The Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap trial opened with lots of talk about COVID-19 restrictions, with prosecutors telling jurors that four militia members were so enraged by the lockdowns and masks that they they plotted to kidnap the governor, hogtie her, blow up a bridge and kill any police officers who got in the way.
The defense painted a different picture, maintaining the defendants were upset about the pandemic restrictions, but never had any plan to kidnap the governor, that they were entrapped by undercover FBI agents and informants who ran the show and that any comments about Whitmer were merely tough talk.
This is the story that jurors will have to sort through as they listen to allegations about a group called the Michigan Wolverines, that prosecutors say did a lot more than talk. They cased her vacation house, drew up maps, held training exercises with human silhouettes and built practice bombs, prosecutors said, arguing this was all part of their bigger plan.
“They were going to break into the governor’s home, kidnap her at gunpoint, hogtie her and take her away,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Roth told jurors. “This was not just talk. Their actions were louder than and just as disturbing as their words. It is their actions that show just how serious they were about doing this.”
Roth laid out for the jury the government’s case, which seeks to punish extremist behavior that has increased in the U.S. over the years. He told the jury that the Whitmer suspects were part of a growing violent movement in the United States, and that the government caught on to the suspects with the help of a militia member who got upset by what he was hearing and seeing, went to the FBI and agreed to go undercover.
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“They believe a civil war is coming and they are getting ready for it,” said Roth, who also told jurors about various disturbing comments the defendants allegedly made:
- One suspect allegedly said he asked God for permission to kill, and that he got it.
- Accused ringleader Adam Fox claimed to be anointed by God, wanted a hostage and wasn’t satisfied with storming the Capitol, allegedly saying: “You take politicians — now you got human life. We just want the bitch/ We want the tyrant bitch.”
- Another suspect “just wanted to murder her” and suggested shooting her when she came from work, and posing as a pizza delivery person.
- Another allegedly talked about crushing her skull,
Roth also told the jury about two of the government’s star witnesses: two co-defendants who pleaded guilty early on and have planned to testify against the others at trial.
“They will tell you how real this was,” Roth said. “They went from a rough idea to a specific and concrete plan that they were preparing to execute.”
‘COVID sent them overboard’
Christopher Gibbons, who is representing Fox, the accused ringleader in the case, was the first to approach the jury from the defense table.
“We couldn’t disagree more on our side of the table about what the evidence in this case suggests and means,” Gibbons told the jury. “Adam Fox did not commit a crime in this case. Adam Fox did not agree with another person to kidnap the governor of Michigan. There was no plan. There was no conspiracy.”
All there was, Gibbons said, was a group of disgruntled militia members who drank beer, held barbecues and talked a lot.
“You’re going to hear a lot of talk,” Gibbons said, noting the case dates to mid march of 2020, when the pandemic took off. “Things for all Americans had drastically changed. We couldn’t go to work. We had to stay away from each other.”
As for the defendants, Gibbons said: “They’re already inclined to be upset, and COVID sent them overboard.”
Gibbons told the jury that his client was egged on and used by a rogue undercover informant named Dan, who used to be in the group and was hellbent on helping the FBI build a case.
“Before Dan came on board, they drank beer, smoked pot and went out back and dumped a couple mags into a tree trunk,” Gibbons told the jury.
According to Gibbons, it was “Dan” who recorded many of the conversations in the group, who planned events and training exercises, all while getting” envelopes of cash” from the FBI for his work.
“Dan is continuing to provide access (to the suspects), but there’s no crime. The Watchmen aren’t breaking the law. The Watchmen are talking. They’re talking political talk, militia talk. But they’re not breaking the law.”
Gibbons described Fox as a broke “misfit” who lived and worked in the basement of a vacuum shop, and had no access to running water or a toilet — brushing his teeth at a Mexican restaurant.
“Adam Fox talks big. He draws attention to himself, he’s trying to be cool,” Gibbons told jurors.
But he had no plan to kidnap Whitmer, nor did he have money to put a down payment on any bomb materials, as prosecutors have alleged, Gibbons told jurors.
“He was broke as a joke. He had no money,” Gibbons said, stressing: “There was no agreement. There was no conspiracy. The verdict at the end of this case is going to be not guilty.”
Defense attorney Julia Kelly, who is representing 23-year-old Daniel Harris, echoed similar concerns about the government’s case. She told the jury her client “watched the murder of George Floyd” and the protests that followed, was “unhappy about the direction of our country” and so joined the Wolverine Watchmen.
“Daniel made many inappropriate and immature comments,” Kelly said, noting her client quoted from “South Park” and talked about drinking and girls. “He was not perfect in the summer of 2020, but he has not done with what the government has accused him of.”
Defense attorney Mike Hills, who is representing Brandon Caserta, cited similar concerns. He said his client was upset about the pandemic and the shutdowns.
“The fabric of our country was being stretched if not torn at the seams,” Hills said. “My client was concerned about society and what was going on.”
But Caserta never planned to kidnap the governor, nor agreed to be part of any such alleged plan, he said.
Opening statements continue.
On trial are Fox, 38, of Potterville, who is accused of being the ringleader; Harris, 24, of Lake Orion; Caserta, 33, of Canton Township, and Barry Croft, 46, of Delaware.
Tresa Baldas:tbaldas@freepress.com
