18 | OCTOBER 29 • 2020 

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
J

ewish Michigan State 
Rep. Ryan Berman has 
rebuked backlash and a 
recent call from the Oakland 
County Democratic Party 
(OCDP) to “denounce his 
ties to militias,
” following the 
arrest of 13 men 
accused of plot-
ting to “storm” 
the state capitol 
and kidnap 
Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer.
The OCDP 
circulated two separate pho-
tos of Berman pictured with 
armed individuals, one dated 
September 2019 and one on 
April 30, 2020, when pro-
testers demonstrated against 
the COVID-19 lockdown at 
Michigan’
s capitol.
OCDP said Berman, a 
Republican, was “front-and-
center with armed mili-
tia members confronting 
Michigan State Police officers 
near the entrance to the 
Michigan House during a pro-
test on April 30.
”
But Berman tells the JN that 
neither photo has been inter-
preted accurately, calling the 
OCDP release a “smear.
”
The April 30 photo, Berman 
said, shows him walking 
through the crowd to get to 
the house floor as the legisla-
ture was in session.
“The people in the crowd 

were the ones there yelling at 
us, chanting to ‘
let us in’
 — 
meaning to let them in our 
session/chamber,
” Berman 
wrote in an email. “Why 
would I be there yelling and 
rallying alongside those people 
when I’
m an elected represen-
tative who is already allowed 
to go into the chamber and 
vote and voice my opinion? 
“This is really ridiculous 
that I even have to explain 
why I was at my own work-
place!”
Berman said he went out of 
the chamber at one point to 
try to de-escalate the protest-
ers, letting them know he was 
there to listen to their concern.
“I was not a part of the rally 
or associated with those pro-
testers, nor any militia!”
As far as the 2019 photo, 
Berman identified the other 
figures in the photo as “an 
attorney in the district and his 
friends,
” but did not provide 
any further information. 
“He stopped by my office 
while they were in Lansing 
to participate in a Second 
Amendment March at the 
Capitol,
” Berman said. “I sup-
port the people’
s ability to arm 
and protect themselves as per 
the Michigan Constitution.
”
Berman, who represents 
Michigan’
s 39th District, 
is up for reelection against 
Democrat Julia Pulver. 

Berman at

the Capitol

Berman Slams 
Democrat Group for 
Linking him to Militias

Rep. Ryan 

Berman

ODCP

IN 
THED
JEWS

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