Arrests made in plot uncovered to kidnap and murder Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
On October 8, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge held a press conference to share that six men have been arrested and charged federally with conspiring to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. According to a complaint filed on October 6, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta conspired to kidnap the Governor from her vacation home in the Western District of Michigan. Under federal law, each faces any term of years up to life in prison if convicted. Fox, Garbin, Franks, Harris, and Caserta are residents of Michigan. Croft is a resident of Delaware.
Birge said that “Federal and state law enforcement are committed to working together to make sure violent extremists never succeed with their plans, particularly when they target our duly elected leaders.”
According to CBS News, seven additional suspects linked to a militia group known as the Wolverine Watchmen are in custody on state charges.
Federal and state authorities in Michigan unveiled charges against a total of 13 people accused of separate plots to kidnap Whitmer over coronavirus restrictions she imposed in the state, detailing the harrowing allegations in court papers on Thursday. ~ CBS News
Kent County Jail, Kent County Jail, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Antrim County Sheriff’s Office,
The federal complaint in this case shows that the FBI began an investigation earlier this year after becoming aware through social media that a group of individuals was discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components. Through confidential sources, undercover agents, and clandestine recordings, law enforcement learned that the individuals were planning to kidnap the Governor – and acting in furtherance of that plan. This group used operational security measures, including communicating by encrypted messaging platforms and used code words and phrases while trying to avoid detection by law enforcement.
On two occasions, members of the alleged conspiracy conducted coordinated surveillance on the Governor’s vacation home. Fox and Croft discussed detonating explosive devices to divert police from the area of the vacation home and Fox even inspected the underside of an M-31 highway bridge for places to seat an explosive, according to the complaint. Among other activities, the complaint alleges Fox purchased a taser for use in the kidnapping and that the group successfully detonated an improvised explosive device wrapped with shrapnel to test its anti-personnel capabilities.
The FBI and Michigan State Police executed arrests as multiple conspirators met to pool funds for explosives and exchange tactical gear.
“All of us can disagree about politics, but those disagreements should never, ever result in violence,” stated U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, Eastern District of Michigan. “The allegations in this complaint are deeply disturbing. We owe our thanks to the men and women of law enforcement who uncovered this plot and have worked so hard to protect Governor Whitmer.”
“These alleged extremists undertook a plot to kidnap a sitting governor,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Josh P. Hauxhurst. “Whenever extremists move into the realm of actually planning violent acts, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force stands ready to identify, disrupt and dismantle their operations, preventing them from following through on those plans.”
The FBI used confidential informants as part of the investigation and paid one of them more than $14,000 and paid $8,600 to another, according to news shared by the Detroit Free Press.
Only a few hours following word of the arrests in the plot against her, Whitmer held a press briefing wherein she slammed Donald Trump and blamed the president for the domestic terrorists’ plan to kidnap and murder her – because he wouldn’t condemn white supremacists during the recent presidential debate with Joe Biden when he had the opportunity to make that condemnation. Instead of condemning white supremacists, Trump instead told the far-right group, “Proud Boys,” to “stand back and stand by,” which Whitmer claimed that groups in the far right took as a rallying cry.
“Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action,” Whitmer said. Trump tweeted that the governor “has done a terrible job” and again called on her to “open up your state.” ~ Mail.com
In his tweeted rebuke against Whitmer, Trump claimed that it was “his” Justice Department that made the arrests and that Whitmer never even said “Thank You;” although she is on record as thanking the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation and those that actually made the arrests.
Agents of the Detroit Field Office of the FBI and other members of their Joint Terrorism Task Force, including the Michigan State Police, are conducting the investigation, which remains ongoing. FBI Agents and JTTF members in the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI, which covers Delaware, are also involved. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan is prosecuting the federal charges. U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Eastern District of Michigan and Delaware have assisted.
Based on information developed in the investigation, State of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the simultaneous arrest of seven other individuals on state charges of providing material support of terroristic activities and of possessing a firearm in the course of that offense.
For more on the plot to kidnap and murder Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, see the video below accompanying this article.
(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
