GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) — Two men charged with conspiring to kidnap the governor of Michigan wanted to capture and hang Gretchen Whitmer, prosecutors said in a grim closing statement Monday. rice field. To make a revolution in 2020.
“These defendants were outside the woman’s home in the middle of the night, had night vision goggles and a gun, and planned to kidnap her,” said assistant federal prosecutor Nils Kessler. that? ”
After a nine-day trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler told jurors Adam Fox and Barry Croft, months before the FBI put undercover agents and informants in the group that summer.・Repeatedly urged to pay attention to what Junior said.
It was Kessler’s efforts to get the jury to dismiss the defense’s claim that Fox and Croft were entrapped by the government at every step.
“‘Which governor will be dragged out and hanged for treason first?'” Kessler said, quoting Croft himself.
“Any governor would do that,” Kessler said. He wanted to have his own trial and execute her. ”
The ultimate goal, say prosecutors, is a second American Revolution, “something called boogaloo.”
Fox, 39, and Croft, 46, are on trial for the second time in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Jurors listened to secretly recorded conversations and read violent social media posts. Two undercover agents and one of his informants testified for hours that a man was trained at a “shooting range” in Wisconsin and Michigan, and that Whitmer’s house and possible bombing. I explained how I visited Elk Rapids to see the nearby bridges that have the nature.
Other Key Witnesses: Ty Garvin and Caleb Franks, who pleaded guilty, and informant Dan Chappell, an Army veteran who joined a Michigan paramilitary group and was brought to the FBI after hearing of a plot to kill police. He said he went
Court evidence shows Fox, Croft, and their allies were outraged by COVID-19 restrictions and generally fed up with the government.
However, defense attorneys have described Fox and Croft as “talkative,” sullen, foul-mouthed, marijuana-using individuals who are unable to exercise their free speech and lead extraordinary things like the kidnapping of public officials. A pair that smokes. They say FBI agents and informants fueled their anger and pulled them into their web.
Fox Attorney Christopher Gibbons told the jury, “In America, we’re not supposed to create domestic terrorists so the FBI can arrest them.” You shouldn’t try.”
Gibbons said there were “fantastic stories” by Fox and others — about raiding Mackinac, acquiring helicopters and boats, and possibly escaping through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
He said Fox lived in the basement of a vacuum cleaner store in the Grand Rapids area and was “isolated, broke and homeless.”
Gibbons said of Chappell, “Some really cool people have their attention on him wanting to be his friend.
Croft is a truck driver from Bear, Delaware.
Whitmer, a Democrat, accuses then-President Donald Trump of sowing distrust of coronavirus regulations, fomenting anger and refusing to denounce hate groups and right-wing extremists such as those accused of conspiracy. did.
Over the weekend, she said she was not following the second trial but was concerned about “violent rhetoric in this country.”
“This is a dangerous trend that is happening right now,” Whitmer said at the Michigan Democratic Convention in Lansing. I hope whoever is plotting it will be held accountable.”
Trump recently called the kidnapping plot a “bogus deal.”
The Justice Department indicted Croft, Fox, and four other men while Trump was in office. The second trial came after the FBI searched for documents, especially at his Mar-a-Lago estate, while it was under scrutiny by his right-wing supporters.
Law enforcement officials across the country have warned of increased threats and possible violent attacks on agents and buildings.
See AP’s full coverage of the kidnap plot trial: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
