Defendant in alleged Whitmer kidnap plot agrees to plead guilty

(Reuters) – A defendant charged by the U.S. federal government with plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has agreed to plead guilty to a kidnapping conspiracy charge, according to a court document filed on Wednesday.

The defendant, Ty Garbin, was one of six men indicted by a federal grand jury last month in the alleged plot.

Garbin and the other five indicted men, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, were arrested and charged in October with conspiring to grab Whitmer from her vacation home earlier this year.

Some of the men belong to an anti-government militia group called Wolverine Watchmen.

Under the plea agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Garbin agreed to cooperate with investigators and prosecutors and to offer his testimony regarding knowledge of the plot.

While the agreement did not obligate the government to recommend a reduced prison sentence for the charge, which carries a maximum term of life in prison, prosecutors said they would decide their recommendation based on Garbin’s cooperation.

The indictment accuses the six men of discussing kidnapping Whitmer; meeting in July in Wisconsin to practice using assault rifles; and surveilling Whitmer’s vacation home in August and September, mapping out how far it was from the nearest police station.

Prosecutors have said the defendants were angered at the restrictions Whitmer imposed to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul and Richard Chang)

Grand jury indicts six men for Michigan governor kidnap plot

By Jonathan Allen

(Reuters) – Six men facing charges of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were indicted by a grand jury this week, the U.S. attorney’s office for western Michigan said on Thursday.

The men — Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta — were arrested and charged in October with conspiring to grab Whitmer, a Democrat, from her vacation home earlier this year.

Some of the men belong to an anti-government militia group called Wolverine Watchmen. At least one of the defendants, Fox, considered Whitmer to be a sort of tyrant because she had ordered gyms closed in the state to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to prosecutors.

Obtaining the grand jury indictments, which came down on Wednesday, was a necessary step to proceed with the federal prosecutions, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

Parker Douglas, a lawyer representing Harris, said Harris had pleaded not guilty because “there was no actual conspiracy to kidnap Governor Whitmer.”

“As you can see from the indictment, the government is extremely vague regarding the alleged conspiracy’s nature, the alleged conspiracy’s object and any steps my client allegedly took to agree with the conspiracy,” Douglas wrote in an email.

Lawyers for the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

If convicted at trial, the defendants, who are in jail after being denied bail, would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The indictment accuses the men of discussing kidnapping Whitmer, meeting in July in Wisconsin to practice using assault rifles, and surveilling Whitmer’s vacation home in August and September, mapping out how far it was from the nearest police station.

Some of the men also bought supplies for kidnapping, the indictment said. In September, Fox bought a Taser-style stun gun and placed a $4,000 order for explosives with someone he did not realize was, in fact, an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Suspects in Michigan kidnap plot also weighed targeting Virginia governor: FBI

By Gabriella Borter

(Reuters) – Some suspects accused of trying to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also discussed whether they should shoot her in the head and contemplated abducting Virginia Governor Ralph Northam as well, an FBI agent testified on Tuesday.

Thirteen people including at least seven tied to an armed militia were arrested last week and accused of plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor Whitmer, who has come under criticism from Republican President Donald Trump and from right-wing extremists for her handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

FBI Special Agent Richard Trask was testifying at a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to decide whether five of the suspects accused of federal kidnapping charges should be granted bail.

During a planning meeting in Dublin, Ohio, in June, some of the suspects also discussed targeting Northam, who like Whitmer is a Democrat who has enacted coronavirus restrictions that they opposed, the agent said.

“At this meeting they discussed possible targets, taking a sitting governor, specifically issues with the governor of Michigan and Virginia based on the lockdown orders,” Trask said, basing his testimony on evidence from confidential informants, including encrypted communications from the group.

The FBI gleaned from the group’s messages that one of the suspects had at one point suggested going to Whitmer’s house to “cap her,” possibly disguised as a pizza delivery man, Trask said.

One suspect floated the idea of grabbing a pizza delivery person and taking his shirt in order to carry out the plan, Trask said.

The defendants in Tuesday’s hearing are among six people facing federal kidnapping charges who could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

Seven suspects associated with the Wolverine Watchmen militia group face state charges in Michigan.

Their arrests last week, in the final stretches of the Nov. 3 presidential campaign, underscored the country’s political polarization as Trump seeks re-election against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Trask said the plotters were eager to carry out some action before the election, with one suggesting they put her on trial for treason.

Michigan is considered a state where voters could favor either Biden or Trump, potentially swinging a close national election.

Internal U.S. security memos in recent months have warned that violent domestic extremists could pose a threat to election-related targets, a concern exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, political tensions, civil unrest and foreign disinformation campaigns.

The plotting took place after Trump in April had tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!” in reference to gun rights under the U.S. Constitution.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Howard Goller)