CAMBRIA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The kidnapping case involving Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has some Wisconsin connections, including supposedly a weekend that was spent training in the central part of the state.
People in Cambria say it is place where everyone knows everyone. When word started to spread in the village of 767 people that militia members spent a weekend training in the community in July, no one could believe it.
“I can’t imagine this going on here,” said Theresa Winter of Cambria.
Court documents show five of the six men charged in the plot to kidnap Whitmer had firearms training and other combat drills in Cambria. The FBI’s informant and other militia group members also participated.
Authorities say some the men also tried making two IED’s, but they didn’t detonate as planned.
“You live in a small, quiet community and it’s amazing how things can reach out and be right in your own backyard,” said David Weber of Cambria.
Weber tells FOX 11 he has no idea where someone could do that type of training in Cambria.
“You never know. It’s really rural. People could hide out in a small farm or something or heck right downtown I suppose.”
Cambria Village President Glen Williams, Fire Chief Cody Doucette, and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office all say they had no idea the FBI was investigating anything in the area.
Williams tells FOX 11 thought Cambria might have been a typo in the court documents. Others in the village suggested the same thing.
“We’re all close here,” said Winter. “Everyone knows what everybody else is doing, so that’s why I can’t imagine what they’re saying is going on.”
FOX 11 contacted the FBI to get some information on the exact location for the training. But, the FBI is not commenting at this time.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice says it is not part of the case.
Court documents also show the men planned to take Governor Whitmer to a secure location in Wisconsin when they kidnapped her. However, it does not say where that secure location was.
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