Michigan governor builds electrified fence around residence

FPI / September 11, 2020

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has been outspoken in opposing President Donald Trump's border wall on the U.S. southern border, is getting a new 8-foot border barrier around her residence in Lansing, a report said.

The Detroit News noted on Sept. 4 that, in recent weeks, construction crews have been building "what appears to be an eight-foot-tall fence around the governor’s residence property. Last week, a sign on the site where crews were on the job warned, 'Danger. High voltage. Unauthorized persons keep out.' "

President Donald Trump has vowed to keep unauthorized persons out of the United States via a wall on the southern border.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has on several occasions denounced Trump for building the wall.

In a June 2018 tweet, Whitmer wrote: “We must stand together, because when we do, we cannot fail. It is time we get back to building bridges. Not walls.”

In a January 2017 tweet, Whitmer wrote: "$40 BILLION for the wall. Think how many kids that would educate, how many roads, bridges and pipes it would fix."

The cost for the “current maintenance” at Whitmer's Lansing residence is about $1.1 million, the Detroit News report said, adding "it’s unclear how much is being spent on the perimeter fencing that’s being installed."

Whitmer spokeswoman Tiffany Brown called the renovations “routine maintenance and upgrades” that were needed to “to ensure the safety, security and protection of any sitting governor and the first family,” according to the Detroit News.

Whitmer said in May that there had been an “explosion” of threats against her following her covid lockdown orders which are among the most strict in the nation.

There have been multiple Black Lives Matter demonstrations outside the nearby home of Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, reports say.

Fox News noted that "the homes of local and state lawmakers, including progressive ones, have been the target of protests, renewed after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended a ban of protesters from entering her block, citing her right to safety.

Free Press International