The Berrien County Democratic Party says it’s disappointed that the Berrien County GOP is welcoming two January 6 defendants and two men charged and later acquitted in the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer to Stevensville Friday night.
The guest speakers will appear at an event the GOP has dubbed “Battlefield Michigan: Untold Stories from Michigan Freedom Fighters,” which has sparked some controversy. Berrien County Democratic Party Vice Chair Laura Goos tells us the GOP shouldn’t be elevating January 6ers.
“They were pardoned by president Trump. They were not acquitted. So that’s problematic, obviously,” Goos said. “We just stand with our veterans and law enforcement, and therefore we don’t think that this event has a place in our community.”
The Democrats say the GOP event “is a dangerous platform for misinformation, conspiracy theories, and rhetoric that undermines our democracy and disrespects the rule of law.” Goos says Friday’s event trivializes real threats to public servants.
“We want to stand for facts. We want to stand for accountability and we want to have a Berrien County where truth matters, and the truth is that January 6th was a dark day in our history and it was an attack on the will of the people.”
However, Goos says the Democratic Party is not planning a physical protest at the engagement. She says after talking with police and veterans groups, it’s felt that staging a protest would only add to the unrest and division already being caused in the community.
Below is the full statement released by the Democratic Party regarding Friday’s GOP engagement:
The Berrien County Democratic Party strongly condemns the upcoming event promoted by the Berrien County GOP titled “Battlefield Michigan,” which irresponsibly seeks to rewrite the facts of the January 6th insurrection and the failed plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. We believe this event is a dangerous platform for misinformation, conspiracy theories, and rhetoric that undermines our democracy and disrespects the rule of law.
“This is not about free speech—it’s about promoting lies that threaten the very foundation of our democratic institutions,” said a spokesperson for the Berrien County Democratic Party. “What happened on January 6, 2021, was a violent attempt to overturn a lawful election. What happened in Michigan with the kidnapping plot was a thwarted act of domestic terrorism. These are not hoaxes. They are facts, confirmed in courtrooms across the country.”
The event, which features individuals who question whether these incidents were “schemes” or “setups” by the FBI and government officials, trivializes real threats and ignores the suffering, trauma, and danger posed to public servants and citizens alike.
By choosing to platform voices that attempt to reframe these events as patriotic or justified, the Berrien County GOP is normalizing political violence and encouraging public distrust in our democratic process. This is not only reckless—it is morally indefensible.
We urge the citizens of Berrien County to reject extremism, uphold truth, and stand firm against efforts to distort history for political gain. Our community deserves leaders who value facts, justice, and the peaceful transfer of power—not those who seek to fan the flames of division and conspiracy.
