Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer attends an event with President Biden on March 9 at the White House.
Patrick Semansky / AP
hide captions
switch captions
Patrick Semansky / AP
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer attends an event with President Biden on March 9 at the White House.
Patrick Semansky / AP
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Two of four men were acquitted on Friday in a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, fueled by anger at Democrats’ tough COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic.
The jury’s verdicts against Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were read out in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the case presided over by US District Judge Robert Jonker. The jury said they could not agree on the verdicts again Prosecutors Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. described Fox as the leader of an anti-government group.
Fox, Croft and Harris face additional charges. The two most serious charges, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to use explosives, both carry life sentences.
Defense attorneys have described their clients as dependable, talkative, extravagant weekend warriors who are often stoned. They say that FBI undercover agents and informants tricked and persuaded the men to agree to a conspiracy.
To counter that manipulative claim, prosecutors presented evidence that the men discussed Whitmer’s abduction before the FBI manhunt began. Prosecutors told jurors they went beyond talks, including scouting Whitmer’s summer home and testing explosives.
Croft is from Delaware while the others are from Michigan.
Earlier, Friday, US District Judge Robert Jonker acknowledged the struggle of the deliberations. Decisions on conviction or acquittal must be unanimous.
“I know it’s hard. We all know it’s tough,” Jonker told the jury.
There are 10 charges in the case: one against Brandon Caserta, two against Adam Fox, three against Barry Croft Jr. and four against Daniel Harris. All men face primary responsibility of a kidnapping plot; other charges related to explosives and firearms.
“It’s important to reach consensus if you can,” says Jonker.
The retrials resumed the previous Friday with a court employee handing over a large plastic bag containing the coins, known as exhibit 291. The coins were requested before the jurors went home. on Thursday.
Investigators said the coins were glued to a commercial-grade fireworks intended to act as shrapnel.
According to the evidence, a homemade explosive was detonated during training in September 2020, about a month before the men were arrested.
During the argument that ended April 1, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said Croft wanted to test explosives as a weapon that could be used against Whitmer’s security team. He quoted him as saying the coins would be so hot they could go “right through your skin.”
The trial has now lasted 20 days since March 8, including jury selection, evidence, final arguments and jury deliberations.
Prosecutors provided testimony from undercover agents, a key informant, and two men who pleaded guilty to conspiracy. The jury also read and listened to secretly taped conversations, violent social media posts and chat messages.
Prosecutors said the group was steeped in anti-government extremism and angered by Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions.
However, defense attorneys say any conspiracies are the creation of government agents who have tapped into the group and manipulated the men.
Croft is from Bear, Delaware, while the others are from Michigan.
Whitmer, a Democrat, rarely speaks publicly about the plot, though she has mentioned “surprises” during her tenure as “something beyond fiction” when she filed for re-election on March 17.
She has blamed former President Donald Trump for inciting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refused to condemn right-wing extremists as those charged in the case.
