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March 13, 2022 — Lawyers for four men accused of plotting to break into Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's
vacation house and kidnap her at gunpoint say their clients were merely joking around and never conspired to kidnap her over her COVID-19 mandates.
"There was no consensus. There was no plot to kidnap Michigan's governor or any other governor "In his opening remarks, Adam Fox's attorney Christopher Gibbons said.
Fox, together with Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr., and Daniel Harris, is on trial in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on allegations of planning to abduct the Democratic governor in 2020.
Except for Caserta, all of the accused face charges of knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against people or property. The guys could face life in prison if found guilty by a 12-person jury.
Prosecutors informed the jury in their opening statement that they will present evidence proving the men planned to break into Whitmer's vacation house, hog-tie her, and haul her away at gunpoint to face treason charges over her COVID-19 orders.
"To do so, they would shoot, blow up, and kill everybody who stood in their way, establishing a war zone here in Michigan," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Roth said.
The evidence of two witnesses, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, is expected to be used by prosecutors. Both signed plea deals with prosecutors and agreed to testify against the defendants after being indicted alongside the four defendants by a grand jury in December 2020. Franks is awaiting sentencing, while Garbin is receiving a six-year sentence.
In October 2020, 13 men were arrested and charged with state and federal offenses in the suspected kidnapping scheme, some of whom prosecutors said were linked to an anti-government militia group known as Wolverine Watchmen. In state court, seven of them are facing accusations.
An attorney for Harris, Julia Anne Kelly, said the evidence will establish that her client was uninformed of any plots to abduct the governor.
Kelly remarked, "He liked to talk about alcohol, females, and guns." "In the summer of 2020, he wasn't ideal. But he hasn't done the things that the government accuses him of."
The FBI claimed it began following the group's operations after hearing online discussions of violent overthrows of state governments in order to lift restrictions on social and commercial activity imposed to combat the coronavirus.
One or more defendants are accused of discussing Whitmer's kidnapping and preparing to meet in Wisconsin to practice with assault guns, according to the indictment. The posts also discussed purchasing kidnapping supplies and placing surveillance on Whitmer's holiday property.
According to the indictment, Fox requested $4,000 worth of explosives from an undercover FBI agent acting as a co-conspirator. It further stated that Fox and Harris paid for the explosives in the weeks afterward.
WNCTIMES -- by Marjorie Farrington
