GRAND RAPIDS – In a do-over for the government, a federal jury Tuesday convicted two men charged with plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer out of anger over her handling of the pandemic, ending a dramatic trial that highlighted the growth of violent extremism in America.
The jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days before delivering the guilty verdicts against Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., of Bear, Delaware, who were convicted on all counts and face up to life in prison for crimes they insisted were hatched by the FBI.
The verdicts drew praise from many in law enforcement and the legal community, especially Whitmer, whom prosecutors said was the target of extremists who wanted to settle their differences with violence.
The guilty verdicts came down on Whitmer’s birthday.
Whitmer: ‘Disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism’
“Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed,” Whitmer said in a statement, adding:
“But we must also take a hard look at the status of our politics. Plots against public officials and threats to the FBI are a disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism that festers in our nation, threatening the very foundation of our republic,” Whitmer said. “I cannot — I will not — let extremists get in the way of the work we do. They will never break my unwavering faith in the goodness and decency of our people.”
Fox and Croft, who will be sentenced at a later date, were convicted of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to possess weapons of mass destruction. Croft was convicted on an additional weapons charge.
The men were judged by a second, more diverse jury than in the first trial, which ended with no convictions for the government. Two men were acquitted in that trial and the jury deadlocked on charges against Fox and Croft Jr., triggering a mistrial that prompted the government to try again.
More:Feds try to salvage Whitmer kidnap case in closing arguments: ‘They wanted to execute her’
More:Defense urges Whitmer kidnap jury to acquit: ‘Send this show packing … this isn’t Russia’
The sting
The historic case ends with four men going to prison and two others going free, two years after the FBI arrested all six on federal charges they plotted to kidnap the governor from her vacation home out of anger over her lockdown orders and mask mandates, and blow up a bridge near her home to slow down law enforcement. Five defendants were arrested in an FBI sting outside an Ypsilanti warehouse, where prosecutors said the men thought they were going to make a down payment on explosives, pick up free military gear, and then head to Buffalo Wild Wings for free beer and chicken. But it was all a ruse.
Croft was arrested at a gas station in New Jersey. Eight more individuals face state charges in the case.
“This verdict brings important accountability for perpetrators of violence against public officials,” said former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade. “Bringing these plotters to justice will cause others to think twice before engaging in similar conduct in the future.”
McQuade applauded federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids for “having the courage” to retry the case, saying:
“It would have been easy for them to simply move on to the next case to avoid the possible embarrassment of a second mistrial or acquittal,” McQuade said. “But instead, they fulfilled their duty to protect the public.”
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More:Acquitted Whitmer kidnap defendant won’t risk his freedom to help the others at retrial
Defense: ‘We will most certainly appeal’
Neither Fox nor Croft had any discernible reaction as U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker read the verdicts, both staring forward and occasionally leaning over to speak to their attorneys. Fox’s mother, who attended every day of the retrial, shook her head as Jonker read the verdict.
The defense long argued that this was a case of entrapment, that the defendants were merely tough-talking potheads who were venting about their government, and that rogue FBI agents and informants set them up.
“We will most certainly appeal,” Fox’s lawyer, Christopher Gibbons, said after the verdict. “Obviously, there was controversy in the trial.”
The defense raised numerous issues during the trial, creating some tense moments in the courtroom. Defense attorneys accused the judge of favoring the prosecution by repeatedly cutting them off during questioning, calling their arguments “crap,” and setting time limits only on the defense attorneys — telling them they could only take as much time to question witnesses as the prosecution.
The defense also took issue with the judge’s handling of a juror who came under investigation for alleged misconduct on the second day of trial. That juror allegedly told co-workers that his or her mind was made up about the case from the get-go, and was excited to be on the jury.
The judge dealt with the issue privately in his chambers, not allowing either the prosecution or the defense to be part of the proceeding.
“I think justice should happen in public,” Croft’s lawyer, Joshua Blanchard, said while leaving the courthouse Tuesday.
Blanchard had made a filing regarding the potentially problematic juror, and asked the judge to unseal it after the verdict — but Jonker said that will be explored in the future.
FBI vindicated
Throughout the trial, the prosecution argued the men did a lot more than talk — they took action to carry out their plan, including casing Whitmer’s vacation home twice, building explosives, holding secret meetings, and practicing breaking-and-entering drills in shoot-houses they built that mimicked her cottage.
In the end, the jury sided with the government, delivering a major victory not only to the prosecutors, but to the FBI, whose reputation came under assault during both trials, with the defense repeatedly blasting agents and informants, calling them liars and manipulators with overreaching powers.
“The defendants in this case believed that their antigovernment views justified violence. Today’s verdict is a clear example that they were wrong in that assessment,” said Special Agent in Charge David Porter, who oversees the FBI office in Grand Rapids.
As lawyers left the room, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew Birge shook assistant prosecutor Nils Kessler’s hand. Kessler, the lead prosecutor for both trials, urged the jury before it went into deliberations to remember one thing: that four men cased Whitmer’s house in the middle of the night with guns, and planned to build a bomb.
Kessler drove this point home repeatedly during closing in what experts believed to be the strongest piece of evidence against the defendants: the surveillance trips, which jurors got to see for themselves. Prosecutors played video of the men driving by Whitmer’s cottage on a rainy night, and audio recordings of Fox scoping out the cottage during a daytime surveillance excitedly stating: “That’s it. Dude, that’s it. Turn around.”
“The verdict confirms this plot was very serious, very dangerous and posed a threat not only to the governor personally, but also to innocent bystanders,” Birge said.
The jury spent two weeks listening to testimony from FBI agents, informants and wiretapped conversations of the defendants themselves, in which they discussed kidnapping “that tyrant bitch” and trying her “for treason.”
Fox, the accused ringleader, was also heard telling an undercover FBI informant: “‘We’re gonna kidnap the bitch. We need a seven- to eight-member team. We’re gonna go up to her house and take a look at it … and we’re going as low-profile tourists, pure Michigan bro.'”
Experts: A third trial may be in store
Former U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, who has been closely following the case, said the prosecution learned a big lesson from the first trial and it’s “clear they changed their strategy” to focus on what the defendants did before ever meeting FBI informants.
“However, the prosecution isn’t out of the woods yet,” said Schneider, who believes the judge’s handling of the case, such as limiting defense lawyers’ time limits to cross-examine witnesses, may give the defense grounds for appeal.
“The judge’s ruling to severely limit the defense from cross-examining witnesses will be the No. 1 issue on appeal,” Schneider said. “I would not be surprised if this case gets reversed on appeal because of how the judge prevented the defendants from cross-examining the witnesses. Then we could see a third trial.”
Prominent criminal defense attorney Mike Rataj, who represented one of the defendants in the failed Hutaree militia trial a decade ago, expressed similar concerns.
“The judge wanted this case over and done with really fast, and he got his wish,” said Rataj, who believes the time limits imposed only on the defense raise due process issues.
Rataj also has issues with the judge’s handling of the potentially problematic juror, arguing the defense and prosecution should have been allowed to participate in the inquiry of the juror.
“That’s certainly going to be a centerpiece issue for appeal … that’s certainly something they can hang their hat on,” Rataj said of the defense, noting he was also perturbed at the jury selection process.
The jury was picked in one day. The judge did all the voir dire — or questioning — and gave both sides only 15 minutes to ask questions during the whole process.
“I said it before — it was rushed,” Rataj said. “And It seemed to me that the judge wanted this case over and done with in short order. I’m sorry. When people are facing life in prison, that’s not the way a federal trial is supposed to be conducted.”
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepreeson.com
