During closing arguments on Friday, a government prosecutor described the defendants as “paranoid” and determined to start a civil war by kidnapping Whitmer and blaming her for restrictions on social and business activities due to COVID-19.
Defense attorneys said their clients were coerced into discussing the conspiracy by FBI informants and never made any concrete plans on their own.
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 highlights the extent to which the pandemic and government efforts to control it have become a divisive issue in American politics, pushing some people to extremes.
The four defendants – Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris – have been charged with kidnapping conspiracy. Fox, Croft and Harris were also charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.
If convicted, the men could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
On Monday, the 12-person jury ended the first day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
Around 3 p.m., the jurors asked US District Judge Robert Jonker: “What is a gun?” – a related reference to the accusation of a weapon of mass destruction.
Jonker replied that a weapon is anything that can be used to “destroy, injure, or kill someone or something, as opposed to something you would use for fun,” the Detroit Free Press reported.
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.
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.