LANSING — This afternoon, a photo is gaining traction on Twitter displaying Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey looking chummy with William Null, one of the many armed extremist militia men that stormed the Michigan Capitol in April 2020, later described as a “dress rehearsal” for the violent January 6th insurrection at our nation’s Capitol that killed five.
Null, who faces 22 years in prison for felony domestic terrorism charges pertaining to “providing material support for terrorist acts” and plotting to take multiple hostages while in Lansing, is also accused of surveilling Gov. Whitmer’s home for premeditated abduction and murder.
Earlier this year, Shirkey made national news for making an appearance at a rally held two weeks after the Lansing storming, going so far as to get “onstage with a militia member who would later be accused of conspiring to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.”
“That we have to specify which insurrectionist and of which capitol building storming this concerns reflects the sad state of affairs Mike Shirkey and several other prominent Michigan Republicans have stooped to in this dangerous era of rampant extremism,” said Rodericka Applewhaite, MDP spokesperson. “Shirkey should immediately explain what business he had meeting with militia members mere weeks after they stormed the building he works in and conspired to abduct and kill many of his colleagues, including Gov. Whitmer. As Americans, we all saw the dangers of appeasing to domestic terrorists on January 6th. Shirkey should vehemently denounce this group and show some remorse for his involvement.”
