidates running in tossup districts.

“It could be counterproductive if you are running in a truly purple seat. Although the reality right now, if you’re looking at the Barrett-Hertel race, each of those candidates is going to get some swing from the top of their ticket, and they want to be associated with them. So I think a lot of this comes down to the American public’s inability to focus on anything for more than 5 to 10 seconds,” she said.

One factor that may be driving this trend away from party identification is the change in partisan balance. For many years, Democrats enjoyed an advantage in voter share, peaking at about 55% in 2008. Since then it has tightened to an essential balance between the two parties according to Pew Research.

“The partisan identification of registered voters is now evenly split between the two major parties: 49% of registered voters are Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, and a nearly identical share – 48% – are Republicans or lean to the Republican Party,” said the organization.

Even more to the point are voters who adamantly will not vote for someone in the opposite party.

Did a Michigan congressional candidate’s husband throw himself out of a moving car in her ad?

“There’s definitely those people out there,” said Bitely. “A pretty good section of both sides of the aisle, it doesn’t matter if the Democrat is my next door neighbor, and I’ve known him for 30 years. He’s still a Democrat. I’m not voting for him and vice versa. The Republican on the other side of you is running, but he’s a Republican. I’m not voting for him or her.”

However, Bitely says the vast majority of voters are well aware of what party particular candidates belong to, so this trend is really aimed at those who aren’t tuned into politics and election until a ballot shows up in their mail or voting begins in person.

“The base knows their candidates. They know who they’re going out to vote for. They’re not the ones you’re trying to push in any direction. The folks you’re pushing in any direction are the low propensity, unlikely to vote in every single election,” she said. “Right now, we’re looking at the folks that vote every four years and only if it’s a candidate they like. We’re just trying to get into those people’s heads that they recognize your name.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

More Michigan Republicans have publicly identified their support for Vice President Kamala Harris in her race to win the White House over former President Donald Trump, and urged other Republicans to join them “in putting country over party.”

Ahead of the visit to Portage set for Friday afternoon by GOP vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), former state Reps. Dave Maturen (R-Vicksburg) and Dave Pagel (R-Berrien Springs) gathered in Kalamazoo and urged Michigan Republicans to reject the authoritarianism of a second Trump term and help turn out voters for Harris. Trump also is slated to hold a rally in Warren on Friday.

“I’ve worked with Democrats and Republicans at the county and state level. Regardless of someone’s political party, there’s a few qualities that any true leader needs to have, such as character, morality, honesty and integrity. That’s what this country deserves in a president, and those are traits that Donald Trump knows nothing about,” said Maturen. “Trump spent four years undermining trust in our democracy, and then when he lost the 2020 election, he egged on a violent mob to storm the Capitol and overturn the will of the voters. Now, he’s spreading lies about the integrity of this election, laying the groundwork for another ‘big lie’ and the potential for violence once again.”

Former US Rep. Dave Trott headlines Michigan Republicans for Harris group

Pagel, meanwhile, said Trump was “simply unfit to lead this country, unfit psychologically, emotionally, intellectually and most of all morally.”

“Political opponents are not the enemy within, and we should never use that hateful term,” added Pagel, referencing comments Trump made during an appearance on Fox News in which he referred to Democrats as “the enemy within.”

“I always say, we have two enemies,” Trump said. “We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.”

“Donald Trump is simply not an acceptable choice,” said Pagel. “We need to turn the page, end the divisiveness, the name-calling, the petty, small-minded and even hate-filled politics that Donald Trump thrives on. America is better than this.”

Maturen and Pagel are among dozens of Republican leaders both in Michigan and nationally who are members of Republicans for Harris, a coalition of GOP members working to reach and mobilize Republican voters in support of Harris and opposed to allowing Trump, who has been impeached twice and awaits sentencing on 34 felony convictions, from a return to power.

The group is co-chaired by Republican former U.S. Rep. Dave Trott (R-Commerce Twp.), and includes fellow former U.S. Reps. Fred Upton and Joe Schwarz; former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party Gary Reed, and Bill Nowling and Jimmy Greene, lifelong Republicans who served on Nikki Haley’s Michigan leadership team for her 2024 campaign.

Republicans for Harris emphasizes the consistent level of opposition to a second Trump presidency, noting the more than 356,000 Republican primary voters who cast ballots against Trump in Michigan’s GOP presidential primary in February, more than double the margin of votes President Joe Biden needed to win Michigan in 2020.

Another group, Haley Voters for Harris, has also been organizing GOP voters in Michigan. Gary Reed, a former executive director of the Michigan GOP, this week wrote a column endorsing Harris. And Rusty Hills, a former MIGOP chair and senior adviser to Republican former Attorney General Bill Schuette, this week wrote a column in the Detroit Free Press urging Republicans not to vote for Trump.

Also at Friday’s press conference was reproductive rights advocate Amanda Stratton, who said Trump was directly responsible for women across the country now living under abortion bans that denied them the care they need.

“Their doctors are worried about going to jail, and some women have even lost their lives. And if he gets back to the White House, he’ll ban abortion nationwide. It won’t matter that we voted overwhelmingly to protect reproductive rights here in Michigan — he will make sure that all of that work goes to waste, and in our state, we’ll have to live with that same fear,” said Stratton, who added that Harris has led the Biden administration’s response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, including being the first sitting vice president to visit a reproductive health care clinic.

“This election isn’t just about politics. It’s about decency, it’s about choice, and it’s about personal freedom. If you believe in those things, then I hope you’ll join me in supporting Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States,” said Stratton.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

Union activity has seen a major increase in the last several years, most particularly in the Midwest.

According to a press release from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, 3,286 union election petitions were received by the agency, a 27% jump over FY 2023, when the NLRB received 2,593 petitions. More importantly, it was more than double the 1,638 petitions received since FY 2021.

Digging deeper into the data, it appears states in the Midwest saw an even increase in union petitions — a 138% hike — the highest percent increase of any region in the country. Breaking it down even further, Michigan saw a 160% increase in that time period, rising from 57 petitions in 2021 to 148 this year.

“The surge in cases we’ve received in the last few years is a testament to workers knowing and exercising their rights under the National Labor Relations Act and to our board agents’ accessibility and respectful engagement with them,” said NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who most recently visited Michigan in late July when she met unionizing workers with German-owned auto parts maker Webasto.

NLRB general counsel meets with Michigan auto parts workers organizing with UAW

At the same time, the NLRB says there was a 52% increase in unfair labor practice charges filed with the agency’s regional offices in the Midwest from FY21 to FY24, which was the highest percent increase of any region in the country. Michigan’s increase was 36%, while nationally, there was a 41% increase during the same time.

The Michigan Advance asked the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to comment on the rise in union petitions in the state, but spokesperson Erica Quealy said the department “does not track data relevant to these trends.”

Jennifer Sherer, director of the State Worker Power Initiative with the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, left-leaning think tank, told the Michigan Advance the data confirms increasing support for collective bargaining among workers.

“The steady uptick in NLRB petitions for union elections in the Midwest reflects what we are seeing across the country: the labor movement is in the midst of a resurgence and workers are organizing at a pace not seen in recent decades. Worker organizing is taking place in all sectors of the economy from health care and manufacturing to nonprofits and higher education,” said Sherer.

Sherer noted that unions have seen near record-high favorability in recent years, with the most recent polls showing that almost 70% of Americans approve of unions while a strong majority of U.S. workers in all sectors (59%) support unionization in their own workplace.

“In Michigan, there is every indication that this organizing momentum is continuing in the present. Just last month, a unit of over 9,000 nurses from Corewell Health systems across metro Detroit petitioned to hold what will be one of the largest private-sector union elections in Michigan in decades,” she said.

The increase in cases filed in the NLRB’s field offices also resulted in a rise in cases that the adjudicative side of the agency had to contend with.

In FY 2024, the NLRB issued 259 decisions — a 5% uptick from FY 2023. However, agency officials say as has been the case for the last several years, their ability to process new cases was overtaken by a significant jump in intake, ending FY 2024 with 288 pending cases, 46% more than the 197 pending cases at the end of FY 2023.

The increased workload comes as the NLRB continues to deal with funding and staffing shortages including a 50% reduction in the number of field office personnel over the past two decades.

“The NLRB’s dedicated employees have worked hard this year to process cases efficiently, but the ongoing surge in case intake continues to increase our backlog,” said NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran. “Additional resources are necessary to enable the Board to expand staffing capacity and ensure that the workers, employers, and unions that rely on our agency benefit from timely resolution of their labor disputes.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

A week after white supremacists marched through downtown Howell chanting “Heil Hitler” and holding signs saying “White Lives Matter,” several dozen counter protesters gathered Sunday to symbolically wash away the racism they say they no longer want to be normalized in their community.

Holding signs with phrases like “Make Racism Wrong Again” and “Kancel Klan Kulture,” the gathering was organized by Stand Against Extremism LivCo (SAGE), whose co-founder is Julie Ohashi.

“I was born and raised here, and it wasn’t any different, I’ll tell you,” she told the gathering. “They were just more in the shadows, because it wasn’t as accepted. But in the culture and the climate that we’re dealing with right now, they’re becoming emboldened. And with that, it’s going to take a big resistance to stand up to it. And that’s going to require allies, because we can’t expect our brown and our Black and our queer community to be coming out here and putting their bodies on the front lines. That is not a fair lift.”

Howell, which lies between Lansing and Detroit, has long had a reputation for extremist activity. It became known as a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hotspot in the 1970s and 80s when infamous Michigan KKK Grand Dragon Robert Miles held hate rallies and cross burnings at his Cohoctah Township property north of Howell until his death in 1992.

The group of parents, grandparents, teachers, and other community members, later grabbed brooms and mops, as they washed down the sidewalk in front of the historic Livingston County Courthouse, the same place where the approximately dozen white supremacist supporters gathered July 20, before marching through the downtown area.

Julie Ohashi speaking at anti-white supremacist counterprotest in downtown Howell. July 28, 2024. Photo by Jon King.

“Howell is basically a welcoming community, and we were shocked to see these outsiders come and try to stir up hate. So, today is a symbolic cleansing of the area similar to what was done many years ago after a KKK rally,” Howell Mayor Bob Ellis told the Michigan Advance.

Ellis was referring to a scrubbing of the steps of the historic Livingston County Courthouse in 1995 following a KKK rally.

While a joint statement issued last week by the city of Howell, the Livingston Diversity Council and the Howell Chamber of Commerce indicated the white supremacist demonstrators came from “as far away as Saginaw and Macomb counties,” one participant was believed to have come from nearby Fowlerville.

But Ellis said the description of outsiders having orchestrated the march was still an accurate one.

“We were able to find some internet posts that said that (July 20) was actually a day of action for a hate group incorporating members from Michigan as well as Pennsylvania, and some of the witnesses did see a Pennsylvania license plate in the group,” said Ellis. “So, I think the fact that they were only able to recruit 12 people from two states, and one of them may have been from our county? They were casting a wide net and got a very poor turnout.”

In fact, a post on the X social media platform by a group identifying itself as “White Lives Matter Michigan,” does indicate interstate coordination, as it contained a video of the July 20 march and stated, “White Lives Matter Michigan and Pennsylvania collaborated together and held a demonstration in downtown Howell, Michigan for this month’s day of action.”

July 20 as a “day of action” is reportedly among 12 planned for 2024 by White Lives Matter (WLM), which the website globalextremism.org, identifies as an “international white supremacist movement,” whose supporters “have organized protests across the United States, and in other countries in Europe.”

Jennifer Stolen speaking at anti-white supremacist counterprotest in downtown Howell. July 28, 2024. Photo by Jon King.

The website, which is operated by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), says that WLM, along with other extremist groups like the Proud Boys, are using the phrase “White Boy Summer” to “spread propaganda, recruit new members, and facilitate targeted hate campaigns including acts of vandalism and hate incidents.”

On April 20 — Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s birthday — a previous “day of action,” White Lives Matter Michigan was able to “permeate censorship” and briefly display “images of Hitler and a racist message on roadside displays,” according to The Detroit News.

The antisemitic nature of the group was on full display on the July 20 “day of action,” when the group who marched through Howell also made their way to the Latson Road/I-96 overpass in nearby Genoa Township, where they hung Nazi and KKK flags over the side, while a video uploaded by the Livingston Post shows one of the protestors yelling “We love Hitler. We love Trump,” through a loudspeaker.

At Sunday’s counterprotest, Jennifer Stolen related a conversation she had with a young man as she was placing signs for the event, who asked what she thought would be accomplished by the gathering.

“He didn’t think anything was going to change here,” she said. “I am not originally from Livingston County, but I’ve lived here for 20 years now, and I can tell you that things already have changed. And one of the ways that they change is that people show up and they’re visible for events like this so that we know, those of us who know this is wrong, who know that having white supremacist demonstrators on the steps of our courthouse is wrong, know that we’re not alone. Because when I first moved to this county, I felt very alone. I didn’t know that there were any other people, honestly, other than myself and my family who felt the way that we did.”

Ohashi said it’s important to fight back against hate.

“We need everybody in this fight to stand up and say, ‘This isn’t how it’s going to work around here anymore. You can try, but you’re just going to get pushback,’” she said. “We’re going to be putting our bodies out in public spaces and having conversations, and we’re not going to go anywhere.”

Signs at anti-white supremacist counterprotest in downtown Howell. July 28, 2024. Photo by Jon King.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

Calling former President Donald Trump a “convicted felon … running on vengeance and grievance,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told a national television audience Sunday that voters have a “stark choice” this November about who they want to occupy the White House.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Whitmer was asked about comments Vice President Kamala Harris made in Detroit on Saturday, when she called Trump a “cheater” and someone who “thinks he is above the law.” Whitmer, who co-chairs President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, doubled down on that sentiment.

“Right now, we know that in this country there is a stark choice in front of us between a president who respects the rule of law and a former president who is a convicted felon who wants to use the implements of government to go after his enemies and is running on vengeance and grievance as his platform,” she said. “He is the standard bearer, unfortunately, for the Republican Party in this moment, and this is a high-stakes election.”

In Macomb County, Giuliani and Eric Trump slam Donald Trump’s guilty verdict

Whitmer’s comments were sharper about Trump than those of many elected Democrats who have not emphasized the former president’s 34 felony convictions in a New York court last month.

Also appearing on the show, in a separate appearance, was Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who argued Trump and the GOP were not planning on taking away access to birth control and that Democrats had politicized the issue. Last week, U.S. Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have protected the right to contraception.

“Contraception is something that should be available to women,” said Noem. “Why don’t we support them and give them information and help them?”

Whitmer, however, rejected that characterization, saying the three appointments made by Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court “betrayed their oath of office,” when they voted to invalidate Roe v. Wade and undermine a half-century of legal precedent concerning bodily autonomy.

“We know that there are women in many states who cannot access fundamental health care; cannot make their own decisions about whether and when to bear a child,” said Whitmer. “I think that what we’re seeing out of the Republicans saying that they want to protect this, is disingenuous at best and an outright lie at worst.”

Whitmer also addressed concerns that Robert Kennedy Jr., an attorney and anti-vaccine advocate who will appear on the Michigan ballot this fall, could cost Biden a victory in the battleground state. She said that it was always going to be a close contest, but believes if the campaign does the work, a majority of voters will make the right decision.

“Certainly, Kennedy or any third party candidate, gives me some concern, and it’s to be taken seriously,” said Whitmer. “There are a lot of good, traditional Republicans who don’t feel at home with the convicted felon at the top of the ballot, who know that Kennedy has got lots of far out, kind of wild ideas about science and the future and doesn’t even have the support of his own family. All that being said, we can’t make any assumptions. We’ve got to earn every single vote and that’s what we’re doing.”

Currently, RealClear Polling, which averages seven top national polls, has Trump up by just .3% over Biden in Michigan. However, around this same time in 2020, Biden led Trump by more than 7% in Michigan. Biden won the 2020 election by about a 3-point margin, or 154,000 votes.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.

Calling the Republican Party the “party of fertilization,” former President Trump continues to make false claims in a recent interview with a Detroit TV station, while simultaneously taking credit for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.

In an interview last week with FOX-2 Detroit following his Wednesday rally in Saginaw County, anchor Roop Raj asked Trump about the issue of abortion and how much it would impact the November election. The former president argued that the erasure of a 50-year precedent that provided women a constitutional right to an abortion was a positive development.

“I say what the people decide, and whatever it is, it’s within the state and what the people decide, and it’s working out,” said Trump. “For many, many years, people have said we’ve gotta bring this back to the states to decide, and that’s now working.”

Trump then outlined how different states were dealing with abortion rights, but appeared unaware that Michigan had already enshrined those rights in its constitution.

“All the states are deciding, and you know, for 53 years, people wanted to be able to get it out, Roe v Wade, get it out so the states can decide,” Trump said. “Your state [Michigan] will decide probably a liberal policy if it hasn’t already done it. … I think Michigan’s gonna actually be very loose. They’re gonna vote on it, and that’s gonna be the law.”

In 2022, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved securing the right to an abortion and other reproductive rights, less than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause no longer provided a federal right to an abortion. Three of the six votes in favor of that decision were made by justices appointed to the court by Trump.

Trump also told Raj the GOP was “the party of fertilization because we are for the women,” referencing one of the issues that resulted from the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, namely in vitro fertilization (IVF).

“We wanna help the women because they were gonna end fertilization, which is where when the IVF, where women go to the clinics and they get help in having a baby, and that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. And we’re for it a 100%. They tried to say that they weren’t for it. They actually weren’t for it and aren’t for it as much as us, but women see that,” said Trump.

The IVF issue came to the forefront in February when the Alabama Supreme Court, citing the Dobbs decision nine times, ruled that embryos had the full legal rights of citizens. That left IVF clinics facing costly litigation, prompting a temporary halt to the procedure in that state until it passed a law extending criminal and civil immunity to IVF providers and patients. But because the measure didn’t declare when life begins, clinics there are still moving away from providing the service out of litigation concerns.

Trump’s claim that “they weren’t for it,” presumably meaning the Democratic Party, is false. In fact, Democrats like U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois — a disabled veteran who used IVF to become a mother — had been warning since at least 2022 that IVF would be the next target of GOP-led legislatures and courts if Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Additionally, Senate Republicans have rejected attempts to protect access to IVF treatments, while a bill sponsored by House Democrats, H.R. 7056, the Access to Family Building Act, which would establish a federal right to access assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, remains bottled up in committee by the Republican-led chamber.

Trump continued to insist in the interview that abortion “was not that big of an issue,” and “should be largely taken off the table.”

He also continued to push the false claim that abortions were routinely being done in the final month of pregnancy, or beyond.

“Nobody wants to see abortions in the ninth month and the eighth month and the seventh month, and nobody wants to see abortions or, in this case, killing after the baby is born,” Trump told Raj. “Right now, that’s what the Democrats can do. They can have it in the seventh, eighth, ninth month, and they can kill the baby. In numerous states, they can kill the baby after the baby is born, and nobody wants that. Nobody.”

Since at least 2016, Trump has been making the claim of abortions in the final days of pregnancy or even killing babies after they are born, and it has been fact-checked time and again as false.

And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1% of all abortions are performed after 21 weeks of gestation — in the fifth month of pregnancy..

Raj asked Trump about Florida’s six-week abortion ban that went into effect last week.

“You have to understand, every legal scholar from all over the country, all over the world, they said ‘You have to get abortion out of the federal government, you have to take it away from the federal government, give it to the states’, and now that’s what we’ve been able to do. We’ve given it to the states, and some states have already decided, and people are satisfied with it.”

While there were certainly scholars who believed Roe had been decided incorrectly, they didn’t represent a majority, much less anything close to unanimity.

“Any claim that all legal scholars wanted Roe overturned is mind-numbingly false,” Rutgers Law School professor Kimberly Mutcherson, a legal scholar who supported the preservation of Roe, told CNN, which quoted several other legal experts in fact-checking that assertion as false.

“The people within the states … they seem to be very happy with the way it’s working out,” added Trump.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, since the overturning of Roe, 30 states have enacted abortion policies that range from restrictive to the most restrictive.

Raj also asked Trump about labor policies, unions, immigration and the war against Hamas in Gaza.

When asked about the success of union efforts in southern states, such as the UAW’s historic victory last month with Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., who voted by a nearly 3-1 margin to join the UAW, Trump instead talked about China building car plants in Mexico, insisted the public didn’t want all electric vehicles (EVs) and ended up in a diatribe against President Joe Biden.

“This character that’s destroyed our country, the worst president we’ve ever had, without question,” said Trump. “He’s destroying our country. What he’s doing with cars, he’s forcing the auto industry into China and other countries, and it’s so sad. And, by the way, Mexico is doing things that nobody can believe. They just started, and they’re doing them in conjunction with China, and it’s gotta be stopped. We can’t let that happen.”

Raj restated his question about growing union support in states like Tennessee that have been less than welcoming to organized labor in the past.

“Well, it could be happening,” Trump said. “I mean, it’s gonna be happening, but you gotta be very careful about what’s gonna happen in two years from now when China wants to take all of the jobs. Because frankly, then union or non-union, everybody’s gonna be hurt. Everybody.”

There have been concerns about Chinese automakers looking to avoid U.S. tariffs by building vehicles in Mexico and the Biden administration has addressed the issue. Last month, Reuters reported that under pressure from the U.S., Mexico was refusing to offer Chinese automakers incentives to build factories there such as low-cost public land or tax cuts for investment in EV production.

The report also quoted an official with the Office of the United States Trade Representative as saying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was negotiated during the Trump Administration, did not allow “a back door to China and others who may be seeking to access our market without paying … tariffs.”

On the topic of Israeli military attacks against Hamas in Gaza, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, Trump was asked how he would try and end the hostilities, and indicated he would give Israel a free hand.

“You gotta finish it off fast. You gotta get it done, and then you gotta have peace. And we’ll make peace fast. But you gotta get your work done and you gotta have peace. You know that Oct. 7 was terrible,” Trump said, referring to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians that killed about 1,200 people.

The interview closed with Raj asking Trump if he would debate Biden on statewide television in Michigan.

“If you can get him, I’m there. I’ll go anywhere he wants to go,” said Trump. “What he’s done to Michigan is so bad. What he’s done to our country is so bad. What other man, what other person, would allow 15, 16 million people right now in our country? They came from prisons and jails. They came from insane asylums and mental institutions, not from South America, from all over the world, they’re pouring into our country at levels that nobody’s ever seen. Drug dealers. One stat before we go, Venezuela was very crime-ridden. They announced the other day 72% reduction in crime in the last year. You know why? They moved all their criminals from Venezuela right into the good old USA, and Biden let them do it. It’s a disgrace.”

“But, sir, where are those numbers coming from?” asked Raj.

“I guess I get them from the papers in this case. I think it’s a federal statement or well, they’re coming actually from Venezuela. They’re coming from Venezuela. That’s where they can’t come from,” said Trump.

Punishing sanctions imposed against Venezuela during the Trump administration have been blamed as at least one cause of the mass migration out of that nation. Trump also didn’t mention that one of his last acts as President was to give Venezuelan exiles in the U.S. illegally protection from deportation.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.

Last week, an attempt to pass a bill in the U.S. Senate protecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) was blocked by Republicans, an example of the ongoing struggle within the party to both appear open to the procedure while also declining to provide legal protections for it.

In the days since the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that gave fertilized embryos the same rights as children, GOP candidates have largely been scrambling to distance themselves from the implications of a policy they have been voting in favor of for decades in anti-abortion legislation.

But the failure last Wednesday to receive a vote on a request for unanimous consent by Democratic Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth — a disabled veteran who used IVF to become a mother — further signals that IVF and reproductive health care will be a significant issue in the 2024 election.

“My girls are my everything,” Duckworth said, referring to her two daughters. “They likely would have never been born if I had not had access to the basic reproductive rights that Americans, up until recently, had been depending on for nearly a half-century.”

The U.S. Senate debate crystallized how statements by GOP legislators about IVF and what they are willing to do to keep it available are often in conflict.

On Feb 23, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), who’s running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, posted to his X account a strong renunciation of the Alabama decision.

“IVF has been critical to helping Americans grow their families and realize the blessing of life and parenthood. I oppose any and all efforts to restrict access to IVF — period.”

Rogers’ statement came just hours after a memo was sent by National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Executive Director Jason Thielman to GOP candidates instructing them to “clearly” state their support for IVF and other fertility-related services and “publicly oppose” any efforts to restrict access to those treatments.

“When responding to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, it is imperative that our candidates align with the public’s overwhelming support for IVF and fertility treatments,” stated the memo. “By advocating for increased access to these services, opposing restrictions, and emphasizing the importance of supporting families in their journey to conceive, our candidates can demonstrate compassion, respect for family values, and a commitment to individual freedom. This approach aligns with the views of our electorate and positions Republicans as champions for accessible healthcare and family support.”

The NRSC is chaired by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mon.) who was an original co-sponsor of an IVF ban in 2021.

Rogers is among a slew of GOP candidates seeking the nomination for the Senate race: former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids), former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Grand Rapids), Board of Education member Nikki Snyder; Businessman Sandy Pensler, Alexandria Taylor, an attorney who has previously represented former Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo; Sherry O’Donnell, a former 2022 congressional candidate and Michigan state chair for U.S. Term Limits; conservative businessman J.D. Wilson; Sharon Savage, an educator who worked for the Warren Consolidated School District for 42 years, Ottawa County Commissioner Rebekah Curran; and Michael Hoover, who previously worked for Dow Chemical Co.

But because Rogers is one of only three who has already served in Congress, he has a voting record that can be compared to his statement.

And that is exactly what many X users did, prompting a Community Note on the post.

“In his 14 years in Congress Mike Rogers sponsored 4 bills that would have the same effect as the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling,” stated the note, which then linked to each of those four bills from 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2013, each of which would provide legal personhood from the moment of conception.

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), one of the Democrats seeking the Senate seat, was also quick to connect Rogers to his voting record.

“Come on, Mike,” she posted. “In your 14 years in Congress, you co-sponsored FOUR bills — the last one with Jim Jordan in 2013 — that would have the same effect as the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling, making it impossible for millions of couples to have a family. You don’t get to run away from your own record because you’re just now understanding the consequences.”

Slotkin is also planning to hold a virtual IVF Town Hall at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Actor Hill Harper of Detroit and businessman Nasser Beydoun also are seeking the Democratic nomination.

Meijer has not made any statement on the Alabama decision, but similarly cosponsored a 2021 bill that would essentially outlaw IVF, a fact the Michigan Democratic Party made sure to note.

“Mike Rogers and Peter Meijer support dangerous anti-IVF legislation that would rip away Michiganders’ freedom to make personal decisions. Rogers’ and Meijer’s extensive anti-choice records show that they are out-of-step with Michiganders,” said Sam Chan, Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson.

Also supporting the 2021 bill were Meijer’s fellow Republican U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet), Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) and John Moolenaar (R-Midland).

It does not appear Amash sponsored any personhood legislation during his time in Congress, but he is firmly anti-abortion.

“I believe that life begins at conception, and it is unconscionable that government would sanction the taking of the helpless and innocent. I will always vote against government funding of abortion and will fight to protect life at all stages,” stated his former campaign website for Congress.

IVF and how it relates to the Alabama case

In vitro fertilization is a process in which eggs are removed from a patient’s ovaries and then fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilized embryo is then reimplanted in the uterus so that a pregnancy can result. Approximately 2% of babies born in the United States are conceived through IVF.

However, several attempts may be required for success, so multiple embryos are created during the fertilization process. Those embryos that are assessed to be viable are then usually frozen for future use by the couple.

That was the situation in the Alabama case, in which embryos stored at a fertility clinic in Mobile were accidentally destroyed when they were dropped in 2020 by a patient who “managed to wander” into the clinic. The clinic was sued under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of A Child Act. The lawsuit was dismissed by a lower court which ruled that the embryos did not fit definitions of “person” or “child,” and as such were not applicable in a wrongful death claim.

On appeal, the Alabama Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, determined that the law “applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation.” Where the issue gets contentious for some is the invocation of overtly religious principles to make judicial decisions that have an effect on the public at large.

Concerns over national reproductive rights ban

Last week, the GOP-controlled GOP legislature quickly passed legislation sponsors said would protect IVF in the state.

Also scrambling to distance himself from the all-GOP Alabama court ruling was former President Donald Trump, who called on state lawmakers to “find an immediate solution” on IVF. The Alabama House and Senate obliged last week and passed separate bills extending criminal and civil immunity to IVF practitioners for IVF treatments. However, it’s unclear how that will ultimately square with the Supreme Court’s stance.

Trump has taken credit for placing three of the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who voted with a 6-3 majority in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. The Dobbs decision was cited in the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF opinion and also uses the phrase “unborn human being” multiple times.

By removing the federal protections for abortion that had been provided for half a century, the Dobbs decision allowed each state to set its own laws, which several did, like Michigan, enshrining the right to an abortion in their state constitutions.

The result has been a new push to enact a national ban on abortion that would supersede any and all state laws on the topic.

“I’m not OK with abortion states and non-abortion states. I want an abortion-free America,” said Right to Life of East Texas director Mark Lee Dickson, standing outside the White House last month, at a sparsely attended protest organized by the Christian Defense Coalition where activists held signs of aborted fetuses.

If a national ban can be implemented on abortion, then abortion rights supporters argue that a similar ban can be placed on other issues connected to fertility, including IVF and contraception.

Democrats attempt IVF protections

Duckworth, who is a co-chair of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, told ABC News’s “This Week,” that she was not at all surprised by the Alabama ruling.

“Republicans have put the rights of a fertilized egg over the rights of the woman. And that is not something that I think the American people agree with,” she said.

Also making the Sunday talk show circuit was Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was emphatic on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Republicans’ pro-IVF rhetoric wouldn’t undercut the Democratic case that the GOP has extreme positions on issues surrounding women’s bodily autonomy.

“Hell no, it does not,” said Whitmer. “We’ve always known that with the appointments Trump made to SCOTUS that IVF, a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about her body and things that come from that were in jeopardy.”

This year, Democrats introduced H.R. 7056, the Access to Family Building Act, which would establish a federal right to access assisted reproductive technology, including IVF. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) is a cosponsor of the legislation, which he says would preempt state efforts to limit IVF access and ensure that no parents or doctors were punished for taking part in the process.

“What is happening in Alabama to restrict women’s health care is direct result of former President Trump’s promise to overturn Roe,” Kildee said. “Congress must act immediately to preserve women’s reproductive freedom, including access to IVF. If extreme Republicans support access to IVF, then they will bring this bill to the floor immediately. Every Michigan family deserves the freedom to decide if, when, and how to build a family.”

Joining Kildee in cosponsoring the bill were Slotkin and fellow Michigan Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) and Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit).

Advocacy organizations square off

In the wake of the Alabama decision, the National Right to Life organization has not made an official statement. However, the group’s website published an article on Feb. 20 that characterized IVF as “countless embryonic preborn children are created and then discarded when they are deemed unfit or unwanted.”

Similarly, Michigan Right to Life has made no statement on the decision, but has criticized IVF in past social media posts as creating ethical concerns over “designer children” and turning “children into mere commodities.”

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood said the decision was the logical extension of efforts to date concerning women’s health care.

“We should all be able to build the families and the futures we want, without interference from courts or politicians,” the group posted on social media. “This ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court is the result of years of attacks on reproductive freedom, and efforts to restrict access to health care, including IVF.”

Mary Zieger, a law professor at the University of California Davis, has published six books since 2015 about the history of the national abortion debate.

She told the Associated Press that decisions like the one rendered by the Alabama Supreme Court, which provide fetal personhood, may provide the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority a convenient path forward to grant Constitutional rights to fetuses and embryos.

“And then they’re going to say, ‘Well, look, there’s also all these states that hold this position,’” said Ziegler.

A desire to unite church and state

In a concurring opinion, Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker repeatedly invoked scripture to make the argument that life begins at conception, thus the frozen embryos that were accidentally destroyed were protected under the law as having the same rights as all citizens.

“But the principle itself — that human life is fundamentally distinct from other forms of life and cannot be taken intentionally without justification — has deep roots that reach back to the creation of man ‘in the image of God.’ Genesis 1:27,” stated Parker.

Parker has also expressed support for the Seven Mountain Mandate, or 7M, a Christian Domionist precept that there are seven aspects of society that Christians need to influence: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and, most tellingly, government.

During a recent interview with Tennessee evangelist Johnny Enlow, Parker detailed his belief in 7M and the concept that only Christians should have political power.

“God created government, and the fact that we have let it go into the possession of others, it’s heartbreaking,” said Parker.

Another adherent to the Seven Mountain Mandate is U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was among Republicans who expressed support for IVF after the Alabama ruling.

Johnson has numerous connections to a group called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which has strongly promoted 7M, especially among elected officials. A visible symbol of this affiliation can be seen outside Johnson’s Washington, D.C., office where an “Appeal to Heaven” flag resides. The flag, featuring a pine tree on a white background with the phrase “Appeal to Heaven,” was originally a Revolutionary War symbol, but has been adopted by Christian Nationalists, and was among those prominently displayed during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Also infusing religious belief into legislative action is the document referred to as Project 2025. Created by The Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based arch-conservative think tank, the manifesto for a new Trump presidency has created a firestorm of condemnation for its authoritarian agenda that would, among other things, “defund the Department of Justice, dismantle the FBI, break up the Department of Homeland Security and eliminate the Departments of Education and Commerce.”

It also would promote a “Life Agenda” that would explicitly recognize the personhood of an embryo from the moment of conception.

“From the moment of conception, every human being possesses inherent dignity and worth, and our humanity does not depend on our age, stage of development, race, or abilities,” it states.

Even more explicit is the thinking about IVF by the Heritage Foundation itself. Emma Waters is a senior research associate in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation. She recently called Alabama’s IVF ruling “an unqualified victory.” Waters has also written extensively on how biblical interpretation must be a necessary guide to approaching the procedure.

“[T]he use of many reproductive technologies may violate God’s vision for marriage, sex, and procreation,” said Waters, who added “When people try to produce children in their own power and control, Scripture calls such work vain.”

In a Feb. 26 memo, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre notes Johnson was among more than 120 Republicans, including Bergman, Huizenga, McClain and Moolenaar, to co-sponsor the Life at Conception Act, which she called “an extreme, dangerous bill that would eliminate reproductive freedom for all women in every state.” The bill provides no exception for IVF.

Jean-Pierre concluded her memo saying officials are trying to “obfuscate their way out of their support for these extreme policies,” but their true intent is in their voting record.

“They have spent decades trying to eliminate the constitutional right to choose and undermine reproductive freedom everywhere,” she said. “Their agenda is clear, they’re just worried it’s not popular.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.

The tragic death of a nonbinary Oklahoma teen after a fight in a school bathroom is the not-so-secret fear of any parent of an LGBTQ+ student, namely that the ongoing tide of bigotry and hatred will focus itself in a brief moment on their child, placing them in danger of being injured — or worse.

For 16-year-old Oklahoma high school student Nex Benedict, who used they/them pronouns, that moment came on Feb. 7 when they said a fight erupted in a bathroom at Owasso High School.

The next day, Nex was dead, leaving their loved ones to grieve and many parents of LGBTQ+ children to confront a reality they’d prefer not to think about.

“It’s horrifying,” said Karessa Wheeler of East Lansing who’s a communications manager at the College of Social Science at Michigan State University and the mother of two trans kids, ages 15 and 20.

“When I think about it, I just feel sick, nauseous, heartbroken for that poor child and their family, and scared. It’s very terrifying for my children and all children like Nex,” Wheeler told the Michigan Advance.

“In today’s climate, I feel like it’s a very scary place to grow up,” she said. “They were always targets … but this one feels particularly cruel.”

On Feb. 21, police in Owasso, located about 13 miles northeast of Tulsa, said preliminary autopsy results indicated the teen’s death was not the result of “trauma” leading many to believe it meant that the death was not related to the fight. However, police have since walked back that statement.

Lt. Nick Boatman, the spokesperson for the Owasso Police Department, admitted to the Popular Information newsletter that he had not been explicitly informed by the medical examiner that Nex’s death was unrelated to the head injuries suffered in the fight and that the department had “reached out to the medical examiner’s office to try to head off some of this national scrutiny.” He has since told NBC News that the medical examiner’s office didn’t say it had ruled out the fight as causing or contributing to Benedict’s death and that “people shouldn’t make assumptions either way.”

Meanwhile, The Independent reported that court documents it obtained indicate police had initially treated Nex’s death as a possible homicide, obtaining a search warrant to look for evidence of “felony murder.” According to the paper, investigators took 137 photographs of the school, including inside the bathroom where the fight occurred, where they also collected two swabs of stains.

Benedict’s family, in a statement released by their attorney, indicated that not all of the pertinent details about the incident have been released and cast doubt on how the official investigation was being conducted.

“While various investigations are still pending, the facts currently known by the family, some of which have been released to the public, are troubling at best,” said the statement. “Notwithstanding, the family is independently interviewing witnesses and collecting all available evidence. The Benedict Family calls on all school, local, state and national officials to join forces to determine why this happened, to hold those responsible to account and to ensure it never happens again.”

Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, told Popular Information she considered the Owasso Police statement as a “big cover” and believed it was only released as “something to calm the people.”

Owasso Public Schools said in a statement that the students involved “walked under their own power to the assistant principal’s office and nurse’s office,” where they were given a health assessment by a district registered nurse and that per policy, “students needing further support were transported to a medical facility either by ambulance or by a parent/guardian, depending on the severity of the injuries and preference of the parent/guardian.”

However, Benedict told The Independent that she was “furious” when she was called to the school and found Nex “badly beaten with bruises over their face and eyes, and with scratches on the back of their head,” but that neither an ambulance nor police had been called. She said she was also informed Nex was being suspended for two weeks.

Benedict called police once she arrived with Nex at the hospital. On Feb. 23, bodycam footage was released by the Owasso Police Department of school resource officer Caleb Thompson’s interview.

“So what happened today?” asks Thompson after he enters the exam room.

“I got jumped,” Nex responds.

Nex’s mother then tells Thompson that Nex had complained to her of being bullied, along with a friend, by three girls who were making comments, calling them names and throwing things at them. Sue Benedict said she told Nex to rise above it.

“She did, until she couldn’t in the bathroom,” said Benedict. “And they said that there was three girls that were on top of [Nex] just beating the crap out of [them].”

Nex then described for the officer what happened in the bathroom.

“I was talking with my friends, they were talking with their friends, and we were laughing,” said Nex. “And they had said something like, ‘Why do they laugh like that?’ And they were talking about us in front of us. And so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me.”

Nex said the girls got their legs out from under them and then “started beating the s–t out of me,” before they blacked out.

Thompson indicated that the school had “dropped the ball” by not notifying him right away, but also discouraged Sue Benedict from filing a complaint.

“We’ve got this back and forth when both parties had equal opportunity to separate, so that’s where I’m saying it’s not going to be in the best of light for you,” he said. “But I can absolutely do that if that’s what you like. I’m just telling you it may not go the direction you want it to go.”

After Thompson said Benedict could still file a complaint the next day, she agreed to hold off and decide later.

However, that chance would never come.

After being assessed and treated at the hospital, Nex was discharged and sent home, but collapsed the following afternoon and later was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Benedict said the bullying of Nex became more focused at the beginning of the 2023 school year, just a few months after GOP Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill that required public school students to use only the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate.

It was just the latest in a series of laws passed in recent years by the state’s Republican-led legislature targeting transgender and nonbinary people, including a ban on gender affirming care for trans kids, prohibiting the use of nonbinary gender markers on birth certificates, and a ban on transgender girls or women from playing on women’s sports teams.

The already hostile atmosphere to trans students has only been intensified by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Schools Ryan Walters, who was elected in 2022 on a culture war platform of fighting “woke ideology” in public schools and stopping “radical leftists” he claims were indoctrinating students.

But when Walters named Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik last month to a Library Media Advisory Committee at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, it was a step too far for many.

The Libs of TikTok account that Raichik runs on the X platform has 2.8 million followers. It has been called a key influencer of right-wing dialogue and spotlights content that Taylor Lorenz of The Washington Post said in 2022 had a “direct correlation with the recent push in legislation and rhetoric directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community.” Lorenz on Friday posted a 53-minute video of her interviewing Raichik in which she admitted having only been to Oklahoma once, a red state she said had “a lot of wokeness,” and disclaimed any responsibility or connection to the threats that immediately target those she posts about.

That targeting included several days of bomb threats last August against a Tulsa-area school district after Libs of TikTok shared a video from a district librarian, who satirically posted about pushing a “woke agenda.”

It also included a post in 2022 that led to Owasso teacher Tyler Wrynn receiving death threats amid a harassment campaign, after he posted a video supporting LGBTQ+ students. Wrynn eventually resigned.

“Nex was very angry about it,” Sue Benedict told The Independent about Wrynn’s treatment.

Raichik has dismissed claims that her content results in violence or harassment, but has also reveled in that reputation. After USA Today featured her on the front page last November for a story that documented threats and harassment that follow Libs of TikTok social media posts, Raichik posted a picture of her holding the paper, while she smiled.

Media Matters also reported on a comment Raichik made in January 2023 during a podcast with Elijah Schaffer in which he said she was being labeled as a stochastic terrorist, or someone who intellectually inspires violence. Her reaction was to say, “Honestly that makes me feel really important, so thank you.”

While Walters said the death was a “heartbreaking tragedy,” during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Feb. 22, several attendees blamed the rhetoric from Walters and other state officials for the harassment and aggression Nex experienced.

“These children who attacked Nex had to be taught to hate,” said Mike Howe, a former Tulsa school principal who speaks at state board meetings regularly.

And last week, a Republican Oklahoma state senator called the LGBTQ+ community “filth” during a public forum.

Wheeler says that it may be easy for people to assume that type of extremist viewpoint isn’t something to worry about in Michigan, but that’s a luxury the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t have.

“We are fortunate to live where we do, that feels more supportive, but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen here,” she said. “If Roe v. Wade taught us anything, we can lose those [rights] just as quickly. One switch of administration in the governor’s office and we could be Oklahoma. So it’s very, very scary.”

The statistics bear out that fear. According to a November 2023 report by the Human Rights Campaign, since January 2013, 335 transgender and gender non-conforming individuals had been identified as victims of fatal violence in the United States, with 33 of those fatalities, almost 10%, occurring since 2022’s Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In fact, for the first time in their more than 40 year history, the Human Rights Campaign in 2023 declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, in response to what the organization said was a record-breaking 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that were introduced into state houses across the country, more than 80 of which were passed into law.

Wheeler said the type of fear and hatred being directed at the LGBTQ+ community creates a constant state of anxiety that manifests itself in situations that most people don’t think twice about.

“We had gone to Kensington Metropark over the winter break to do some birdwatching, and my youngest is transmasculine. And he followed me into the women’s restroom because he did not feel like he was safe enough to use the bathroom that he would prefer to use or that he would normally use because it was an unknown area, an area they hadn’t spent any time in,” she said.

Wheeler says that type or fear is constantly stoked by elected officials and people in power throughout Michigan and elsewhere who engage in “hateful speech that is targeting children and can cause their death.”

Whatever the final determination is about Nex’s death, Emme Zanotti, director of advocacy and civic engagement at the Equality Michigan Action Network, tells the Advance the atmosphere that Walters and other Oklahoma lawmakers encouraged is not an abstraction.

“I think it’s gravely irresponsible and disheartening to continue to see certain politicians and public figures play politics with kids’ lives, and regardless of how an autopsy turns out in Oklahoma, it sounds like pervasive bullying and harassment was an issue for Nex,” said Zanotti. “Pervasive bullying and harassment is an issue for young LGBTQ people all over our country.”

Zanotti says it’s well documented that the negative sentiments being pushed out by politicians in the media have negative mental health consequences for LGBTQ+ youth, but what happened to Nex is a perfect example of how that can also lead to negative physical consequences.

Vic Gipson, a co-facilitator of the My Trans Voice Youth Advisory Council with the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH), says Nex’s story has brought feelings of grief, anger, sadness and loneliness for many of the trans youth he works with.

“Many trans adolescents were able to imagine themselves in Nex’s shoes, whether reflecting on adverse previous experiences in restrooms or recalling threats and physical harm they’ve endured,” Gipson told the Advance. “Many shared the feeling of ‘that could’ve been me.’ Many parents have felt fear for their children and disgust toward the officials who made the decisions to let Nex down. Lots of trans community members have shared the same feelings of agreeing that this incident has been devastating.”

Those feelings are shared by Nex’s classmates, who on Monday staged a peaceful walkout at Owasso High School. At least 40 students are reported to have participated in the protest of what they described as a lack of attention to the bullying problem.

“I just want to get the word out and show these kids that we’re here,” Cassidy Brown, demonstration organizer and Owasso graduate, told KTUL-TV. “There is a community here in this city that does exist, and we see them, and they are loved.”

For those interested in making sure what happened to Nex won’t happen in Michigan, MOASH Executive Director Taryn Gal said they should understand that efforts to protect LGBTQ+ students have been extensive and ongoing.

“Although far from perfect, we are grateful to be in Michigan where there has been a lot of work done over many years to not only prevent incidents like this from happening, but to allow trans and nonbinary youth to thrive in Michigan schools,” Gal told the Advance.

Gal said there are several strategies to facilitate student safety that are already available to Michigan schools, including aligning policies and practices with the 2016 Michigan State Board of Education’s Statement and Guidance on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments for LGBTQ Students.

“This guidance outlines best practices in what school districts should implement to prevent something similar to what happened to Nex,” she said. “This guidance includes many concrete examples, such as starting a GSA (or similar) club; enumerating policies (e.g., anti-bullying) to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, and then enforcing them; training staff and school boards; respecting student pronouns and access to bathrooms etc.; ensuring representation in curriculum.”

Gal said districts can also make sure their staff and administrators are trained by the Michigan Department of Education’s LGBTQ+ Students Project, which offers research-informed workshops on best practices to school districts across the state to ensure that learning environments are as safe, supportive, and affirming as possible.

But for any of those practices to be effective, she said districts need to be open to the dangers LGBTQ+ students face day in and day out.

“Be courageous,” she said. “We know that most school districts are doing and/or want to do the right thing. They know what the right thing is in order to best serve their trans and nonbinary students, which, ultimately, best serves all of their students. Do not be fooled by the loudest voices. Those loud (and often few) voices in opposition to these best practices are often not representative of the community and they are not representative of those most impacted.”

Wheeler said the situation that it appears Nex found themselves in, targeted for who they are, does not occur in a vacuum.

“I hope all people, and especially all parents, really put themselves in the place of Nex’s family and realize that these are people who are loved and are precious and they need to be respected,” she said. “If you’re going to teach your children hate, don’t be surprised when they end up killing a peer, because that is what it leads to. And we’ve got to be able to protect these kids.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.

As Michigan’s presidential primary approaches in less than two weeks, the campaign of former President Donald Trump is touting his support among elected officials.

On Wednesday, the campaign released a statement naming over 50 GOP members of the Michigan Legislature who have officially endorsed him.

They include 12 out of 18 Senate Republicans and 39 out of 54 House Republicans. Among the more prominent names are both Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) and his counterpart in the House, Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.).

At this point, Trump’s only Republican rival still left in the race is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who also served for a time as the U.N. ambassador during Trump’s term. She has failed to attract any endorsements from elected Republicans in Michigan, although she did draw an endorsement from the Detroit News.

Republican presidential delegates will be selected through a process that starts with the Feb. 27 presidential primary. However, because Republican National Committee rules ban most states from holding a primary before March 1, only 16 of the 55 delegates will be awarded based on the primary. The remaining 39 will be based on the results of a March 2 caucus.

One of the few states allowed to hold a GOP primary before March 1 is Haley’s home state of South Carolina, which is set for Feb. 24. She faces a similar endorsement gap there, as both U.S. senators, Lindsey Graham and Tom Scott, have endorsed Trump, as has current Gov. Henry McMaster.

Haley has dismissed the lack of endorsements, claiming they are of the party’s “political elite” and not necessarily representative of rank and file Republicans, although Trump has so far dominated the nominating process, with double-digit wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, and polls showing him on track to do the same in South Carolina and Michigan.

Trump plans to visit Michigan this weekend, with a campaign stop Saturday night in Waterford Township.

In addition to Nesbitt, state senators endorsing Trump are: Joseph Bellino; Jon Bumstead; Kevin Daley; Roger Hauck; Michele Hoitenga; Dan Lauwers; Jonathan Lindsey; Ed McBroom; Rick Outman; Jim Runestad; and Roger Victory.

In addition to Hall, state House members endorsing Trump are: Greg Alexander; Joseph Aragona; Andrew Beeler; Brian BeGole; Robert Bezotte; Matthew Bierlein; Ann Bollin; Ken Borton; William Bruck; Steve Carra; Cam Cavitt; Jay Deboyer; James DeSana; Joseph Fox; Neil Friske; Alicia St. Germaine; Phil Green; Jamie Greene; Mike Harris; Mike Hoadley; Gina Johnsen; Thomas Kunse; Sarah Lightner; Matt Maddock; Luke Meerman; Jerry Neyer; Pat Outman; Bryan Posthumus; David Prestin; Angela Rigas; John Roth; Bill G. Schuette; Josh Schriver; Rachelle Smit; Jamie Thompson; Pauline Wendzel; Douglas Wozniak; and Dale Zorn.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.

While the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) put forward new maps for seven state House districts, one of its commissioners on Thursday formally responded to accusations that he improperly assisted a pair of acquaintances, including a current state legislator.

Commissioner Anthony Eid was accused in December by fellow commissioners Rebecca Szetela and Rhonda Lange of “neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of his office.”

Lange, a Republican, and Szetela, an independent, claimed Eid, also an independent, had favored the candidacies of Democrats Bilal Hammoud of Dearborn Heights and now-state Rep. Noah Arbit of West Bloomfield when he helped guide the drawing of new maps for the 15th and 20th House districts.

“Facts matter. But regurgitation of social media posts, speculation unsupported by actual evidence, and attempted guilt by association that together result in little more than a glorified Internet conspiracy theory do not,” stated a letter signed by attorney Steven Liedel, an elections expert with the Lansing-based Dykema Gosset law firm.

In his own response attached to the Dykema Gossett letter, Eid called the allegations “both frivolous and defamatory in nature,” saying they “lack substance, unfairly tarnish my reputation, and create a false perception of dysfunction within our ranks.” Eid added that the information included in the notice was “speculative and at best circumstantial, and easily rebutted.”

Among the allegations made by Szetela was that after Arbit submitted a map in July 2021 for how he wished to see the 20th District redrawn, Eid began advocating for a map that similarly kept West Bloomfield Township and Orchard Lake together “perfectly duplicating Mr. Arbit’s proposed House map,” she said.

To back up that claim she noted that Eid had posted on social media in January 2022 that he “had a hand in drawing” the map for the 20th House District, which he said was one of his five favorites. Szetela also alleged that Eid attended a fundraiser for Arbit in April 2022, though Eid said it was a town hall and countered that he also attended a town hall for the Republican candidate from the area.

Eid noted that the commission adopted the plan that included the 20th District with 11 out of 13 commissioners voting in favor.

“It is my belief that every Commissioner contributed to the creation of every district, and each had the opportunity to make edits or propose other changes or other plans,” he said in his response.

Arbit told the Detroit News that the allegations were “lazy, circumstantial and offensive,” noting he was one of many voices asking the MICRC not to divide West Bloomfield as past maps had done.

Szetela also alleged Eid made “radical changes” to the commission’s maps for the 15th House District after an acquaintance from college, Bilal Hammoud, submitted a draft district map that she said was similar.

Arbit went on to win the seat for the 20th District, while Hammoud lost to fellow Democrat Erin Byrnes in the primary for the 15th District, which includes the west end of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. Byrnes won the general election in November 2022.

When Lange and Szetela filed the 14-page notice with the Department of State seeking to declare Eid’s seat vacant, it initiated a formal process that ultimately will result in a vote by the commission, requiring 10 of the 13 members to vote for removal. According to MICRC Executive Director Ed Woods III, the commission will decide on Feb. 8 whether it will proceed with a hearing on Feb. 13.

The allegations come at a vulnerable moment for the MICRC, which was ordered by a panel of three federal judges to redraw seven state House districts due to violations of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) when it diluted Black voting power in Detroit with new voting maps drawn in 2021. The 15th and the 20th House districts are not among them.

The court gave the MICRC until Friday to submit new proposed draft maps for the seven districts, which the commission completed a day early. However, a series of public hearings have now been set for the new maps which must be accepted by the court in time for an April 23 filing deadline for candidates seeking to run in those districts this year.

With that in mind, the letter from Liedel urged the commissioners to dispense with the accusations against Eid as soon as possible and focus on the business at hand.

“The Notice is an unnecessary distraction from the important work entrusted to the Commission by the People of the State of Michigan as the Commission devotes extensive time and effort to ensure that the district plans for the Michigan Legislature fully comply with the state and federal constitutions and the Voting Rights Act,” said Liedel. “We respectfully urge the Commission to reject the Notice and decline to conduct any hearing relating to the Notice.”

Liedel also notes that the maps which were adopted for the districts in question were done by a full, public vote of the 13-member panel.

“Commissioner Eid has no authority to draw or adopt maps for the Commission on his own. He cannot violate a duty relating to the drawing of maps because he has no authority to draw maps on his own,” stated the letter.

This is not the first confrontation between Szetela and Eid. In June 2023, Szetela requested an ethics ruling by the commission over Eid’s employment as deputy director of Michigan Voices, a nonprofit that had lobbied the commission during its initial mapping process. However, the matter was removed from discussion at a commission meeting the following month after Eid had stepped down from the position, prompting Szetela to accuse then-Commission Chair Doug Clark, a Republican, of a “cover up.”

Clark later resigned after moving to California to be near family while he received medical treatment for what was described as a “very serious health issue.” Woods told the Michigan Advance that Clark had recently passed away, although he provided no details.

Michigan redistricting commission meets court deadline for new metro Detroit state House maps

The notice filed by Szetela and Lange notes that incident as well as Eid’s brief role in 2022 with Asia & Pacific Island American Vote, which had also provided public comments on the initial mapping process and had even filed litigation against the commission. Eid said he left that role after just two weeks because he “didn’t think the fit was right.”

Szetela also has been accused of inappropriate actions. Former Commissioner Douglas Witjes also filed a request to vacate Szetela’s position with the MICRC, alleging she had “actively collaborated with opposing counsel, undermining the collective will of the commission. He based the charge on testimony Szetela provided in the Agee v. Benson lawsuit that led to the federal court order to redraw 13 state House and Senate maps. Witjes made the request shortly before resigning his seat after it was learned he had registered to vote in Illinois, where he had moved for a new job.

However, Woods tells the Advance that Witjes’ request to vacate Szetela’s seat was denied by the commission because it did not conform to procedure when he failed to submit a signed letter.

Regardless, the letter from Liedel concluded by advising the MICRC against setting a low standard for removing a commissioner.

“The Commission has the opportunity to establish precedent here. Set the right one. Efforts to remove a member of the Commission should be rare, firmly grounded in the law, and not rooted in petty disputes. So we urge the Commission to dispose of this removal request expeditiously and return to your pressing business,” said the letter.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.

Claims and counterclaims of leadership, backed up by lawsuits and motions to dismiss. Thus is the state of the Michigan Republican Party.

The chaos follows a weekend meeting in Lansing by one faction of the state party that selected former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, as the new chair. That same group voted at a Jan. 6 gathering to oust Kristina Karamo due to the dismal state of the party’s finances, and then filed suit against Karamo on Friday in Kent County Circuit Court looking to secure legitimization under the law as the state’s party.

Karamo’s faction, meanwhile, has since filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that the issue is an internal party matter and not for the courts to decide.

“(T)he matter concerns a political question, and has been resolved by the Michigan Republican State Committee that is the sole authority for interpreting its own bylaws,” states the motion filed Saturday by Daniel Hartman, who maintains he is the Michigan Republican Party general counsel, even though the members who voted to remove Karamo also voted for his removal.

MIGOP infighting rages on, even as members vote in Houghton Lake to retain Karamo as chair

Karamo’s faction held its own meeting in Houghton on Jan. 13 and claims to have reaffirmed her position as party chair as well as invalidated the Jan. 6 gathering. It also filed a series of cease and desist letters against Hoekstra and others, including former party Co-Chair Malinda Pego, who said she was the acting chair of the party after the vote to remove Karamo, and will maintain the title of co-chair under Hoekstra.

In a message on migop.org, the website that has traditionally been used by the state party and remains under the control of Karamo and her followers, Hartman reiterated their perspective that the meeting to remove Karamo was not valid under the party’s bylaws and thus Saturday’s gathering anointing Hoekstra was equally invalid.

“…it is clear that the 83 members who were present at the State Committee meeting [on Jan.13], voted to declare and make it crystal clear, that the January 6th meeting was invalid for the reasons found in the Policy Committee sub report which is attached to our summary disposition,” stated Hartman. “The court has no further work to do. The State Party has already resolved this matter. Thank you for your time.”

That was followed by an email that described the effort to remove Karamo as a “political lynching … orchestrated by the same elitist individuals who maintain the corrupt status-quo caste system within the Michigan Republican Party.”

The email went on to say it was “rogue Republicans” who had led the “illegal and unethical January 6th gathering to try and eliminate Chairwoman Karamo. Thank God they were unsuccessful!”

Whether that turns out to be the case remains unresolved.

While the Republican National Committee (RNC) still lists Karamo as state party chair, Slate reports RNC officials say they are “reviewing records of the competing January meetings.”

However, the need for a resolution to the leadership split is pressing ahead of the Feb. 27 presidential primary and a planned March 2 GOP presidential caucus in Detroit to allocate which presidential candidate will be awarded the most delegates toward becoming the party’s official nominee this November.

With all indications pointing toward former President Donald Trump being that nominee, the choice of Hoekstra as the splinter group’s new chair takes on additional meaning.

Hoekstra remains a strong ally of Trump and his ascension to the position of chair reportedly followed a call from Mar-a-Lago on Saturday to Oakland County Republican Party Chair Vance Patrick, who had also been seeking the top position.

“They called me, they said, ‘We need to support Pete,’” Patrick said, adding that the gist of the call conveyed, “It’s probably the best situation to manage the state of Michigan’s GOP Party right now.”

Hoekstra, who unsuccessfully ran for both governor and U.S. Senate after leaving the U.S. House in 2010, was appointed by Trump to be the ambassador to Netherlands, the country of his birth, in late 2017.

Almost immediately Hoekstra faced controversy while speaking on a panel when he was confronted about anti-Muslim remarks in which he claimed there are “no-go zones” in the Netherlands. Although Hoekstra claimed it was “fake news,” a Dutch TV interview surfaced with him saying it. He later apologized. He also made headlines in 2020 when he visited a cemetery filled with Nazi war dead.

Meanwhile, former 2018 GOP congressional candidate Lena Epstein, who placed second to Hoekstra on Saturday’s ballot, sent out a congratulatory email afterward saying she was “confident in his ability to guide the Michigan Republican Party, uniting us as we work collectively towards our shared values and a brighter future.”

Epstein also announced she was forming a new political action committee for the open U.S. Senate race in Michigan, which she said was “critical, particularly now, as the MIGOP’s current financial resources are locked due to the former administration’s control over our bank accounts. We are currently waiting for decisions from the RNC and the courts to address this matter. It’s of utmost importance to me that we protect the funds I raise for the US Senate race in Michigan and prevent any potential mismanagement by the Karamo administration.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.