Governor kidnappers wanted to spark civil war in United States - prosecutor

The four men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer went far beyond just idle talk and were plotting an attack they hoped would spark a second American civil war, a prosecutor said in closing arguments on Friday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler described the four defendants as being "paranoid" and "filled with rage" as they planned to abduct Whitmer, who they blamed for imposing curbs on social and business activities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Urging the jury to convict, Kessler argued that the men would have been within their rights to protest Whitmer's policies by attending protests or making speeches - liberties that he said distinguished the United States from other countries.

"But what we can't do is kidnap them, kill them or blow them up," Kessler said in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "That's also what makes America great, and makes it different from a lot of other places."

Kessler will be followed by closing arguments from lawyers for the defendants - Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris - all of whom have been charged with conspiracy to kidnap the Democratic governor.

After closing arguments, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jonker will give the case to a 12-person jury which will have to decide whether the defendants were engaging in idle chatter, as the defense says, or whether they were serious about a plot to snatch the governor from her vacation home shortly before the 2020 elections, as the prosecution contends.

All the defendants except Caserta are also charged with knowingly conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons or property. Croft and Harris face additional firearms charges as well.

If convicted the men could spend the rest of their lives in prison. The kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction charges each carry a maximum life sentence.

Two other men initially charged in the alleged plot struck plea deals. The pair, Ty Garbin and Kalen Franks, served as star witnesses for prosecutors, who sought to prove that the four defendants planned to break into Whitmer's vacation home in northern Michigan, hog-tie her and take her away at gunpoint for a "trial" on treason charges over her COVID-19 mandates.

Garbin is currently serving a six-year sentence, while Franks is awaiting sentencing.

The four are among 13 men who were arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Seven of them are facing charges in state court.

The FBI said it had begun tracking the group's movements after seeing online discussions that included posts about the violent overthrow of some state governments.

The group's goal was to end pandemic restrictions as well as spark a second American civil war as adherents to the "boogaloo" anti-government movement, Kessler said. "That's what bound these people together."

Harris, Caserta and an undercover informant who testified at the trial, identified only as Big Dan, were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group, prosecutors say. Croft and Fox were members of the "Three Percenters," a similar far-right organization.

Big Dan testified that he quit the Watchmen and agreed to help the FBI after members began discussing killing police, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The indictment accuses one or more of the defendants of discussing Whitmer's kidnapping and planning to meet in Wisconsin to train with assault rifles. The posts also discussed buying supplies to be used in the kidnapping and putting Whitmer's vacation home under surveillance.

Fox ordered $4,000 worth of explosives from an undercover FBI agent posing as a co-conspirator, the indictment said. It also said Fox and Harris made payments for the explosives in the following weeks.