DETROIT, Mich. – In the days since the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Michigan lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spoken out against political violence. Now, two top Michigan Democrats are calling for change after receiving bomb threats to their homes.
Thursday Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrest reported receiving a “credible threat” to his Detroit home, and thanked law enforcement for their quick response.
“We cannot tolerate political violence,” Gilchrest said in a statement. “We cannot excuse it. We cannot normalize it. We have to push through this and do the work better.”
Related: Lt. Gov. Gilchrist condemns rising political violence after bomb threat at his Detroit home
Friday, Michigan Senate President Pro Tempore Jeremy Moss spoke out about receiving a similar threat and said he had become the target of increasing hateful messages.
“The current political environment is untenable,” Moss said. “In the past few days, I’ve experienced a notable influx of bigoted, aggressive messages directed at my office and social media inboxes.”
The threats are impacting organizations like Michigan United Action, a progressive statewide non-profit organization that provides community education on topics like healthcare, criminal justice reform, and immigration.
The nonprofit decided to postpone a town hall event that was scheduled to take place in Warren on Friday to discuss the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Act passed by Congress earlier this year.
“With everything going on right now, all of what’s being said online, we’ve got bomb threats going out to HBCUs and elected officials, we just wanted to take as much caution as possible,” said Executive Director Ken Whittaker.
The event, which was being hosted by a coalition of organizations, was set to include panel discussions with guests including U.S Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Becca Balint of Vermont.
Even with security precautions like armed guards, metal detectors, and bag policies, organizers decided it was unsafe to proceed as scheduled.
“It affects us tremendously,” Whittaker said. “From the incident with President Trump last year and now this – it really puts people on edge. This is not normal.”
Whittaker said organizations like theirs can’t allow threats of violence to stop these kinds of political discussions. The nonprofit plans to reschedule the event for a future date.
“It’s disconcerting. This isn’t what democracy looks like at all,” Whittaker said. “We are supposed to be able to have public discourse. We’re supposed to be able to disagree with each other, but disagreement doesn’t mean pick up a gun and settle that disagreement.”