By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


8th District GOP Congressional candidate Mike Detmer’s association with a controversial group has now drawn criticism from a statewide civil rights organization.

Last week, the Howell Republican posted a selfie he took with a group before they headed out to the Operation Gridlock protest in Lansing against Gov. Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders to try and limit the spread of COVID-19. Included in the photo was a member of the Michigan Proud Boys, a group referred to as a violent, extremist organization by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Detmer originally removed the photo from his Facebook page after drawing complaints from people about not only the Proud Boys association, but the fact the Proud Boy’s member was making the “OK” gesture with his hand, which has come to be interpreted as a white power symbol.

A day later, Detmer re-posted the picture after speaking with the group’s chairman and posted the group’s tenants, which include Closed Borders, Venerating the Housewife, Anti-Racial Guilt and Anti-Racial Superiority. Detmer has rejected the hand-symbol interpretation, saying it started as a joke by members of the online group 4chan and shouldn’t be seen as anything more than that. The Proud Boys insists it has not, and will not allow white supremacists into their ranks, “nor any other ethno nationalist group member.” They also reject the Southern Poverty Law Center’s characterization, noting that they are currently suing the organization. “The SPLC has no authority to label anyone and has recently lost similar high profile cases and had to pay out large sums as a result.”

But the response to Detmer’s association with the Proud Boys has now drawn the attention of ADL Michigan, which tweeted out the picture Monday with a statement that read, “The Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group that embraces violence, nationalism, and misogyny. It's disturbing to see Congressional candidate Mike Detmer proudly broadcasting his affiliation with this group.”

In response, Detmer told WHMI, “I never embraced nor endorsed the Proud Boys. Neither myself nor any of my team are members of the group. However, I have been active in exposing all the info about them, not just what far left sponsored groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center say about them.”

Detmer also says he received a death threat that was posted to his Facebook page on Saturday. Screen shots he provided to WHMI showed an individual saying, “I want to murder your entire family.” It was reported to both the Howell Police Department and the FBI. Howell Police Chief George Basar told WHMI that Detmer had indicated he did not consider the threat to be credible.

WHMI also reached out to all of the other candidates in the 8th District race. Gordon Trowbridge, a Senior Adviser for the campaign to re-elect Democrat Elissa Slotkin said, “Congresswoman Slotkin has been very clear: Hate has no place in the 8th District. Every contestant in this race should reject hate and violence.” On the GOP side, only Paul Junge responded, saying "I'm running to be a conservative leader for our community, and frankly, I’m focused on Congresswoman Slotkin's refusal to stand up to Nancy Pelosi so our Michigan small businesses and their employees can receive help during these difficult times." However, fellow Republicans Kristina Lyke, Nikki Snyder and Alan Hoover failed to respond to multiple requests for comment, as did Meghan Reckling, Chair of the Livingston County Republican Party. Reckling filed on Tuesday to run for the GOP nomination to the 47th State House race. Current State Representative Hank Vaupel is term-limited from seeking another term.

On Monday, Detmer announced he had turned in 1,360 signatures, "despite the COVID19 Stay In Place order issued by (D) Governor Gretchen Whitmer last month." The original deadline for the minimum signatures was Tuesday, April 21st. But that was extended on Monday by a federal judge to May 8th. U.S. District Court Judge Terence Berg ruled that candidates only needed to collect half as many signatures as normal, and they could gather them by email instead of getting a physical signature.