Prosecutors say Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris planned to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home in northern Michigan in hopes of ending what they were collecting like draconian restrictions championed by the Democrat to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The defendants had hoped the kidnapping would spark a second American Civil War ahead of the 2020 presidential election, with the pandemic exacerbating the country’s intense polarization, prosecutors said.
During a trial that lasted nearly a month, defense attorneys argued that FBI informants coerced their clients into discussing the conspiracy. The men never made concrete plans on their own and were victims of entrapment and excess by the prosecution, their lawyers claimed.
On Tuesday, during their second day of deliberation in a Grand Rapids court, the 12-member jury asked US District Judge Robert Jonker for a transcript of the trial evidence. He denied their request, saying the 3,400 pages of transcripts weren’t yet available and jurors had to rely on their recollections, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The case has cast a spotlight on two of the right-wing activist organizations that have emerged in the years since former President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. It also suggests how the pandemic and government efforts to control it have become a divisive issue in American politics, pushing some people to extremes.
The four defendants were charged with conspiracy to kidnap. Fox, Croft and Harris were also charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted, the men could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Two other men originally charged – Ty Garbin and Kalen Franks – reached plea deals and served as star witnesses for the prosecution at trial. Garbin is currently serving a six-year sentence, while Franks awaits sentencing.
The four men on trial, plus Garbin and Franks, are among 13 people who were arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in connection with the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Seven of them face charges in state court.
The FBI said it began tracking the group’s movements after seeing online discussions that included posts about the violent overthrow of some state governments. The group’s goal was to end restrictions on social and business activities imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Prosecutors also accused them of wanting to start a second American Civil War, while defense attorneys said their clients were often high on drugs and inclined to make “crazy” talk rather than act.
Harris, Caserta and an undercover informant who testified at trial were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group, prosecutors say. Croft and Fox were members of “Three Percenters”, a similar far-right organization.