The self-proclaimed leader of a white supremacist group called “The Base,” sent to prison for breaking into a former state prison with the aim of creating a training camp for the hate group, won’t be resentenced. The Michigan Court of Appeals issued an order Nov. 16 upholding the sentence of Justen Watkins who was sentenced in Tuscola County to serve 32 months to four years in prison for conspiracy to train with firearms for a civil disorder and felony firearms. Watkins, 26, of Bad Axe, argued in his appeal that he should be resentenced, claiming his plea agreement with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and sentence evaluation were ambiguous, court records show. The appellate court disagreed. “I am relieved to see this sentence upheld for the leader of a domestic hate group here in our state,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement “This organization goes far beyond speech in training for violence to advance their racist agenda. Securing this conviction to train for civil disorder established an historic precedent in the Michigan court system. My office will continue to prosecute hate crimes and domestic terrorism to the fullest extent of the law, as we did here in historic fashion.” The Base, founded in 2018, is a white supremacy group that openly advocates for violence and criminal acts against the U.S., and purports to be training for a race war to establish white ethno-nationalist rule in areas of the U.S., including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
via mlive: Prison sentence upheld for leader of Michigan white supremacist group ‘The Base’