Tag: michigan

Rep. Jamie Thompson: Despite age of consent being 16, state BOE wants to teach ‘safe and healthy’ sex to 8-year-olds

Michigan’s Department of Education has proposed major updates to the state’s health education standards, reshaping how schools teach about sex, relationships, and identity. The draft guidelines, still under review, emphasize inclusivity, consent, and respect, and have sparked debate among educators, parents, and lawmakers across the state.

The proposal moves away from the state’s longstanding abstinence-focused framework toward a more comprehensive model. It calls for lessons that explicitly address sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, encouraging respect for all individuals regardless of their background.

Students in middle and high school would learn to define and distinguish between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, treating each as a distinct part of personal identity. The framework also asks students to practice empathy and show courtesy toward those whose sexuality or gender differs from their own.

Rep. Jamie Thompson, R-Brownstown, who has been a vocal critic of the new guidelines, told The Midwesterner that “it shifts essential aspects of child development from parents to schools without sufficient oversight. It uses a classroom to push radical and unproven ideologies and downplay the real consequences of adult decisions.”

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Famous American writer’s son, 19, arrested over alleged plot to bomb Detroit gay bars in ISIS terror attack

The son of famed Iranian-American poet Roger Sedarat was arrested after allegedly plotting to bomb gay bars in Detroit in an ISIS-inspired attack, police sources said. 

Milo Sedarat, 19, was apprehended at his father’s home in Montclair, New Jersey, on Wednesday in connection with the probe into the foiled attack, which was set to unfold on Halloween.

The teenager was arrested alongside another 19-year-old from Montclair, Tomas Kaan Guzel, police sources told the New York Post.

Their arrests come after five other alleged co-conspirators and one minor were charged in connection with the plot. 

Their alleged scheme was uncovered last week by the FBI and the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau, which said the bombing was intended to copy ISIS‘s terror attack in Paris in 2015. 

According to the Post, Guzel was arrested in a food court in Newark Liberty International Airport on his way to Turkey, with the goal of reaching Syria to train with ISIS. 

The arrests of Sedarat and Guzel also came two days after three additional Michigan men were charged with intending to supply weapons for the alleged ISIS-inspired attack. 

Guzel was allegedly intending to travel on November 17, but moved his flight forward after hearing that the FBI had raided the homes of several other terror suspects in Detroit, sources said.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrests before the Halloween weekend, saying the terror cell was plotting a ‘violent attack‘. 

Sedarat and Guzel are set to be charged in New Jersey federal court. The Daily Mail has reached out to the FBI for further comment.

Three of the other men arrested in connection with the plot include Mohamed Ali, 20, Majed Mahmoud, also 20, and Ayob Nasser, 19.

As the attack would have unfolded in gay bars in Michigan, Ali and the rest of the group intended to make their way to Syria to train with ISIS, prosecutors said in court documents. 

Authorities said their raids uncovered three AR-15 style rifles, two shotguns, four pistols, and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition. 

The raids also led to the discovery of GoPro cameras, tactical vests and combat gear, prosecutors said. 

Announcing the arrests of the five alleged terrorists last week, Patel said they were intent on launching a ‘violent attack’.

‘Thanks to the men and women of FBI and law enforcement everywhere standing guard 24/7 and crushing our mission to defend the homeland,’ Patel said. 

The Daily Mail has contacted the FBI and Sedarat for comment. 

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On the Five-Year Anniversary of 2020 Election, Michigan Court Moves the Goalposts on the Attorneys Who Exposed Antrim County’s Machines

On November 3, 2025—the five-year mark of the 2020 election—the Michigan prosecution of attorneys Matt DePerno and Stephanie Lambert took a troubling turn.

The Oakland County Circuit Court order, People of the State of Michigan v. Stefanie Lambert (Case No. 2023-285759-FH), leaves no question where the balance tilts.

Judge Jeffrey Matis denied every defense request—fifteen in all—and granted the prosecution’s positions in full.

Key Excerpts from the Court’s Order

“The request to modify the instructions regarding Count 24 is DENIED.”
“The request to modify the Court’s prior rulings … is DENIED.”
“The special non-standard instruction captioned Unauthorized Possession of a Voting Machine shall be modified as follows:
The defendant is charged with the crime of unauthorized possession of a voting machine. To prove this charge, the prosecutor must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. The defendant intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly obtained or had possession of
2. A ballot box or voting machine
3. Without authorization by the Secretary of State or valid court order.”

That third element—the “authorization by the Secretary of State” requirement—has never appeared in Michigan’s election-law statutes. By inserting it into the official jury instruction, the court has effectively created a new legal requirement after the fact.

The order also denies the defense’s proposed instructions on lawful authority, investigative intent, and definitions vital to the defense theory; rejects all four sections of Lambert’s Supplemental and Revised Requested Jury Instructions (“Law,” “Lawful Instruction,” and “Private Investigator”); and refuses reconsideration based on People v. Holkeboer (2024). Even Lambert’s request for clarification of the definition of “voting machine” was denied.

Finally, the court imposed a strict exhibit deadline: “Defendant shall produce trial exhibits on or before December 3, 2025. Exhibits not provided by this date and time may be excluded at trial.”

The trial is set for Monday, March 2, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. in person. Defense counsel warns that the combination of denials and deadlines pre-loads the case in favor of the prosecution.

A Law That Never Existed

The centerpiece of this dispute is simple: no statute in 2020—or now—required “authorization from the Secretary of State” before examining election equipment pursuant to a court-ordered discovery.

In the Antrim County litigation, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was the opposing party. Requiring her permission to obtain discovery evidence would have been absurd; she was actively fighting to suppress the very records the plaintiffs sought to examine.

A December 20, 2020, email in the case file confirms that no such authorization rule existed. The state’s later attempts to reinterpret procedures only arose after the Antrim forensic findings became public.

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FBI: Possible Halloween weekend terror attack averted, multiple suspects arrested in Michigan

A possible terrorist attack planned for Halloween weekend was thwarted by authorities, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.

Patel said Friday morning on X that multiple suspects were arrested in Michigan in connection with this plot. 

According to Patel, these suspects “were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend.”

What we don’t know:

It is unclear where the suspects were planning the attack. Information being spread on social media references a possible attack at Warren’s TACOM, but that is an old story about a suspect who was arrested and charged in the spring.

The FBI in Detroit said agents were present in Dearborn and Inkster early Friday, but could not confirm if this was related to the terror attack plot referenced by Patel. 

Dearborn police also confirmed that the FBI conducted an operation in the city. Police said there is no threat to the community.

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Michigan Lawmakers Consider Bills To Change Legal Marijuana Possession Limits And Alter Industry Disciplinary Rules

Four marijuana-related bills were up for consideration before a House panel on Thursday, with one aiming to upend rules on the legal amount of regulated marijuana a person is allowed to possess, both in plant and concentrate form.

Members of the House Regulatory Reform Committee discussed but did not amend or advance House Bill House 5104, Bill 5105, House Bill 5106 and House Bill 5107.

Derek Sova, a policy and legislative assistant for the Cannabis Regulatory Agency, told the committee previously that Michigan’s legal marijuana industry faced several challenges, and that two of those big hurdles were large illicit grow operations and the agency’s inability to go after bad actors because their licenses had expired.

The series of bills before the committee would address those concerns.

House Bill 5105 and House Bill 5107 are sponsored by state Reps. Pauline Wendzel (R-Watervliet) and Mike Hoadley (R-Au Gres), respectively. The bills would in tandem create new penalties for cultivating, delivering and processing black market marijuana, but also change the amount of marijuana a person is legally allowed to possess in plant and concentrate form.

The bills are tie-barred together, meaning both would have to jointly clear the Legislature and be signed by the governor to become law.

Under Wendzel’s bill, a person would be guilty of a misdemeanor if they possess between 10 and 25 kilograms, or between 50 and 100 plants, or between one and 2.5 kilograms of marijuana concentrate. The penalty would change to up to one year in jail or a $20,000 fine, or both.

Keeping between 25 and 125 kilograms, or between 100 and 500 plants, or between 2.5 and 12.5 kilograms of marijuana concentrate would become a felony punishable by two years in prison or a $500,000 fine, or both.

It would also be a felony offense to:

  • Keep between 125 and 250 kilograms, or between 500 and 1,000 plants, or between 12.5 and 25 kilograms. That could net a person four years in prison or a $2 million fine or both; and
  • Keep 250 kilograms or more, or 1,000 plants or more, or 25 kilograms or more of marijuana concentrate. The punishment there would be up to 10 years in prison or a $10 million fine, or both.

Sponsored by state Rep. Kristian Grant (D-Grand Rapids), House Bill 5104 would allow the Cannabis Regulatory Agency to sanction a person even if they are no longer a licensee or if they are no longer operating a marijuana facility.

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OOPS! Michigan’s SOS Jocelyn Benson’s Laughable 2024 Election Audit Is Worse Than Anyone Imagined—“Random” Sampling Conveniently Excluded State’s Most Crooked City—Why?

Imagine a health inspector conducting a “random” restaurant safety audit that somehow manages to skip McDonald’s and Burger King—the two busiest establishments in town, and imagine they had the longest history of violations. Then imagine the health inspector was inspecting his own work. Then the inspector announces that all restaurants passed with flying colors.

Would you trust that audit?

Yet this scenario mirrors what happened with Michigan’s 2024 post-election audit. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office announced in October 2025—ten months after the election—that Michigan’s ballot counting achieved 99.97% accuracy. Impressive. But their “random” sample conspicuously excluded Detroit and Troy, the largest cities in Michigan’s two most populous counties, despite Detroit’s notorious election administration challenges.

When randomness becomes suspiciously convenient, trust evaporates.

The audit took ten months to complete and publish—an extraordinary delay that national election security experts Susan Greenhalgh and Dr. David Jefferson called “inadequate” and lacking “transparency” in their August 2025 analysis of swing-state audits. Michigan’s 2020 audit required only five months. Why did 2024 take twice as long?

Delays matter. 

Risk-limiting audits exist precisely to provide swift statistical assurance when public scrutiny peaks—immediately after elections. Publishing results ten months later, when news cycles have moved on and memories have faded, defeats the purpose. In a swing state with controversial election administration, such delays amplify rather than alleviate distrust.

But timing represents only one problem. The audit examined whether Michigan counts ballots accurately—it did—while ignoring whether those ballots came from eligible voters at legitimate addresses, whether signatures on 2,081,265 mail-in ballots matched registration records, and whether Michigan’s voter databases comply with federal maintenance requirements.

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Former Archdiocese of Detroit Superintendent of Schools Blasts MI Department of Education for Its Latest Ploy to Force Young Children to Learn Sick Sex Agenda Without Parental Consent

Last week, several groups focused on the well-being of Michigan’s youth sent an SOS to parents and grandparents of children attending public schools in the state about a radical proposed change in sex education for young students in the Great Lakes state.

Citizens for Traditional Values warned: Currently Michigan public schools’ health standards for Sex-Ed curriculum INCLUDES a provision to allow parents the right to make the decision whether their child takes the class or not.

Public schools require all students to take a health class for graduation. This is separate from Sex-Ed curriculum. The health class curriculum covers things such as healthy eating habits, sleeping habits, the benefits of physical activity, mental and emotional health, healthy relationships, time management, etc.

Regarding Sex-Ed, Michigan legislators passed a law in 2004 to protect parents’ rights and specifically made it elective and not a requirement for graduation. The law protects parents’ rights to opt-out their children from the class, if desired.

In addition, they provided a safeguard that IF a school was to teach Sex-Ed, it would require an advisory board that included local clergy, parents and members of the community on it.

The Michigan State Board of Education (SBOE) is in current negotiations to change this:
They want Sex-Ed curriculum to become a required part of health education in Michigan public schools. This not only violates the current law that keeps Sex-Ed classes separate, but it also eliminates a parent right to opt-out their child. Why? Because Health Class – would then include Sex-Ed – is required for graduation.

Kevin Kijewski, a Republican candidate for Michigan Attorney General and former superintendent of the Archdiocese of Detroit, blasted the proposed change, calling it unlawful and “reckless.”

Kijewski will testify in front of the Michigan Department of Education today, where he plans to stand up for parents whose voices are being ignored.

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New Michigan Marijuana Tax Could Shutter Businesses And Actually Reduce The State’s Cannabis Revenue, Industry Says

As state budget negotiations drew to a close last week, members of the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-led House were able to reach a deal to bring in additional funding for road repairs through a plan that drew much debate: levying additional taxes on marijuana.

Hundreds of individuals from the cannabis industry came out in opposition to the proposal last week, gathering on the Capitol lawn and lining the halls of the building as lawmakers worked to finalize the state budget.

While the policy won support from both sides of the aisle, its detractors were similarly bipartisan as some lawmakers warned that an additional 24 percent tax on wholesale marijuana could carry a host of issues, from smothering small businesses to expanding the black market, and even opening the state up to a potential constitutional challenge.

Although Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) put her pen to the new tax law on Tuesday, the future of the law has already been challenged, with the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association filing a complaint the same day, arguing the law improperly alters the law initiated by voters when they agreed to legalize marijuana in 2018.

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Lawsuit: The Dead Still Live On Michigan’s Dirty Voter Rolls

n elections integrity watchdog is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on leftist-led Michigan’s dirty voter rolls, apparently filled with tens of thousands of dead registrants. 

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) has filed a petition seeking review of the landmark Public Interest Legal Foundation v. Jocelyn Benson, which challenges the Wolverine State’s refusal to clean up its voter rolls — a requirement under the National Voter Registration Act. 

‘Reasonable Effort’

PILF argues that the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in its ruling last year affirming a lower court opinion that found the Secretary of State’s office has made “reasonable efforts” to properly remove the names of deceased individuals from Michigan’s voter rolls. The case aims to clarify what a “reasonable effort” in the face of evidence that Michigan’s limited list-maintenance program’s design “virtually guarantees that thousands of deceased voters remain on the rolls.”

“Michigan’s refusal to act on overwhelming evidence of deceased registrants violates federal law,” said Kaylan Phillips, PILF’s legal counsel for the case. “The NVRA requires states to make efforts that keep the rolls accurate.”

PILF’s analysis of Michigan’s voter list identified more than 27,000 likely deceased individuals registered to vote. Some of those former citizens of the living have been dead for decades, according to the complaint. Of the suspect registrants, nearly 4,000 have been dead for at least 20 years, PILF found. Throughout the legal challenges, the foundation sent Michigan’s far-left secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, obituaries and gravestones of many of the deceased registrants. 

One individual registered to vote was apparently born in 1823 — some 14 years before Michigan became a state. The person was registered to vote in 2008. It’s either an invalid registration or state elections officials have some trouble entering basic data, the foundation’s investigation mused. 

The Foundation said its findings were consistent with state audits showing similar problems, but Benson has “repeatedly declined to investigate or release records explaining how the state maintains its voter rolls.”

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24% Michigan marijuana tax, a key piece of the legislative budget deal, has passed

After much hand wringing and consternation from lawmakers who feared detrimental effects to Michigan’s cannabis industry, the Michigan Senate voted early Friday morning by a thin margin to pass a 24% wholesale tax on marijuana products sold in the state.

The measure is estimated to raise $420 million in new revenue to fund road repairs and construction in the new fiscal year, a key component of the budget deal reached by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids).

If the vote had failed, the entire deal would more than likely fall apart, sending the respective chambers and the governor’s office back to the negotiating table. Such a development would have also sent the state into a full government shutdown. House leadership said Thursday that it would not entertain another continuation budget after the one passed Wednesday expired after Oct. 8.

Although many members of the cannabis industry rallied at the Capitol and lobbied lawmakers against passing the legislation, the implications of the entire deal falling through weighed heavily on the Legislature’s mind.

The House and Senate on late Thursday and early Friday morning passed their respective conference budgets to fund the whole of government, K-12 schools and higher education, but all of that hinged on passage of the marijuana tax.

The bill passed by a slim 19-17 vote, which had nearly as much bipartisan dissent as it did support.

Brinks and the following senators voted in favor of the bill: Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), Rosemary Bayer (D-West Bloomfield), Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Township), Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), John Cherry (D-Flint), Kevin Daley (R-Lum), Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe), Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway), Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), Sean McCann (D-Kalamazoo), Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), Jeremy Moss (D-Bloomfield Township), Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), Roger Victory (R-Georgetown Township) and Paul Wojno (D-Warren).

Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) voted no against the bill. He was one of the legislation’s strongest opponents. 

Irwin was joined by Sens. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe), Jon Bumstead (R-North Muskegon), John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs), Roger Hauck (R-Mount Pleasant), Kevin Hertel (D-Saint Clair Shores), Michele Hoitenga (R-Manton), Mark Huizenga (R-Walker), Ruth Johnson (R-Groveland Township), Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater), Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township), Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit), Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township), Lana Theis (R-Brighton) and Michael Webber (R-Rochester Hills).

A large portion of the day was spent debating the measure in caucus meetings and whipping votes to ensure the tax did not go up in smoke.

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