A federal judge convicted two men on Tuesday of conspiring in 2020 to kidnap Democratic Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The two men, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the kidnapping conspiracy, and were also convicted on one count of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, as the men allegedly planned to blow up a bridge near Whitmer’s home to hinder the government’s response.
Fox and Croft’s first trial ended in a mistrial. Two men pleaded guilty before the first trial and two others were acquitted of all charges in April.
Defense attorneys claimed that the men were entrapped by more than a dozen government undercover agents and informants who “conceived and controlled every aspect” of the plot to kidnap the governor.
The attorneys described Fox as “isolated, broke, homeless” and Croft as a trucker, and argued that they could’ve never carried out the operation by themselves, if not for being influenced by undercover agents.
“In America, the FBI is not supposed to create domestic terrorists so that the FBI can arrest them,” Fox attorney Christopher Gibbons told the jury, according to ABC News. “The FBI isn’t supposed to create a conspiracy so the FBI can stand up and claim a disruption.”
Gibbons maintained that Fox was heavily influenced by a confidential informant named “Big Dan.”
“Adam Fox was not ever predisposed to the crime of kidnapping Gov. Whitmer. He talked a big game but talk is just talk. Adam Fox took no affirmative steps to achieve the ends as Special Agent Chambers and Big Dan pushed so hard to achieve,” Gibbons said in his closing argument before the jury, CNN reported.
Croft’s attorney Joshua Blanchard said the FBI lied on the stand about Croft to put him in jail because of his internet comments.
“Now as we sat here the last couple of weeks together in the trial, the government has shown us time and time again that they don’t care that Barry Croft didn’t actually make an agreement to kidnap the governor. They think it’s enough that some of the things that Barry says scares them,” Blanchard said, the outlet reported. “They’d like to lock him up in a cage, not because he committed this crime, but because they’re afraid of the things that have come out of his mouth.”
Croft was also convicted with an additional weapons charge on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Nils Kessler claimed the men wanted to “set off a second American Civil War and the second American Revolution” by kidnapping the governor.
“There are a lot of things that are complicated today. There’s one thing that’s pretty simple still — kidnapping is wrong. You can’t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor to go snatch the governor. You can’t snatch anybody, and you certainly can’t make bombs that are meant to maim and kill people. And this case is about a plot to abduct Gov. Whitmer. But that wasn’t these defendants’ ultimate goal,” Kessler said, according to CNN.