Men charged in Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot also wanted to abduct Virginia governor: FBI
Members of a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and overthrow the state government also discussed abducting at least one other Democratic governor, Virginia’s Ralph Northam, an FBI agent said during a court hearing for some of the 13 suspects Tuesday morning.
Special Agent Richard Trask said the men were unhappy about the governors' response to the coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing rules that resulted.
“They discussed possible targets, taking a sitting governor, specifically issues with the governor of Michigan and Virginia based on the lockdown orders,” Trask told a Grand Rapids federal court.
The shocking revelation came during the first hearing for five of the six men facing federal conspiracy charges in the case. Attorneys asked the judge to release the suspects from custody while they await trial. The judge denied bond for three of the suspects and said he would rule on the other two at a later date.
Seven other men are facing state terrorism charges as part of the same scheme.
The failed plot, unveiled by state and federal prosecutors last week, called for Whitmer to be taken as a hostage and “tried” for treason before Election Day due to her “uncontrolled power” during the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said. The group began planning the attack in the spring after becoming increasingly angry at her lockdown measures, according to prosecutors.
Authorities uncovered the stunning plot through confidential sources and secretly recorded phone and in-person conversations, some of which showed the suspects allegedly talking “murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor.”
“Grab the f---ing Governor. Just grab the b---h,” one of the key suspects, Adam Fox, said in a July 27 phone call, according to a federal affidavit.
The men initially considered storming the Capitol building in Lansing with Molotov cocktails and taking hostages, including Whitmer, but later decided to snatch her out of her vacation home in northern Michigan, prosecutors said. They also held several firearm exercises over the past few months and were planning to buy explosives when authorities thwarted the plan last week, the FBI said in court documents.
Several of the 13 suspects have ties to an extremist ideology known as “boogaloo,” a loosely organized anti-government movement that seeks to ignite a second civil war in America, according to their social media activities. Officials said the seven men who are facing state charges are also tied to the Michigan-based paramilitary group Wolverine Watchmen.
The defendants who appeared in court Tuesday were Fox, 37; Ty Garbin, 24; Kaleb Franks, 26; Brandon Caserta, 32, and Daniel Harris, 23. The later three were the ones denied bond on Tuesday. The sixth man facing federal charges, 44-year-old Barry Croft, is being extradited to Michigan.
The first-term governor is an increasingly popular figure in Democratic politics and was considered as Joe Biden’s running mate. But President Trump and the Republican Party have sharply criticized her administration and response to the pandemic.
“LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” Trump tweeted on April 17.
Critics say his rhetoric has helped fuel hate and encourage violence across Michigan and the country.
Whitmer and her family had to be “moved around” at times to protect them from the group, which conducted surveillance outside her home multiple times, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told “CBS This Morning” in an interview last week.
With News Wire Services
