Two men were found guilty by a federal jury of plotting to kidnap the Michigan governor. Gretchen Whitmer was convicted of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. in 2020. This was despite the fact that Whitmer had taken over protections in response to the pandemic. Prosecutors said that Whitmer’s kidnapping was just one step in their plan to start a civil war.
Barry Croft Jr. was with Adam Fox. reportedly leaders ofThe plot and were also found guilty ofTo plot to obtain a weapon for mass destruction. Through meetingsOhio drills in “shoot houses” in Wisconsin and Michigan, the men made plans to capture Whitmer at her vacation home and then detonate a bridge to throw off the police response to the kidnapping.
“You can’t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor and snatch the governor,” federal prosecutor Nils Kessler said, during closing arguments for the case. According to prosecutors Fox told members of the group to “just grab the bitch” so that they could put her on “trial.”
Kessler added that the group’s goal went far beyond simple frustration with Whitmer. Their “ultimate goal,” Kessler said, was to “set off a second American civil war, a second American Revolution, something that they call the boogaloo. They wanted to do it for a long while before they settled on Gov. Whitmer.”
The verdict brings an end toThis was one of the most significant domestic terrorist plots ever to be brought to court. It was the government’s second try at prosecuting the men; in April, a jury failed to reach a verdict on Fox and Croft, while acquittingTwo other men were charged in connection with the plot. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), while building a case against them, placed agents in the Michigan group. Two men involved in the plot pleaded guilty and assisted prosecutors.
“Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed,” said Whitmer in a statement, in response to the verdict. “But we must also take a hard look at the status of our politics. Plots against public officers and Threats to FBI are a disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism that festers in our nation, threatening the very foundation of our republic.”
Prosecutors saidIn their case, Fox and Croft were upset about protectionsThe governor placed the order in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic struck and Michigan residents were upset. Conducted armed demonstrationsProtest the COVID protocols near the state legislature Protestors had a Whitmer doll suspended from a noose at one of those demonstrations.
During the pandemic, anger over life-saving measures was common among the right. Have suggested that a tweet by then-President Donald Trump to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and his other attempts to stoke anger over pandemic protectionsThis may have contributed to the plot. Trump recently said that the kidnapping plot was a “fake deal.”
