title: Differential form

text: The exterior product of a -form and an -form , denoted , is a ()-form. At each point of the manifold , the forms and are elements of an exterior power of the cotangent space at . When the exterior algebra is viewed as a quotient of the tensor algebra, the exterior product corresponds to the tensor product (modulo the equivalence relation defining the exterior algebra).


title: Differential form

text: The antisymmetry inherent in the exterior algebra means that when is viewed as a multilinear functional, it is alternating. However, when the exterior algebra is embedded as a subspace of the tensor algebra by means of the alternation map, the tensor product is not alternating. There is an explicit formula which describes the exterior product in this situation. The exterior product is


title: Differential form

text: If the embedding of formula_40 into formula_41 is done via the map formula_42 instead of formula_43, the exterior product is


title: Differential form

text: This description is useful for explicit computations. For example, if , then is the -form whose value at a point is the alternating bilinear form defined by


title: Differential form

text: The exterior product is bilinear: If , , and are any differential forms, and if is any smooth function, then


title: Differential form

text: It is "skew commutative" (also known as "graded commutative"), meaning that it satisfies a variant of anticommutativity that depends on the degrees of the forms: if is a -form and is an -form, then


title: Differential form

text: On a Riemannian manifold, or more generally a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, the metric defines a fibre-wise isomorphism of the tangent and cotangent bundles. This makes it possible to convert vector fields to covector fields and vice versa. It also enables the definition of additional operations such as the Hodge star operator formula_50 and the codifferential formula_51, which has degree and is adjoint to the exterior differential .


title: Differential form

text: On a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, -forms can be identified with vector fields; vector fields have additional distinct algebraic structures, which are listed here for context and to avoid confusion.


title: Differential form

text: Firstly, each (co)tangent space generates a Clifford algebra, where the product of a (co)vector with itself is given by the value of a quadratic form – in this case, the natural one induced by the metric. This algebra is "distinct" from the exterior algebra of differential forms, which can be viewed as a Clifford algebra where the quadratic form vanishes (since the exterior product of any vector with itself is zero). Clifford algebras are thus non-anticommutative ("quantum") deformations of the exterior algebra. They are studied in geometric algebra.


title: Differential form

text: Another alternative is to consider vector fields as derivations. The (noncommutative) algebra of differential operators they generate is the Weyl algebra and is a noncommutative ("quantum") deformation of the "symmetric" algebra in the vector fields.


title: Differential form

text: One important property of the exterior derivative is that . This means that the exterior derivative defines a cochain complex:


title: Differential form

text: This complex is called the de Rham complex, and its cohomology is by definition the de Rham cohomology of . By the Poincaré lemma, the de Rham complex is locally exact except at . The kernel at is the space of locally constant functions on . Therefore, the complex is a resolution of the constant sheaf , which in turn implies a form of de Rham's theorem: de Rham cohomology computes the sheaf cohomology of .


title: Differential form

text: Suppose that is smooth. The differential of is a smooth map between the tangent bundles of and . This map is also denoted and called the pushforward. For any point and any tangent vector , there is a well-defined pushforward vector in . However, the same is not true of a vector field. If is not injective, say because has two or more preimages, then the vector field may determine two or more distinct vectors in . If is not surjective, then there will be a point at which does not determine any tangent vector at all. Since a vector field on determines, by definition, a unique tangent vector at every point of , the pushforward of a vector field does not always exist.


title: Differential form

text: By contrast, it is always possible to pull back a differential form. A differential form on may be viewed as a linear functional on each tangent space. Precomposing this functional with the differential defines a linear functional on each tangent space of and therefore a differential form on . The existence of pullbacks is one of the key features of the theory of differential forms. It leads to the existence of pullback maps in other situations, such as pullback homomorphisms in de Rham cohomology.


title: Differential form

text: Formally, let be smooth, and let be a smooth -form on . Then there is a differential form on , called the pullback of , which captures the behavior of as seen relative to . To define the pullback, fix a point of and tangent vectors , ..., to at . The pullback of is defined by the formula


title: Differential form

text: There are several more abstract ways to view this definition. If is a -form on , then it may be viewed as a section of the cotangent bundle of . Using to denote a dual map, the dual to the differential of is . The pullback of may be defined to be the composite


title: Differential form

text: This is a section of the cotangent bundle of and hence a differential -form on . In full generality, let formula_55 denote the th exterior power of the dual map to the differential. Then the pullback of a -form is the composite


title: Differential form

text: A differential -form can be integrated over an oriented -dimensional manifold. When the -form is defined on an -dimensional manifold with , then the -form can be integrated over oriented -dimensional submanifolds. If , integration over oriented 0-dimensional submanifolds is just the summation of the integrand evaluated at points, with according to the orientation of those points. Other values of correspond to line integrals, surface integrals, volume integrals, and so on. There are several equivalent ways to formally define the integral of a differential form, all of which depend on reducing to the case of Euclidean space.


title: Differential form

text: Let be an open subset of . Give its standard orientation and the restriction of that orientation. Every smooth -form on has the form


title: Differential form

text: for some smooth function . Such a function has an integral in the usual Riemann or Lebesgue sense. This allows us to define the integral of to be the integral of :


title: Differential form

text: Fixing an orientation is necessary for this to be well-defined. The skew-symmetry of differential forms means that the integral of, say, must be the negative of the integral of . Riemann and Lebesgue integrals cannot see this dependence on the ordering of the coordinates, so they leave the sign of the integral undetermined. The orientation resolves this ambiguity.


title: Differential form

text: Let be an -manifold and an -form on . First, assume that there is a parametrization of by an open subset of Euclidean space. That is, assume that there exists a diffeomorphism


title: Differential form

text: where . Give the orientation induced by . Then defines the integral of over to be the integral of over . In coordinates, this has the following expression. Fix an embedding of in with coordinates . Then


title: Differential form

text: In general, an -manifold cannot be parametrized by an open subset of . But such a parametrization is always possible locally, so it is possible to define integrals over arbitrary manifolds by defining them as sums of integrals over collections of local parametrizations. Moreover, it is also possible to define parametrizations of -dimensional subsets for , and this makes it possible to define integrals of -forms. To make this precise, it is convenient to fix a standard domain in , usually a cube or a simplex. A -chain is a formal sum of smooth embeddings . That is, it is a collection of smooth embeddings, each of which is assigned an integer multiplicity. Each smooth embedding determines a -dimensional submanifold of . If the chain is


title: Differential form

text: This approach to defining integration does not assign a direct meaning to integration over the whole manifold . However, it is still possible to assign such a meaning indirectly because every smooth manifold may be smoothly triangulated in an essentially unique way, and the integral over may be defined to be the integral over the chain determined by a triangulation.


title: Differential form

text: There is another approach, expounded in , which does directly assign a meaning to integration over , but this approach requires fixing an orientation of . The integral of an -form on an -dimensional manifold is defined by working in charts. Suppose first that is supported on a single positively oriented chart. On this chart, it may be pulled back to an -form on an open subset of . Here, the form has a well-defined Riemann or Lebesgue integral as before. The change of variables formula and the assumption that the chart is positively oriented together ensure that the integral of is independent of the chosen chart. In the general case, use a partition of unity to write as a sum of -forms, each of which is supported in a single positively oriented chart, and define the integral of to be the sum of the integrals of each term in the partition of unity.


title: Differential form

text: It is also possible to integrate -forms on oriented -dimensional submanifolds using this more intrinsic approach. The form is pulled back to the submanifold, where the integral is defined using charts as before. For example, given a path , integrating a -form on the path is simply pulling back the form to a form on , and this integral is the integral of the function on the interval.


title: Differential form

text: Fubini's theorem states that the integral over a set that is a product may be computed as an iterated integral over the two factors in the product. This suggests that the integral of a differential form over a product ought to be computable as an iterated integral as well. The geometric flexibility of differential forms ensures that this is possible not just for products, but in more general situations as well. Under some hypotheses, it is possible to integrate along the fibers of a smooth map, and the analog of Fubini's theorem is the case where this map is the projection from a product to one of its factors.


title: Differential form

text: Because integrating a differential form over a submanifold requires fixing an orientation, a prerequisite to integration along fibers is the existence of a well-defined orientation on those fibers. Let and be two orientable manifolds of pure dimensions and , respectively. Suppose that is a surjective submersion. This implies that each fiber is -dimensional and that, around each point of , there is a chart on which looks like the projection from a product onto one of its factors. Fix and set . Suppose that


title: Differential form

text: which may be thought of as the fibral part of with respect to . More precisely, define to be the inclusion. Then is defined by the property that


title: Differential form

text: is a smooth section of the projection map; we say that is a smooth differential -form on along . Then there is a smooth differential -form on such that, at each ,


title: Differential form

text: This form is denoted . The same construction works if is an -form in a neighborhood of the fiber, and the same notation is used. A consequence is that each fiber is orientable. In particular, a choice of orientation forms on and defines an orientation of every fiber of .


title: Differential form

text: The analog of Fubini's theorem is as follows. As before, and are two orientable manifolds of pure dimensions and , and is a surjective submersion. Fix orientations of and , and give each fiber of the induced orientation. Let be an -form on , and let be an -form on that is almost everywhere positive with respect to the orientation of . Then, for almost every , the form is a well-defined integrable form on . Moreover, there is an integrable -form on defined by


title: Differential form

text: It is also possible to integrate forms of other degrees along the fibers of a submersion. Assume the same hypotheses as before, and let be a compactly supported -form on . Then there is a -form on which is the result of integrating along the fibers of . The form is defined by specifying, at each , how pairs with each -vector at , and the value of that pairing is an integral over that depends only on , , and the orientations of and . More precisely, at each , there is an isomorphism


title: Differential form

text: for any choice of volume form in the orientation of . If , then a -vector at determines an -covector at by pullback:


title: Differential form

text: This form depends on the orientation of but not the choice of . Then the -form is uniquely defined by the property


title: Differential form

text: and is smooth . This form also denoted and called the integral of along the fibers of . Integration along fibers is important for the construction of Gysin maps in de Rham cohomology.


title: Differential form

text: The fundamental relationship between the exterior derivative and integration is given by the Stokes' theorem: If is an ()-form with compact support on and denotes the boundary of with its induced orientation, then


title: Differential form

text: A key consequence of this is that "the integral of a closed form over homologous chains is equal": If is a closed -form and and are -chains that are homologous (such that is the boundary of a -chain ), then formula_84, since the difference is the integral formula_85.


title: Differential form

text: For example, if is the derivative of a potential function on the plane or , then the integral of over a path from to does not depend on the choice of path (the integral is ), since different paths with given endpoints are homotopic, hence homologous (a weaker condition). This case is called the gradient theorem, and generalizes the fundamental theorem of calculus. This path independence is very useful in contour integration.


title: Differential form

text: On a "general" differentiable manifold (without additional structure), differential forms "cannot" be integrated over subsets of the manifold; this distinction is key to the distinction between differential forms, which are integrated over chains or oriented submanifolds, and measures, which are integrated over subsets. The simplest example is attempting to integrate the -form over the interval . Assuming the usual distance (and thus measure) on the real line, this integral is either or , depending on "orientation:" formula_86, while formula_87. By contrast, the integral of the "measure" on the interval is unambiguously (i.e. the integral of the constant function with respect to this measure is ). Similarly, under a change of coordinates a differential -form changes by the Jacobian determinant , while a measure changes by the "absolute value" of the Jacobian determinant, , which further reflects the issue of orientation. For example, under the map on the line, the differential form pulls back to ; orientation has reversed; while the Lebesgue measure, which here we denote , pulls back to ; it does not change.


title: Differential form

text: In the presence of the additional data of an "orientation", it is possible to integrate -forms (top-dimensional forms) over the entire manifold or over compact subsets; integration over the entire manifold corresponds to integrating the form over the fundamental class of the manifold, . Formally, in the presence of an orientation, one may identify -forms with densities on a manifold; densities in turn define a measure, and thus can be integrated .


title: Differential form

text: On an orientable but not oriented manifold, there are two choices of orientation; either choice allows one to integrate -forms over compact subsets, with the two choices differing by a sign. On non-orientable manifold, -forms and densities cannot be identified —notably, any top-dimensional form must vanish somewhere (there are no volume forms on non-orientable manifolds), but there are nowhere-vanishing densities— thus while one can integrate densities over compact subsets, one cannot integrate -forms. One can instead identify densities with top-dimensional pseudoforms.


title: Differential form

text: Even in the presence of an orientation, there is in general no meaningful way to integrate -forms over subsets for because there is no consistent way to use the ambient orientation to orient -dimensional subsets. Geometrically, a -dimensional subset can be turned around in place, yielding the same subset with the opposite orientation; for example, the horizontal axis in a plane can be rotated by 180 degrees. Compare the Gram determinant of a set of vectors in an -dimensional space, which, unlike the determinant of vectors, is always positive, corresponding to a squared number. An orientation of a -submanifold is therefore extra data not derivable from the ambient manifold.


title: Differential form

text: On a Riemannian manifold, one may define a -dimensional Hausdorff measure for any (integer or real), which may be integrated over -dimensional subsets of the manifold. A function times this Hausdorff measure can then be integrated over -dimensional subsets, providing a measure-theoretic analog to integration of -forms. The -dimensional Hausdorff measure yields a density, as above.


title: Differential form

text: The differential form analog of a distribution or generalized function is called a current. The space of -currents on is the dual space to an appropriate space of differential -forms. Currents play the role of generalized domains of integration, similar to but even more flexible than chains.


title: Differential form

text: Differential forms arise in some important physical contexts. For example, in Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism, the Faraday 2-form, or electromagnetic field strength, is


title: Differential form

text: where the are formed from the electromagnetic fields formula_89 and formula_90; e.g., , , or equivalent definitions.


title: Differential form

text: This form is a special case of the curvature form on the principal bundle on which both electromagnetism and general gauge theories may be described. The connection form for the principal bundle is the vector potential, typically denoted by , when represented in some gauge. One then has


title: Differential form

text: where are the four components of the current density. (Here it is a matter of convention to write instead of , i.e. to use capital letters, and to write instead of . However, the vector rsp. tensor components and the above-mentioned forms have different physical dimensions. Moreover, by decision of an international commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, the magnetic polarization vector has been called formula_93 for several decades, and by some publishers ; i.e., the same name is used for different quantities.)


title: Differential form

text: Using the above-mentioned definitions, Maxwell's equations can be written very compactly in geometrized units as


title: Differential form

text: where formula_95 denotes the Hodge star operator. Similar considerations describe the geometry of gauge theories in general.


title: Differential form

text: Electromagnetism is an example of a gauge theory. Here the Lie group is , the one-dimensional unitary group, which is in particular abelian. There are gauge theories, such as Yang–Mills theory, in which the Lie group is not abelian. In that case, one gets relations which are similar to those described here. The analog of the field in such theories is the curvature form of the connection, which is represented in a gauge by a Lie algebra-valued one-form . The Yang–Mills field is then defined by


title: Differential form

text: In the abelian case, such as electromagnetism, , but this does not hold in general. Likewise the field equations are modified by additional terms involving exterior products of and , owing to the structure equations of the gauge group.


title: Differential form

text: Numerous minimality results for complex analytic manifolds are based on the Wirtinger inequality for 2-forms. A succinct proof may be found in Herbert Federer's classic text "Geometric Measure Theory". The Wirtinger inequality is also a key ingredient in Gromov's inequality for complex projective space in systolic geometry.


title: Hublot

text: Hublot () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH.


title: Hublot

text: A scion of the Italian Binda Group dynasty, best known for making Breil watches, Carlo Crocco left the company in 1976, to start a watch company. Moving to Switzerland he formed MDM Geneve and set about designing a watch that he named the Hublot after the French word for "porthole". The watch that he created featured the first natural rubber strap in the history of watchmaking. It took three years of research to create the strap. Despite failing to attract a single potential customer on the first day of its debut at the 1980, Basel Watch Fair, the watch quickly proved to be a commercial success with sales in excess of $US2 million in its first year.


title: Hublot

text: Crocco, preoccupied by his own design work and many activities for the Hand-in-Hand Foundation, a charity helping deprived children all around the world, set out to look for someone to who oversee Hublot. In late 2003, Jean-Claude Biver, then president of Swatch Group's Omega division, met Crocco, and in May 2004, Biver assumed duties as CEO, becoming a board member and minority shareholder in Hublot Watches.


title: Hublot

text: Upon his arrival, Biver set about creating a new flagship collection that was unveiled in Basel in April 2005, with the Hublot "Big Bang" chronograph. It was an immediate success and orders increased threefold in one year. A few months later, in November 2005, the Big Bang chronograph was awarded internationally, receiving the "2005 Design Prize" in the "Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix", the "Sports Watch Prize" at the "Watch of the Year" ceremony in Japan, and the Middle Eastern Prize for the "Best Oversized Watch" at the Editor’s Choice "Watch of the Year" in Bahrain. Following the arrival of Biver in 2004, the brand's sales were 24 million Swiss francs and by the end of 2006, sales were close to 100 million Swiss franc.


title: Hublot

text: , Hublot had 169 Boutiques in several countries. In February 2007, Hublot opened its first mono-brand store in Paris, in the Rue Saint-Honoré. The second was opened in the summer of that year, in the Hôtel Byblos, Saint-Tropez. Today, Hublot has store on Bond Street, London. United States locations include Bal Harbour, Beverly Hills, Boca Raton, Dallas, Houston, two in Las Vegas, New York, Palm Beach and Scottsdale.


title: Hublot

text: In April 2008, luxury goods group LVMH announced it had acquired Hublot from Crocco for an undisclosed fee, adding to its existing portfolio of watch brands including TAG Heuer.


title: Hublot

text: At BaselWorld 2009, Hublot unveiled a new method of detecting counterfeit watches. Using a smart card, the system authenticates watches on Hublot's servers. The system went live in August 2009.


title: Hublot

text: To increase the public profile of their brand Hublot have engaged in a number of sponsorship deals. In 2008, they agreed a sponsorship deal with the football club Manchester United, worth £4 million a year. Later, Hublot started endorsing some top football clubs like FC Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Ajax Amsterdam.


title: Hublot

text: In 2019, Hublot became the first watch brand to work with ICC when the brand was announced as official time keeper for cricket's flagship event, 2019 ICC cricket world cup co-hosted by England and Wales.


title: Hublot

text: They provided special versions of their Big Bang watches to referees officiating at UEFA Euro 2008. In March 2010, Hublot was appointed the Official Watchmaker of Formula 1. Hublot have released a number of Formula One themed watches, including celebrating the return of the US Grand Prix to Austin, Texas, US in November 2012, with the Hublot F1 King Power Austin .


title: Hublot

text: In April 2010, Hublot became the official time keeper of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. They have also been involved in a tie-up with the "Financial Times", sponsoring the newspaper's iPad app.


title: Hublot

text: Hublot and Ferrari announced during the 2011, Ferrari World Finals at Mugello a long-term strategic partnership which will officially start on 1 January 2012, making Hublot Ferrari's "Official Watch" and "Official Timekeeper". The partnership has so far been built on two watches: the Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Magic Gold and Big Bang Ferrari Titanium.


title: Hublot

text: The company also the sponsors of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.


title: Hublot

text: Hublot continued its sponsorship and partnership activities in 2012 with becoming the Official Watch of the UEFA EURO 2012 tournament and Official Timekeeper of the tournament.


title: Hublot

text: In April 2012, Hublot Partnered the Swiss Confederation at the World Expo 2012 in South Korea, a 3-month world event, where countries have the opportunity to promote themselves to the world. and displayed its new Divers Watch the Hublot Oceanographic 4000 King Gold White, which has been tested to a water resistance of 5,000 m and is certified water resistant to 4,000 m.


title: Hublot

text: Hublot also partnered with the Archaeological Museum of Athens in presenting Hublot's "Tribute to the Antikythera Mechanism" movement. The Hublot movement officially joined the National Museum's collection on 5 April 2012, and will now be on display alongside the remains of the original mechanism.


title: Hublot

text: In January 2013, Scuderia Ferrari had Hublot as its official sponsor for 2013, 2014 and 2015 F1 Season.


title: Hublot

text: In November 2015, Hublot was the official timekeeper and a major sponsor of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 international baseball tournament held in Taiwan and Japan, promoting their partnership with the motto, "Hublot Loves Baseball."


title: Hublot

text: In September 2020, Hublot was announced as the new official timekeeper of the Premier League, starting from the 2020–21 season.


title: Hublot

text: From 2021, Hublot is no longer listed as a sponsor for Scuderia Ferrari, being replaced by Richard Mille.


title: Hublot

text: At the opening ceremony for its first store in Beijing, Biver introduced Jet Li as Hublot's next brand ambassador. Li is the brand's first Asian ambassador as well as the first film star to work as a Hublot ambassador. Other brand ambassadors have included Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna's family and Institute; world's fastest man Usain Bolt; designer Samuel Ross; France and PSG player Kylian Mbappé; football player Pelé; Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma and formerly, the Manchester United football team, golfers Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Patrick Reed.


title: Hublot

text: Hublot has also developed a network of Friend of the Brand in the fields football, gastronomy, arts and sports. These include 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg, football coaches José Mourinho, Gareth Southgate, and Didier Deschamps, tennis players Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina, chefs Yannick Alléno and Paul Pairet. Former footballer Diego Maradona was a Hublot Friend of the Brand until his death in 2020.


title: Hublot

text: Formula One Management President and CEO, Bernie Ecclestone, was attacked by four men and had his Hublot watch stolen. He later worked with Hublot to use his bruised face in an ad campaign with the tag line, "See what people will do for a Hublot."


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The Silver Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 34 stations in Loudoun County, Fairfax County and Arlington County, Virginia, Washington, D.C., as well as Prince George's County, Maryland. The Silver Line runs from in Virginia to in Maryland. Five stations, from both lines' eastern terminus at Downtown Largo to , are shared with the Blue Line alone; thirteen stations, from to , with both the Orange Line and Blue Lines; and five stations from to with the Orange Line alone. Only the five stations of Phase 1, which began service on July 26, 2014, and the six stations of Phase 2, which began service on November 15, 2022, are exclusive to the Silver Line.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The portion of the Silver Line between its split from the Orange Line and is entirely in Fairfax County, Virginia and was constructed as Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Phase 2 expanded the line another to Ashburn in Loudoun County via Dulles International Airport. The $6.8 billion Silver Line is Metro's largest expansion by route mileage since its inception in 1976.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The federal government of the United States, which owned and operated Dulles Airport before Congress created the MWAA, built the Dulles Access Road in the 1960s to connect the airport to Washington, D.C. by way of Virginia State Route 267. As the access road was built, the authorities opted to reserve the median of the road for some form of rail transit, and the nearby West Falls Church station was designed so that the line could eventually be extended in this direction. The original 1968 Metrorail plan included an eventual extension to Dulles airport. In 1969, U.S. Senator from Virginia William B. Spong Jr. tried unsuccessfully to have the extension to Dulles be built as part of an early stage of the system rather than having it be built at some unspecified time in the future. A 1971 study of the feasibility of Metrorail running to Dulles estimated that 30,000 people would ride the extension each day.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In 1995, the Virginia General Assembly authorized the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to provide for "additional improvements to the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Access Road corridor including, but not limited to, mass transit, including rail and capacity-enhancing treatments from surplus net revenues of the Dulles Toll Road".


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In 1998, Raytheon engineers and constructors proposed to build and operate a Dulles Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. In January 1999, the Tysons-Dulles Corridor Group (which included Bechtel Corporation and West*Group) offered a competing BRT proposal that would ultimately extend the rail line to Ashburn. These proposals prompted the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to evaluate the merits of BRT and heavy rail public transit in the corridor.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Local residents and officials had talked of a Metro extension to Dulles since the Washington Metro began service in 1976, but significant planning did not begin until 2000. The Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project "scoping" process began in April 2000 with a series of meetings with local and federal officials, designed to collect the necessary authorities for the project. Local and federal law required extensive Analysis of Alternatives – the two most likely being bus lanes or inaction – and of the environmental impact. The rail-only line won over the other alternatives. Initial environmental hearings, which closed on August 28, 2002, were positive. Although planners originally considered ending the first phase at Tysons, state officials decided that the first phase would end at Reston's Wiehle Avenue, partially to reassure the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that the line would eventually run to Dulles Airport. The project received formal approval on June 10, 2004.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In February 2005, the CTB approved a 50 cent increase in the Dulles Toll Road toll rates, effective May 22, 2005, and "reaffirm[ed] that no less than 85% of existing surplus Dulles Toll Road net revenues shall be dedicated for mass transit and rail in the [Dulles] Corridor" and provided "that all additional toll revenue generated from the May 22, 2005 toll adjustment shall be dedicated to the [Metrorail] Project." Between July 1, 2003, and November 1, 2008, when the toll road was transferred to MWAA, over $138 million in net surplus toll revenue (together with accumulated interest) was provided to MWAA for the Silver Line project.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Although the original financing plan called for a 50-cent toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road to finance the Silver Line (25 cents at the main plaza and 25 cents at the ramp plazas), the increase in projected costs resulted in the MWAA Board approving an increase in the surcharges. Effective January 1, 2010, the fare surcharge was increased to 50 cents at both the main plaza and ramp plazas, with additional 25-cent increases in main-plaza tolls set for 2011 and 2012. These toll surcharges are designed to support MWAA's 52.6% share of the projected $5.25 billion combined cost of Phase 1 and Phase 2. MWAA has justified these toll increases as necessary to meet an estimated $220 million in annual debt-service costs projected by 2020. These toll revenue requirements were based on the assumption that the federal government, although it contributed $900 million to Phase 1, would not contribute funds for Phase 2.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: As a result of the surcharge increases, the toll in 2012 was $2.25, or 16 cents per mile (1.6 km). The toll increase proposal drew 221 public comments and opponents outnumbered supporters by about 3 to 1. However, as the cost estimate grew from $5.25 billion to $6.8 billion, no final decisions have been reached to address the projected shortfall.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Early plans called for a tunnel running from the east of the station to the west of the station, and for all four stations on that stretch to be below ground. When the contractor hired to design the Silver Line – a consortium of Bechtel and Washington Group International – found the costs to be too high, the design was changed to use a short tunnel, running only between the and stations (underneath higher ground) with all four stations being at or above ground. In March 2006, the contractor was ordered to examine an alternative "large bore" tunnel digging technique (successfully used in Europe) with the potential to lower costs of a tunnel through the entire Tysons section. The contractor found that there would not be a significant cost reduction and proposed staying with the short tunnel option.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: After allegations that the design contractor had inflated costs for the tunnel in order to avoid sharing the job with an outside tunneling contractor, the long tunnel concept was revived in April 2006. The allegations led to calls for an outside cost estimate to determine more realistic tunnel costs. On May 15, 2006, Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer announced the creation of an advisory panel headed by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The panel had about two months to evaluate options for completing the line through Tysons, with the results presented to the state on July 27, 2006 and published on July 31, 2006.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On September 6, 2006, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced his decision in favor of an elevated track through Tysons. In his statement, Kaine said he believed a tunnel would be the best option, but decided against it, citing a fear of losing federal funding for the project.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Shortly after Governor Kaine's decision, the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce formed a coalition of tunnel supporters, called Tysons Tunnel, Inc. and put forth a technical proposal to help revive consideration of building a tunnel through Tysons. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation hired an independent consultant to assess the coalition's proposal. However, the consultant's report – sent to Secretary Homer on March 7, 2007, stated that "[t]here is a significant risk that the project cost of a Large Bore Tunnel would not meet the Federal Transit Administration's cost-effectiveness ratio criteria, which could compromise federal funding for the project".


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On November 26, 2007, Tysons Tunnel, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in the Eastern District of Virginia challenging the denial of their petition to reopen and consider additional evidence regarding the benefits of a tunnel over the aerial option. Gary Baise, the Republican challenger to Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairmanship, represented Tysons Tunnel. By 2010, Tysons Tunnel, Inc. ceased operations.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Start of construction was delayed as approval of the $900 million federal contribution to project costs awaited the conclusion of FTA's review of the proposal submitted by Virginia. Elected officials of the state, including Governor Tim Kaine and U.S. Senators John Warner and Jim Webb, arrived at the FTA on January 24, 2008, to address last minute concerns by FTA staff and administrators. FTA Administrator James Simpson presented Governor Kaine with a letter that contained stark criticisms of the project as presented. The project as presented was given a "medium–low" rating (projects must receive a "medium" or higher rating to be approved under the Federal New Starts Funds project) and determined ineligible to receive the $900 million in federal funding. FTA's concerns included the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's inexperience in large design-build contracts, an exaggeration of funding numbers from the Dulles Toll Road and an inability for Metro to maintain the line once it had been built. Virginian leaders vowed to address the concerns by January 28, 2008, as several fixed price contracts for building materials costs were due to expire on February 1. Governor Kaine requested an extension of the deadline to February 1, which was granted by the FTA.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On April 30, 2008, the FTA reversed the earlier decision and approved the above-ground project, saying that it met standards for cost efficiency, construction and ridership, moving it closer to receiving the $900 million in federal funding. Officials told "The Washington Post" that the project would move into the final design stage. The FTA approved funding for the project on December 4, 2008.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On March 10, 2009, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood signed the formal agreement that awarded the $900 million promised by the federal government for construction of the Silver Line, with major construction expected to begin in several weeks. Utility relocation work started at Tysons in mid-2008.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: MWAA planned to award a separate design-build contract for Phase 2. The Phase 2 contract was awarded in May 2013 and the projected completion date was to be in 2018. However, it was later extended to January 2019.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Although construction was planned to begin in 2005, the delays in approval of funding pushed back the start date. To facilitate Silver Line construction, responsibility for the project was transferred on November 1, 2008, from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to the MWAA. Utility relocation work began in 2008, and construction began on March 12, 2009.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The extension runs in its own right-of-way on a route similar to that of the Dulles Access Road, running both at grade and via aerial structures. The only significant diversions from the access road route are for the stops in Tysons and at Dulles International Airport, where the Metro is currently planned to alternate between subway and elevated track to maintain the exclusive right-of-way.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Service on Phase 1 of the Silver Line opened on July 26, 2014 between and Largo Town Center, with five new stations being added to the existing network west of East Falls Church. The full line to Ashburn, including a station at Dulles International Airport, was at the time expected to be completed in 2018.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: One lane of southbound Virginia Route 123 in Tysons was closed for a two-year period, starting on February 22, 2010, for construction of the McLean Metro station. The distance impacted was two blocks, from Scotts Crossing Road to the Capital Beltway.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: When the Orange Line was originally constructed in 1977, foundations for the bridges to carry the Silver Line over I-66 to the median of the Dulles Access Road were built up to ground level. These foundations included steel piles that were driven into the ground and capped with concrete. However, detailed records for these original foundations were lost. As a result, engineers asked for the foundations to be inspected by digging around them to determine the condition of each pile under the concrete foundation caps.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Some of the foundations are located in confined spots adjacent to I-66 and the electrified third rail of the Orange Line, making access difficult. Dulles Transit Partners offered to inspect seven foundations that were easily accessible, but the FTA insisted that all foundations be tested. Dulles Transit Partners and MWAA agreed to test all foundations before the bridge piers were built upon them. This required the portion of the Orange Line between the West Falls Church and East Falls Church Metro stations to be taken out of service on weekends while the tests were conducted. All foundations were acceptable and the bridge construction proceeded using the existing foundations.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: There has been controversy over the contract between the MWAA and Dulles Transit Partners, which consists of Bechtel and Washington Group International. The $2.7 billion project was originally awarded by VDOT under the Virginia Public-Private Partnership Act, rather than by using conventional competitive bidding based upon a detailed specification. As a result, the contractor is allowed to both design and build the project with no upper cap on its cost. Problems could arise from the arrangement where MWAA is supervising the design and construction but ultimately WMATA must operate the Silver Line. The contract provides for price escalation of $3 million to $6 million a month for delays. VDOT transferred the contract to MWAA when MWAA took over the project in November 2008.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The original schedule planned for revenue service to begin in 2013. The contractor reported to MWAA on February 7, 2014, that construction was complete. MWAA had fifteen days to review the documentation and decide whether it agreed, but on February 24 they announced that the contractor had failed to meet seven of twelve criteria outlined in the contract.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On March 19, 2014, MWAA announced additional delays in the project due to public address speakers and a communications cable that did not meet code and did not offer a new completion date. They hoped to turn it over to WMATA by April 9, 2014. WMATA requires an additional 90 days for testing and training. The system then underwent 90 days of testing and staff training. This suggested, at the time, that the line could open as early as July 4, 2014. On May 27, 2014, WMATA was handed over control of the line, with service to begin "within 90 days". Finally, on June 24, 2014, it was revealed that the official opening date for the first five stations had been set for July 26.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: After a set of speeches and announcements prior to opening, which were televised on local cable television station News Channel 8, and attended by the Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, Metro General Manager Richard Sarles, the entire Metro board of directors, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent C. Gray, and other regional politicians, a ribbon cutting took place at , and shortly after noon on July 26, 2014, the five new stations were opened for passenger service.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Although the Silver Line attracted riders, its average weekday boarding was 17,100 during its first year of operations instead of the projected 25,000 riders.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Metro's iconic rail map, in distribution since Lance Wyman and Bill Cannan (Wyman & Cannan) designed it in 1976, takes – according to some observers – a "pop art" approach to representing its subway network. The Metro rail map uses thick strokes to mark its radial lines. To fit in the current space and make use of the iconography as currently proportioned, the map relies upon the fact that no more than two lines overlap at any single location. The addition of the Silver Line creates a three-line overlap from Rosslyn to Stadium–Armory, a fact that led WMATA to publicly announce in 2010 that it was considering a new map design. A number of unofficial attempts by graphic designers to redraw the Washington Metro map to include the Silver Line have done so by thinning the strokes throughout.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In 2003, predating Booth's attempt, WMATA released a professionally designed graphic that displayed the Silver Line on an unofficial map that resembled the current version, but with thin lines. The interplay between Metro's unofficial proposal and those of other designers received attention in a number of press outlets. A poster displaying a map of similar design has been hanging in DC Councilman Jack Evans' office for a number of years, but received scant attention until 2008. Wyman, one of the original designers of the map, was confirmed as the layout specialist who would be redesigning the map by "The Washington Post" on June 4, 2011.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: A thick-line version of the map, released as part of Metro's Rush Plus plan, showed the Silver Line spurring off the Orange Line between the Ballston and stations in a northwesterly direction, with five unlabeled stops (the Phase 1 stations). The final map released for the Silver Line's Phase 1 opening features the stations shared by the three lines as normal stations, with the dots signifying stations located on the colored line in the center and small white stubs extending from the center dots into the adjoining colored lines.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: While construction of Phase 1 to Wiehle–Reston East was under way, the funding and planning of Phase 2 through Dulles Airport continued. This included the adoption of a special taxing district by the Town of Herndon and a public planning forum. Early cost estimates for Phase 2 had been $2.75 billion; however, a group of consultants increased the estimate in 2010 from $3.44 billion to $4.1 billion.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On April 6, 2011, the MWAA Board voted 9 to 4 to build an underground station located from the airport terminal rather than an above-ground station away from the terminal. The underground station would be more convenient to travelers, but would come at an additional cost of $330 million and would extend the construction time of the project, delaying the expected opening to mid-2017. Republican former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell opposed the decision to build a more expensive underground station and threatened to withhold support for the project. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood offered to mediate the dispute. On March 7, 2012, the projected $3.8 billion cost for Phase 2 was reduced to $2.7 billion with the elimination of the underground station at Dulles Airport and other cost savings.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The extension of the Silver Line to Dulles and Loudoun County was in jeopardy until July 3, 2012, when the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 4 to extend the line to Dulles Airport and into the county. On April 25, 2013, the Phase 2 contract was issued at a cost of $1.177 billion. On August 20, 2014, the United States Department of Transportation announced that Phase 2 would be funded with a $1.28 billion Transportation Infrastructure Financial Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan. This delivers part of an approximately $1.87 billion combined commitment of TIFIA loans for Phase 2, which represents the largest TIFIA assistance for a single project in the program's history.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Cracks were discovered in some concrete support girders in July 2015, causing work to be temporarily halted. By July 2016, 30% of the Phase 2 project had been completed. The contractors reported that significant progress was made with regard to the structure of the line. By March 2017, completion of Phase 2 construction had reached 56% with work on the rail yard at Dulles Airport reaching 46%, 76% of deck spans being poured, and all aerial guideway girders over the Dulles Access Road near Saarinen Circle being set in place. MWAA reported that crews would soon begin installation of pedestrian bridges at the five stations under construction in the median of the Dulles Access Road and the Dulles Greenway.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: By January 2018, it was reported that 76% of Phase 2 construction was completed. However, a few months later it was discovered that multiple sections of cement walls of the new Metro stations were poorly designed, making them prone to water infiltration. Construction contractors took action to fix the problem and said it would not impact the extension's projected 2020 opening. The contractor Capital Rail Constructors (CRC) and the supplier Universal Concrete pledged to fix the problem, and CRC also committed to spraying the concrete with a special sealant every 10 years as needed. Later, in May 2018, the federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia unsealed allegations by a former employee at Universal Concrete Corporation that precast concrete used in five of the six Phase 2 Silver Line stations had been produced from aggregate from a different quarry than the one specified in construction contracts. Officials took four core samples from each of the five affected stations for microscopic testing to determine whether the panels complied with project requirements. That July, the governments of Virginia and the United States sued Universal Concrete for providing false records and defective materials. In September 2018, it was revealed that about 400 of the concrete rail ties on Phase 2 were defective, in that they caused the rails to bend outward. However, Metro and CRC were not able to agree on a solution before that December.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Despite these controversies, progress of the extension's construction steadily approached completion throughout the rest of the year, reaching 78% in June, 86% in September and 92% by January 2019. A month later, it was deemed that the extension would be ready for testing that would last for several months, starting with two recently retired 5000 series railcars towed by a diesel to clean the third rail while it is disabled, before energizing it to allow for more dynamic train testing. Despite reports of trouble that prevented early test trains from going so far, testing eventually continued throughout the expansion and into Dulles Airport in March. The following month, progress of construction reached 95%.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In June 2019, an updated estimation of Phase 2's completion was made, stating that it could be ready for service at about the third quarter of 2020. In August 2019, MWAA announced that Phase 2 would open around mid July 2020 but WMATA expressed some doubts. Towards the end of the year, after considering the pace of the work being done and efforts to address outstanding issues, Metro officials then announced that the second phase may not be ready for service until about September 2020. During a Metro board meeting in December 2019, officials floated the idea of fully replacing the defective concrete panels provided by the MWAA during construction, instead of just repairing them. Should these plans go through, Phase 2's launch date may be pushed back by another year from September 2020.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: By early February 2020, it was reported that construction was 98% complete. However, by the end of March 2020, while determining a budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year (and having taken the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration), Metro re-evaluated the timetable for the second phase's launch and anticipated it would be ready for service on April 1, 2021.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: From March 26, 2020, until June 28, 2020, trains were bypassing , , , , , , , , and stations due to the local impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the Washington D.C. area. All stations reopened on June 28, 2020.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On April 23, 2020, WMATA announced that Silver Line service would be suspended beginning on May 23, 2020, in order to rebuild stations west of Ballston–MU station and to complete the second phase of the Silver Line. This was in part due to the historically low ridership numbers for the transit agency due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, traffic free highways, and WMATA wanting to get around the clock maintenance done; it would be easier for work to be done without any riders or trains interfering with the workers. They offered local bus service from Wiehle, Greensboro, Spring Hill, Tysons, McLean, and East Falls Church to Ballston. Originally, WMATA planned on reducing Orange and Silver Line trains while continuously single tracking at East Falls Church instead of a full closure. Later that summer, while the Silver Line was closed, work began on integrating Phase 2's computerized control systems with those of the rest of the Metrorail system, a crucial step towards its completion. Phase 2's train control systems were finally integrated with that of the Metrorail system by the end of August and three more days of closures took place in November and December for final dynamic testing. On June 24, 2020, WMATA announced that Silver Line service would resume three weeks early when trains are able to bypass East Falls Church station. All Silver Line service resumed on August 16, 2020, when Silver and Orange Line trains were able to bypass East Falls Church. East Falls Church reopened on August 23, 2020.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In September 2020, the Metro Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported that more cracks were discovered in five of the six new stations on the second phase and wants the concrete panels to be replaced before the WMATA Board accepts responsibility and opens the new extension. In light of ongoing issues, as well as budget cuts resulting from declining ridership caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Metro pushed back the opening of the Phase 2 extension first to July 2021, and on December 15, 2020, to Fall of 2021.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On December 14, 2020, WMATA announced that Blue Line service would be suspended between February 13 to May 23, 2021, in order to rebuild the platforms at both and . Silver Line trains would run in place of the Blue Line every 12 minutes during the weekdays and 15 minutes on weekends while bypassing Addison Road. In early 2021, construction completion of Phase 2 reached 99 percent. As of March 2021, Phase 2 was projected to open to passenger service in early 2022.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On November 4, 2021, MWAA declared the work on the rail line to be "substantially complete"; however, WMATA estimated that it could take five months of testing and other preparations before passenger service could begin. The expansion took another major step towards completion and opening for service the following month with the completion of the rail yard, followed by initial tests of the full Phase 2 route days later. WMATA took control of the expansion in mid-January and is conducting a final round of testing for several months before it can be opened for service. After all the tie-in procedures were completed, WMATA took control of all remaining work to be done for Phase 2 and conducted a final round of testing before it could be ready for service. In January 2022, the opening was to be ready for service in May 2022 after four months of testing. In early March 2022, Phase 2 was projected to open in July 2022. However on March 24, 2022, general manager Paul Wiedefeld announced that the projected opening would be delayed once again and declined to give an estimated date of completion.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In June 2022, interim general manager Andy Off announced that WMATA was moving closer to announcing a completion date and expected to takeover the Phase 2 project in the next coming weeks. On June 23, 2022, WMATA announced that it had taken over control of the Phase 2 project from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Final testing of Phase 2 was scheduled to occur throughout early October via the actual running of empty trains throughout its course, and Metro expected all safety certification for this expansion to be completed around the same time before it finally opened for service. On September 22, Metro's board of directors voted unanimously in a meeting to authorize current general manager Randy Clarke to determine the opening date for Phase 2. Simulated service testing began operating along the Phase 2 tracks between October 3 and 17, 2022.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Following these simulated runs, WMATA announced that the extension would likely open before Thanksgiving, with one final impediment towards opening of service being a shortage of available 7000-series trains that could service it after a derailment near the Rosslyn station a year prior put most of them out of service, with plans to restore them hampered by conflicts with the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: On October 31, 2022, WMATA announced the extension would open on November 15, 2022. The extension opened on time following an opening ceremony held at Dulles International Airport station.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The Silver Line has two primary goals. The first is to link Washington, D.C. by rail to Dulles International Airport and the Northern Virginia edge cities of Tysons, Reston, Herndon, and Ashburn. The second is to spur urban development in Tysons and reduce overall reliance on highway traffic in the business district, Virginia's largest and the 12th-largest in the country. The district's area is comparable in size to downtown Washington, D.C., but is rather insulated from its surrounding neighborhoods and its streets have no existing grid pattern. The Silver Line also improves public access to the Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of National Air and Space Museum located near Dulles Airport; after the opening of the first phase of the Silver Line, Fairfax Connector began running shuttles to the museum from .


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: The pre-existing portions of the Silver Line opened as the Orange and Blue Lines on July 1, 1977, from to , on December 11, 1979, from Rosslyn to Ballston, November 22, 1980, from Stadium–Armory to , June 7, 1986, from Ballston-MU through and December 18, 2004, from Addison Road to . Unlike all prior segments of the Metrorail system, which were designed and constructed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the Silver line was designed and constructed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and is operated by WMATA. The first phase of the project was funded 43% by $900 million of federal funding, 28% by a special tax district on commercial property proximate to the Silver Line route and 28% by a $0.50 toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road (State Route 267, SR 267). Funding for the second phase of the project is shared by Loudoun County, Fairfax County, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the MWAA.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: While the Silver Line's eastern terminus was originally planned at , the plan was changed in 2012 for the line to instead originate at because Stadium-Armory's pocket track is too short for trains to turn around. Traveling westward through the District of Columbia, the Silver Line shares the Blue and Orange Line tracks. It continues through Arlington along the Orange Line and branches off immediately east of the Orange Line's station. The new tracks run in the median of the Dulles Connector Road (SR 267) to an elevated bridge, which takes them over SR 123. Two elevated stops along the west side of Route 123 serve the national headquarters of Capital One, SAIC and two enclosed Tysons Corner shopping malls. The tracks then enter a tunnel which emerges in the median of SR 7. Two elevated stations above SR 7 serve the western section of Tysons. The elevated track then swings back into the median of the Dulles Access Road and Phase 1 terminated at Wiehle-Reston East.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In Phase 2, the Silver Line continues west in the Dulles Access Road's median until the airport. Along the way, four additional stations were built with platforms in the median of the road and a faregate and pedestrian bridges to parking areas elevated above the highway. In anticipation of the station being built, in 1999 Fairfax County constructed a 1,750-space parking garage with ramps to Dulles Access Road's toll lanes and this facility was used for bus commuters on an interim basis during Phase 2 construction. The garage drew criticism because of alleged construction flaws. As originally planned, upon reaching the airport the track enters a tunnel which follows the path of the arrivals driveway of the airport terminal to a station located close to the terminal. The track leaves the tunnel near the airport hotel and economy parking lots and heads north parallel to the main runways. A storage yard and maintenance facility branches off to the west occupying the airport's buffer zone north of the end of its major runways. The final two stops are in the median of the Dulles Greenway, serving the Ashburn suburb. Hence, the line is expected to draw both airport traffic and commuters from the far western suburbs of Washington. D.C.. Buses previously provided these users with limited public transportation. In contrast, the Silver Line will eventually provide trains once every six minutes during rush hours and once every fourteen minutes during non-rush hours.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Metro's new 7000-series cars were ordered at a price of $3 million per car, 64 of which are for Silver Line service. The contract was signed on July 2, 2010, for 428 cars.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: Wolf Trap station was originally proposed as part of Phase 1 between Spring Hill station and Wiehle-Reston East station, but that station was excluded from the project due to profitability concerns.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: A study published in 2013 overseeing a long-term plan for the system subsequent to the Phase 2 extension plans to Ashburn included a possible three-station extension of the Silver Line northwest to Leesburg, which is the seat of Loudoun County. The stations from northwest to southeast are VA 7 Bypass, Crosstrail Blvd and Belmont Ridge. The same study included either adding an infill station between Tysons Corner and McLean, or renaming the former, to allow transfer with a loop line that would parallel the Capital Beltway, named the "Beltway Line". This station would be named Beltway and 123.


title: Silver Line (Washington Metro)

text: In December 2019, WMATA began to study changes to the Orange, Blue, and Silver lines to relieve congestion at Rosslyn station. Each proposed option would involve the construction of a new Rosslyn II station that would be connected to the existing Rosslyn station, allowing one of the three lines to be separated from the other two lines, increasing capacity of the station. Two of the options proposed would involve that line being the Silver Line. In one option, from west to east, the Silver Line would run express from West Falls Church to the Rosslyn II station, with a single intermediate stop at a new Ballston II station. Then, the Silver Line would run along new tracks to a new station at Georgetown, followed by several new stations under M Street NW to Union Station. The Silver Line would then travel north-east to new stations in Ivy City, Port Towns, Hyattsville, and finally to new College Park II and Greenbelt II stations. In the second option, from west to east, the Silver Line would remain unchanged in Virginia until reaching the Rosslyn II station, after which point it would travel along new tracks to Georgetown, followed by several new stations under M Street NW to Union Station. Then, the Silver Line would travel north-east through Ivy City, Port Towns, Landover Hills, and finally intersect the Orange Line at New Carrollton.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: HMS "Ocean" was a Landing Platform Helicopter, formerly the UK's helicopter carrier and the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She was designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force. She was constructed in the mid-1990s by Kvaerner Govan on the River Clyde and fitted out by VSEL at Barrow-in-Furness prior to trials and subsequent acceptance in service. "Ocean" was commissioned in September 1998 at her home port HMNB Devonport, Plymouth.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In December 2017, the Brazilian Navy confirmed the purchase of the ship for £84.6 million. Following her decommissioning from Royal Navy service on 27 March 2018, she arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 25 August 2018, with the intention of being commissioned as "Atlântico" and fully operational by 2020.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: An invitation to tender for a new helicopter carrier was issued in February 1992. In February 1993 "The Times" reported that the carrier faced cancellation due to budgetary constraints. However, at approximately the same time, British forces were engaged in operations in the Balkans, which saw the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's aviation training ship RFA "Argus" pressed into service as an amphibious transport ship. "Argus"s accommodation and facilities proved inadequate for the needs of a large Embarked Military Force (EMF), which emphasised the need for a purpose-built platform. On 29 March 1993, the defence procurement minister announced that development of the new Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) was proceeding. Two shipbuilders tendered for the contract – Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) and Swan Hunter. On 11 May 1993, the government announced that VSEL had won the contract. The build was to commercial standards, reducing costs significantly and leading to a construction spend of £154 million (£ in ), comparable to that of a Type 23 frigate. VSEL, a warship manufacturer, sub-contracted the build phase to the commercial Kværner yard in Govan, Glasgow.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: That VSEL's bid was £71 million lower than Swan Hunter's was the source of political controversy and led to a National Audit Office investigation to determine whether the competition was fair. The report, published on 29 July 1993, stated that, although VSEL did subsidise its bid, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was right to award the contract to VSEL because the subsidy was much smaller than the difference between the two bids; VSEL's bid was £139.5 million compared to Swan Hunter's £210.6 million. "The Times" also suggested that the subsidy was as little as £10 million. In anticipation of the report, the "Financial Times" described the different philosophies adopted by the two bidders; while Swan Hunter viewed the ship as entirely military, "VSEL thought the design was basically a merchant ship with military hardware bolted on." VSEL's decision to sub-contract the build phase took advantage of lower overheads at a civilian yard as well as efficiency drives by its parent, Kværner.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: Launched on 11 October 1995, she was subsequently named at Barrow by Her Majesty the Queen on 20 February 1998, prior to delivery to Devonport. In her sea trial, she reached a top speed of ; however, her usual top speed is .


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: "Ocean" was designed to provide the amphibious assault capabilities last offered by and . She can deploy an Embarked Military Force (EMF) of a Royal Marines Commando Group from 3 Commando Brigade supported by aircraft and landing craft. The ship's company included 9 Assault Squadron (9 ASRM) from 1 Assault Group Royal Marines whose primary role is as an Amphibious Assault Squadron. Secondary tasks include boarding parties, beach reconnaissance and providing amphibious knowledge to the ships Command. Besides these roles they have responsibilities within the ship which include firefighting, watchkeeping and security. 9 ASRM is divided into a HQ unit, Landing Craft Troop, Signals detachment, Vehicle Deck Party and Assault Supply Team.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: HMS "Ocean" was also capable of limited anti-submarine warfare activities, supporting afloat training and acting as a base facility for other embarked forces including counter-terrorism units.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: The ship was capable of carrying four to six Westland Apache AH1 helicopters operated by the Army Air Corps, as well as helicopters of the Royal Air Force, including the larger twin-rotor Boeing Chinook transports. Prior to their retirement, "Ocean" could transport up to fifteen fixed-wing Harrier V/STOL aircraft of Joint Force Harrier in the ferry role, but was unable to operate as a fixed-wing aircraft carrier because she lacked the ski jump that is needed to launch a fully loaded Harrier.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: For the 2012 London Olympics, she carried four Army Air Corps and four Fleet Air Arm Westland Super Lynx helicopters, to deploy special forces and conduct other missions in a security role.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: Four Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel (LCVPs) were permanently embarked and manned by 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: Weeks after being commissioned, "Ocean" was undertaking the warm water element of her first-of-class trials, when she was deployed on short notice to the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua to provide humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch. In early 1999, "Ocean" was scheduled to take part in an exercise in the Atlantic, but was diverted to the Mediterranean in readiness for possible deployment to Kosovo.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: During 2000, "Ocean" supported Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone, joining in aiding the suppression of rebel activity with her own embarked force, and providing support facilities for the Spearhead battalion ashore.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: On 17 February 2002, whilst under command of Captain Adrian Johns, a unit of Royal Marines from "Ocean" accidentally landed on the San Felipe beach in the Spanish town of La Linea instead of Gibraltar, causing a minor diplomatic incident as various media outlets labelled the mistake as an "invasion".


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: "Ocean" was part of a large Royal Navy task force deployed for Operation Telic, the UK contribution to the 2003 Iraq War, for which she was awarded a new battle honour "Al Faw 2003". In the helicopter assault role she was accompanied by .


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In the summer of 2006, under the command of Captain Christopher Clayton, the ship was deployed as part of the task force involved in the Aurora exercises on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Clayton was later succeeded by Captain Tony Johnstone-Burt.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In 2007, "Ocean" began her first long refit period. This was carried out by Devonport Management Limited at their Devonport Royal Dockyard facility and lasted around 12 months. Following this major period of maintenance and upgrading work, "Ocean" sailed from Plymouth on Wednesday 24 September 2008 to start sea trials. As part of that upgrade, a PyTEC pyrolysising waste recycling unit was fitted.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: On 18 February 2009, "Ocean" sailed from Devonport as part of the "Taurus 09" deployment. She was joined on this deployment by the landing platform dock , as the flagship of the group, which included Type 23 Frigates and and four ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. This exercise was filmed for the second series of the Channel 5 documentary "Warship". In June 2009, "Ocean" took part in exercise Bersama Shield with HMS "Somerset" and off the Malay Peninsula.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: During the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Prime Minister Gordon Brown assigned "Ocean" and other units to rescue stranded travellers and army personnel across the English Channel in Operation Cunningham.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In 2010, the ship was sent on a multi-purpose deployment. This started with exercise Auriga on the eastern coast of the US. She then moved to Brazil to conduct an exercise with the Brazilian marines; whilst there a defence co-operation agreement was signed on board. She then crossed the Atlantic to Nigeria to participate in the "Nigeria at 50" presidential fleet review and provide training to the Nigerian navy as part of the African partnership programme. She returned to Devonport in November.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In April 2011, while under command of Captain Keith Blount, the ship took part in the COUGAR 11 deployment under the ultimate command of Commander Amphibious Task Group (CATG). During this deployment, she took part in Exercise Cypriot Lion.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In May 2011, she was detached from CATG's COUGAR 11 deployment and sent with embarked Apaches to aid operations in Libya along with the attack helicopters aboard the French amphibious assault ship "Tonnerre" (L9014). This was the first time that Apache helicopters were sent directly into action from a Royal Navy ship. Her initial complement of three Apaches was bolstered by a fourth soon after, and later a fifth. The deployment included a large medical team, a sign of the ship's flexibility.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: On 4 May 2012, she moored at Greenwich to prepare for her role of providing logistics support, accommodation and a helicopter landing site during the London 2012 Olympic Games. From 24 to 28 May 2012, she visited Sunderland, her affiliated port, and made other port calls before returning to London on 13 July. After Olympic duty, "Ocean" returned to her home port of HMNB Devonport for a scheduled period of maintenance. The LPH role was provided by until 2014. On 22 July 2014, "Ocean" took over the helicopter carrier role again, after her 15-month, £65 million refit, replacing "Illustrious", which then returned to her home port Portsmouth for the last time, being decommissioned on 28 August 2014. As part of the Response Force Task Group COUGAR 14 deployment, "Ocean" participated in exercises off Albania and France.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In April 2015 "Ocean" took part in Exercise Joint Warrior 15-1 around the coast of Scotland, with Wildcat helicopters landing on her for the first time. She then stopped again in Sunderland where the ship's company exercised their right to the freedom of the city, with more than 300 officers and ratings parading through the city centre.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: "Ocean" became the Royal Navy Fleet Flagship in June 2015. In December 2015, she returned to port after Exercise COUGAR 15, an amphibious warfare exercise in the Mediterranean with the French Navy.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: In September 2016, " Ocean " left Devonport for the inaugural Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (JEF(M)) Task Group deployment which is the successor to the annual Cougar deployments. The bulk of this deployment took place East of Suez and demonstrated the UK's ongoing ability to deploy highly effective and combat capable maritime forces anywhere in the world.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: The core task group included the LSD RFA "Mounts Bay" (L3008), MOD strategic Ro-Ro vessel and . Elements of the Royal Marines 42 Commando, were spread across the force. Frigates and Destroyers from the Royal Navy and French Navy joined throughout the deployment.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: On the 60th anniversary of Operation Musketeer, "Ocean" became the flagship of COMATG. This marked the end of the JEF(M) deployment.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: On 25 November, the ship rendezvoused with . COMATG assumed command of the U.S. Task Force 50, becoming Commander, Task Force 50 (CTF 50). Due to the U.S. Navy gap in carrier coverage in the Middle East, this was the first time a Royal Navy vessel had commanded the U.S. formation responsible for maritime war fighting in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulfs of Aden and Oman and the Indian Ocean. On 24 March "Ocean" returned to Devonport. During the deployment she steamed 23,000 miles, visited 11 countries, provided a platform for six British ambassadors and High Commissioners and was home to up to 1150 service personnel.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: At the end of August 2017, "Ocean" left Devonport for her final deployment, scheduled to take over as Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 flagship in the Mediterranean. Before she could relieve with SNMG2, "Ocean" was redeployed to assist in disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, and then the subsequent Hurricane Maria.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: "Ocean" was decommissioned on 27 March 2018 at HMNB Devonport, with Queen Elizabeth II attending the ceremony.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: Brazil, seeking a replacement for their navy's outgoing flagship, NAe "São Paulo", began discussions with the United Kingdom in 2017 to negotiate the purchase of "Ocean" for £84.3 million (312 million Brazilian Reais), following her decommissioning in 2018. An agreement was struck and, after being transferred to Brazil, the former "HMS Ocean" was commissioned as "Atlântico" in June 2018. She is the flagship of the Brazilian Navy since.


title: HMS Ocean (L12)

text: Initially being designated with the initials PHM ("Porta Helicópteros Multipropósito", Multipurpose Helicopter Carrier), the ship's designation was changed to NAM ("Navio Aeródromo Multipropósito", Multipurpose Aircraft Carrier) in 12 November 2020 due to her ability to host UAVs and VTOL aircraft.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: On October 8, 2020, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrests of 13 men suspected of orchestrating a domestic terror plot to kidnap American politician Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, and otherwise using violence to overthrow the state government. Half of the suspects were tied to a paramilitary militia group that called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen. Six of the suspects were charged in federal court, while the other seven were charged with state crimes. A week later, a fourteenth suspect was arrested and charged in state court.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Two men pleaded guilty and offered to testify on behalf of the prosecution as part of a favorable plea deal, while two men were acquitted at trial. Two other men were later found guilty of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to possess weapons of mass destruction. One of those men was also convicted of another explosives charge.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Three other men were later convicted of felony counts of gang membership, providing material support to terrorism, and illegal weapons possession in the first state trial stemming from the case. On December 15, 2022, Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison, and Pete Musico were sentenced to seven to 20, 10 to 20, and 12 to 20 years in prison, respectively.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Preceding the 2020 United States elections, law enforcement officials, members of Congress, and groups tracking extremism in the country warned about the increasing threat potential from militia and far-right groups. The Anti-Defamation League identified Michigan as a state where the modern militia movement found its roots and where a number of militia groups remain active. However, Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, said the Wolverine Watchmen group, which the suspects were members of, "flew under the radar", adding, "This is simply not a big group that we'd ever heard of."


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: The Wolverine Watchmen group was reportedly an offshoot of the Michigan Militia. The day after the suspects were arrested, the Michigan Militia issued a statement disavowing the group. Other Michigan-based militia groups also distanced themselves from the plotters' actions and intentions. The Michigan Home Guard, a militia that one of the suspects had once been a member of before being kicked out in 2020, released a statement condemning the Wolverine Watchmen's actions.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: The plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer developed from June through September. Within the week preceding the Wolverine Watchmen arrests, there were at least three other state and federal arrest operations linked to the Boogaloo movement, to which the Wolverine Watchmen group's ideology adhered.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Whitmer, the main target of the plot, had seen her political profile elevated over the preceding months due to her early response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Michigan, in which she enacted strict mitigation measures such as a lockdown of the state. She became a target of criticism from far-right groups, and her measures triggered protests in April and May. President Donald Trump offered his support for the protests, derisively calling Whitmer "that woman from Michigan" and tweeting on April 17: "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" Two weeks later, on April 30, armed protesters entered the Michigan State Capitol.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Ultimately, on October 2, 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court made two rulings in response to the measures: a 4–3 ruling that declared a 1945 law allowing Whitmer to enact the measures was unconstitutional, and a unanimous ruling that declared a 1976 act did not give Whitmer the power to enact the measures without legislative approval. This put uncertainty over enforcement of the measures and forced the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services – and later, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration – to circumvent it by ordering similar measures, even after the plot was made public.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: The suspected participants were tied to a paramilitary militia group that called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen. The group was co-founded by Pete Musico and Joseph Morrison; the latter is considered the group's "commander". An NBC News investigation into the suspects' social media profiles found links between their ideologies and those of the broader boogaloo movement. The Wolverine Watchmen group had been recruiting members on Facebook from November 2019 until June 2020, when Facebook began purging all boogaloo-related material.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: The suspects named in the federal indictment, charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, were Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta. Five of the men were Michigan residents, while the sixth, Croft, was from Delaware. Adam Fox and Barry Croft were accused of being the ringleaders of the plot. The suspects charged with state crimes, including providing material support for terrorist acts, firearm crimes, and gang membership, were Wolverine Watchmen founders Musico and Morrison, along with Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor, Michael Null, William Null, and Paul Bellar. At least four of the 13 suspects had attended prior rallies at the Michigan State Capitol. On October 15, a fourteenth suspect, Brian Higgins of Wisconsin, was charged at the state level with material support of an act of terrorism. Garbin pleaded guilty on January 27, 2021 and agreed to testify against his five alleged co-conspirators.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Adam Fox was the mastermind of the plot. He was born Adam Waggoner but changed his last name to his mother's maiden name in 2014. He had been living in the basement of his former employer, a vacuum repair shop in Grand Rapids. Fox received permission for that living arrangement from the shop's owner who felt empathy towards Fox, as Fox was homeless and had dogs. The basement was used to hold multiple meetings discussing the plot. Fox posted a YouTube video in June, mentioning Whitmer's handling of the pandemic as one of his motives for the plot. According to his employer, Fox espoused anti-police and anti-government views, along with support for the boogaloo movement, and had recently become worried about the U.S. becoming a communist country and Democratic politicians taking away his guns. Fox had previously been a member of another militia group called the Michigan Home Guard, but he was kicked out due to "rage issues" and threatening other members on social media.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: While under surveillance, Fox was recorded by the FBI as saying "Snatch and grab, man. Grab the fuckin’ governor. Just grab the bitch. Because at that point, we do that... it’s over" and "I want to have the governor hog-tied, laid out on a table, while we all pose around like we just made the world’s biggest goddamn drug bust, bro."


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Fox was convicted in federal court for kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Joseph M. Morrison is considered the leader of the Wolverine Watchmen. His home in Munith, which he shared with Musico, was used as a training site. Photographs of the home show a Confederate battle flag and a variation of the U.S. flag with alternating, vertical red and white stripes and a circle of stars surrounding the words "Liberty or Death". Morrison's neighbors told "The Daily Beast" that the home's residents were "disrespectful" and said large groups regularly gathered there on weekends, whereupon gunfire would be heard. His online alias was "Boogaloo Bunyan". Morrison had served in the U.S. Marine Corps since 2015, most recently with the 4th Marine Logistics Group in Battle Creek, Michigan, with the rank of lance corporal; he was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve on October 8, the same day as his arrest, for reasons unrelated to the criminal charges.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: In October 2022, Morrison was convicted in Michigan state court of materially aiding a terrorist and being a member of a gang. On December 15, 2022, he was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Ty Garbin was raised in Wyandotte but had been living in a manufactured home park in eastern Livingston County at the time of his arrest. His father is an Army veteran. Garbin was a licensed aircraft mechanic and had previously worked for SkyWest Airlines. He met Fox at a Second Amendment rally in Lansing. Garbin cased the governor's vacation home at night, texted about blowing up a bridge to slow police down, offered to paint his boat for "night fishing" as part of the kidnapping mission on the lake, and had the ability to manufacture guns. His lawyer mentioned he had no criminal record.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: After pleading guilty, Garbin was sentenced in August 2021 to 75 months in prison. Due to his cooperation with investigators, and the subsequent convictions of Fox and Croft, a judge reduced his sentence to 30 months in September 2022.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Barry Croft regularly posted violent messages on his social media accounts. These accounts depicted him wearing a tricorne and a sweatshirt with an insignia associated with the Three Percenters militia group; he was later identified as the second-in-command of its Wisconsin branch. The FBI identified him as a national leader of the organization in January 2021. He expressed support for the Russia investigation origins counter-narrative and opposition to the country's current immigration policy, and he believed the investigations into President Trump constituted an "uprising". However, he also included Trump's name in a grievance-filled hit-list of politicians that he wanted to hang, which he posted on Facebook in late June. He was living in Bear, Delaware, at the time of his arrest. Croft was arrested multiple times from 1994 to 1996 for assault and burglary. He was convicted in 1997 for possessing a gun in the commission of a felony and spent three years in prison. In April 2019, Croft was pardoned for the conviction, as well as the prior assault and burglary charges, by Delaware Governor John Carney. According to recordings of the plotters, Croft claimed he had been granted permission from God to commit murder.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Croft was convicted in federal court for kidnapping conspiracy, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and possessing an unregistered destructive device. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Kaleb Franks had spent $4,000 on equipment during the planning, including a helmet and night-vision goggles. He also brought a rifle with a suppressor to one of the training exercises. According to his LinkedIn profile, he studied clinical psychology at Washtenaw Community College and was employed as a peer recovery coach at an addiction treatment center in Waterford. He had previously battled an addiction to heroin but has been sober since 2013, according to his lawyer. He was convicted in 2011 for cocaine possession and in 2013 for second-degree home invasion. He served nine months in jail and two years under the jurisdiction of drug courts. He testified that he was motivated by a desire to die; because much of his family had died, he "didn't want to live anymore" and secretly hoped to be killed by police in a shootout.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Franks pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy and was sentenced to 48 months in prison by a federal judge.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Daniel Harris served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a rifleman from 2014 to June 2019, most recently at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Harris had been deployed to Japan and had reached the rank of corporal. He was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He worked as a security guard at two different companies after being discharged. In June, he attended a Black Lives Matter rally in his hometown of Lake Orion and was interviewed by a local newspaper, where he said he was "upset about the killing of George Floyd and police violence."


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Eight of the suspected conspirators met at Harris' home on August 23 to discuss the plot. While under surveillance, Harris was recorded by the FBI as saying "Have one person go to her (Whitmer's) house. Knock on the door, and when she answers it just cap her... at this point. Fuck it."


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Harris was the only defendant to take the stand in his own defense in the first federal trial. In April 2022, Harris was acquitted of all charges.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Brandon Caserta was shown wearing a Hawaiian-style shirt associated with the boogaloo movement in a TikTok video, and on Facebook, he praised Kyle Rittenhouse, a civilian who shot three protesters, killing two, during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August. Caserta was also a COVID-19 denier and supported the QAnon conspiracy theory; however, in one video, he criticized President Trump and called him a tyrant. His belief system apparently became more extreme following Whitmer's implementation of the statewide lockdown. His social media activity originally consisted of posts about comedy shows and podcasts, motivational quotes, and selfies; but following the lockdown, he began "liking" posts about conspiracy theories regarding Bill Gates, as well as memes about hogtying police officers.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: While under surveillance, Caserta was recorded by the FBI saying "When the time comes, there will be no need to try and strike fear through presence. The fear will be manifested through bullets" and "If this whole thing starts to happen. I’m telling you what, dude, I’m taking out as many of those motherfuckers as I can. Every single one, dude. Every single one."


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Pete Musico was active on YouTube, where he posted video blogs against taxes, gun control, and the so-called deep state. A video posted in 2019, entitled "Gretchen Whitmer Interview", depicted him railing against her policies around automobile ownership and promised he would interview Whitmer in person in a later video. Musico was also active on Gab, where he promoted the unfounded claim that there is an ongoing campaign to kill white people in South Africa. He also followed the accounts of Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs and "InfoWars" personality Owen Shroyer. On Twitter, he expressed support for Trump and conspiracy theories regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the high presence of mercury in vaccines. Musico's attorney said he was eventually kicked out of the Wolverine Watchmen because he was too "soft" and wouldn't commit to violence.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: In October 2022, Musico was convicted in Michigan state court of materially aiding a terrorist and being a member of a gang. On December 15, 2022, he was sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Shawn Fix hosted Wolverine Watchmen meetings at his home in Belleville to discuss the plot. The house's yard had Donald Trump presidential campaign signs and a Gadsden flag. He was working as a truck driver and had more than a dozen driving infractions from 2007 to 2018. Fix had been charged with assault and battery and aggravated assault in 2012, but the victim dropped the charges in 2013.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Fix was one of five suspects turned over for trial on December 7, 2022. They are accused of providing material support for terrorist acts as well as a gun crime.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Eric Molitor had posted support of the boogaloo movement on his Facebook profile. He also spoke positively about Kyle Rittenhouse and the St. Louis gun-toting controversy, along with anti-government sentiment. He had worked for a company that provides respiratory and ballistic protection to the military and first responders. In January 2020, he gave the Wexford County Commission a proposal to make it a Second Amendment sanctuary county, which passed unanimously the next month.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Molitor was one of five suspects turned over for trial on December 7, 2022. They are accused of providing material support for terrorist acts as well as a gun crime.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Michael and William Null, twin brothers, allegedly helped conduct surveillance on Whitmer's vacation home. They were also former members of another militia group called Michigan Liberty Militia. They were photographed at a protest held by Michigan United for Liberty, a right-wing group protesting against Whitmer's COVID-19 lockdown orders, at the Michigan State Capitol on April 30. William also attended another anti-lockdown rally in May, as well as Black Lives Matter rallies in Grand Rapids and Flint, according to Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, though Leaf also said William vented about the movement. William was also photographed at a February 2017 protest against President Trump's Executive Order 13769, held by the Equality Caucus of Genesee County in Flint. He and members of the Michigan Liberty Militia were counter-protesting while wearing military fatigues, carrying firearms, and waving a Gadsden flag. William also allegedly made threats against the protesters on Facebook.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: The brothers were two of the five suspects turned over for trial on December 7, 2022. They are accused of providing material support for terrorist acts as well as a gun crime.


title: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot

text: Paul Bellar, who was arrested in Columbia, South Carolina, where he had moved from Milford over the summer after an eviction, was responsible for designing the tactical training exercises used by the Wolverine Watchmen, which included the use of firearms, medical treatment, and other tasks. Bellar's former neighbor in Milford said the pandemic caused Bellar to lose his job and called him a "very angry person" and said he threatened her with a gun after a run-in with him. According to Bellar's father, he trained for the U.S. Army at Fort Jackson for a year before being discharged in 2019 with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.