Aug 23 (Reuters) – A jury on Tuesday convicted two men accused of conspiring to trigger “a second American revolution” by kidnapping Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, handing the U.S. government victory in its second attempt to process the case
The verdict against Adam Fox, 39, and Barry Croft Jr., 46, comes about four months after a federal judge in Grand Rapids, Michigan, declared a mistrial in the same case. Two other defendants were found not guilty in the first trial.
The pair, who the government said were members of the Three Percenters militia group, were also found guilty of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, an explosive device that prosecutors said was intended to hinder the response of law enforcement to the planned kidnapping. Croft was found guilty of an additional charge of possession of an explosive device.
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The men face the possibility of life in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.
The plot was aimed at ending the Democratic governor’s mandates to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic, prosecutors said.
By kidnapping the governor and putting her “on trial,” they said, the men hoped to push the country into open conflict as a contentious presidential election neared in November 2020.
“They wanted to unleash a second American civil war and a second American revolution,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler told jurors during closing arguments Monday.
“They didn’t just want to kidnap her,” Kessler said, referring to Whitmer. “They wanted to execute her.”
After the verdicts, Whitmer, who is running for re-election in November, warned of the dangers of “radicalized domestic terrorism.”
(L-R) Adam Fox, 39, and Barry Croft Jr., 46, in a combined image. REUTERS/Kent County Sheriff’s Department
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“I cannot – I will not – allow extremists to get in the way of the work we do,” he said in a statement issued by his office. “They will never break my unwavering faith in the goodness and decency of our people.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said in a statement Tuesday that the threat to Whitmer also puts bystanders at risk and that no elected official should be targeted in this way.
“Today’s verdict confirms that this plot was very real and very dangerous,” Birge said. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate violent extremist plots of this nature that attempt to undermine our democracy.”
The 12-member jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days, according to the Detroit News.
In the retrial, prosecutors again used the testimony of FBI informants and two key witnesses who pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy charges.
In planning the kidnapping, Fox compiled a list of tools the conspirators would need, including handcuffs and a hood to cover Whitmer’s head, the Detroit News quoted prosecutors as saying during the trial. A makeshift house was built to simulate breaking into and kidnapping the governor’s vacation home in northern Michigan, they alleged.
In their closing arguments, attorneys for Croft and Fox told jurors the government’s case was an entrapment. They said their clients committed no crime and criticized the FBI’s use of informants in the case, the Detroit News reported.
“The FBI shouldn’t exist to make people look like terrorists when they’re not,” Joshua Blanchard, Croft’s attorney, told jurors.
The two are among 13 men who were arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Seven of them face charges in state court.
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Reporting by Tyler Clifford in New York Editing by Matthew Lewis
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