A Look Into Charges At Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial
Jury selection begins Tuesday in a trial that could last more than a month in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Six men were initially charged but two pleaded guilty before trial.
The remaining defendants include Adam Fox, described by prosecutors as the plot’s ringleader. He and co-defendant Barry Croft Jr. were affiliated with the “Three Percenter” far-right anti-government movement. Prosecutors say the other two defendants, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a self-styled militia with similar views.
Ty Garbin pleaded guilty last year and Kaleb Franks joined him in February. Both are expected to be star government witnesses.
All four are charged with kidnapping conspiracy.
Charging documents say the defendants plotted from June to October 2020 to grab Whitmer at her vacation home because they were infuriated by what they saw as her overly restrictive policies during the pandemic.
Fox, Croft and Harris are also charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. The indictment says they sought to construct and buy explosives, including to destroy a bridge near Whitmer’s cottage during the kidnapping.
Croft and Harris are also accused of possession of an unregistered destructive device, a firearm.
Harris is charged with possession of a semiautomatic assault rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches long that wasn’t registered to him.
If convicted, all four could face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars.
The kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction charges each carry a maximum life sentence.
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U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
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U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2022/03/07 ... lot-trial/
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Thanks for starting this thread. If anyone finds a reporter following the trial, please post link here.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Yeah, thanks for starting the thread. I thought about moving it to another forum ... it could go in the COVID forum since that was the motivation. It could go in Other Efforts to Attack Democracy, or even in Worst of the Right-Wing Pieholes. But Law & Lawsuits is good. I'ma leave it right where it is. Kinda brings together a number of themes we follow, though -- right-wing pieholes who actually decided to kidnap a US governor because they didn't like her mask and vax mandates. Too bad they didn't get Roger Stone on board and Klayman for defense counsel, then we'd have the whole enchilada, all in one thread.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Just a quick flash on CNN, jury has verdicts on some and deadlocked on other charges. Asking judge for guidance
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
N/M. Ninja'd.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/15 ... 8943638536David Frum @davidfrum wrote: Big win for the cause of decriminalizing the kidnapping of US state governors by armed militias
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
why do i suspect that if it was a bunch of muslim men plotting to kidnap a republican governor the jury would not have sympathized with the 'evil FBI agents only interested in their own careers so they framed these innocent white men!' argument.raison de arizona wrote: ↑Fri Apr 08, 2022 6:19 pmhttps://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/15 ... 8943638536David Frum @davidfrum wrote: Big win for the cause of decriminalizing the kidnapping of US state governors by armed militias
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
I suspect these fine upstanding citizens will be in trouble again soon, if not soon enough.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Odds are they will hurt if not kill someone very soon..
Hopefully it will only be each other.
Hopefully it will only be each other.
Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
CBS:
I am curious about the short-barrel rifle charge: either the rifle's barrel is too short or it isn't; either the defendant possessed it or didn't (unless there's some Rittenhouse-esque claim about hunting-season laws).
I haven't been following this case, but interesting that the jury essentially bought (for the Harris and Caserta) that they never entered into a conspiracy, and, it would appear, did not take any steps towards it (like surveilling the vacation home).Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were both found not guilty. The charges against Adam Fox and Barry Croft, Jr. were declared "no verdict" and Judge James Jonker declared a mistrial on those counts.
All four were charged with conspiracy, accused by prosecutors of being angry over COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Democratic governor and seeking to ignite a civil war. Three of the men also faced weapons charges.
* * *
Only one defendant, Harris, chose to testify in his own defense, and the four men deny any scheme to get Whitmer at her vacation home. Defense attorneys insist they were under the spell of informants and agents who got them to say and do violent, provocative things.
Fox's attorney, Christopher Gibbons, said Fox was a hapless man living in the basement of a Grand Rapids-area vacuum shop, smoking marijuana whenever possible and totally incapable of leading the wild plot.
"The plan was utter nonsense. It wasn't real to Adam Fox. He was LARPing," Gibbons said, using an acronym for live action role playing. "Adam Fox is usually impaired. He's just playing his game. ... A person cannot accidentally enter into a conspiracy."
* * *
Lawyers for Harris and Caserta emphasized that neither man went to Elk Rapids with Croft and Fox to surveil Whitmer's home.
* * *
With the jury deadlocked on charges against Adam Fox and Barry Croft, Jr., the judge declared a mistrial on those counts.
Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were acquitted on all counts:
On Count 1: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping: Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were both found NOT GUILTY.
On Count 2: Weapon of Mass Destruction: Daniel Harris was found NOT GUILTY
On Count 3: Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device: Daniel Harris was found NOT GUILTY
On Count 4: Possession of a Short Barrel Rifle: Daniel Harris was found NOT GUILTY
I am curious about the short-barrel rifle charge: either the rifle's barrel is too short or it isn't; either the defendant possessed it or didn't (unless there's some Rittenhouse-esque claim about hunting-season laws).
Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Chatted with Bridge Sniper tonight about one of the defendants. IDK why I do that.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Here's one bit I found on that, from a Twitter thread reporting closing arguments:bob wrote: ↑Fri Apr 08, 2022 7:45 pmI am curious about the short-barrel rifle charge: either the rifle's barrel is too short or it isn't; either the defendant possessed it or didn't (unless there's some Rittenhouse-esque claim about hunting-season laws)....On Count 4: Possession of a Short Barrel Rifle: Daniel Harris was found NOT GUILTY
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Disassembled it is not a rifle but assembled it is, legally? Or only in poor minds?
Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Short answer: Yes.Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 10, 2022 10:05 pm Disassembled it is not a rifle but assembled it is, legally? Or only in poor minds?
A short-barreled rifle isn't illegal per se; there are methods to legally possess one. (It would be more accurate to say possession of an unregistered short-barrel rifle is illegal.) So, by extension (HA!), owning the dissembled components might be legal.
But the argument that the short-barreled weapon wasn't assembled in the district is ... curious. I'm aware of the arguments about a crime committed outside of the court's jurisdiction, but I'm not sure whether they might apply in this situation. Regardless, what the defense argued and why the jury voted as it did aren't necessarily the same.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
2 Whitmer kidnap suspects back in court with a request: Let us go
Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
Thu, June 30, 2022 at 2:03 PM·
The remaining two suspects in the alleged Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot return to court Thursday, hoping to convince a judge to do something a jury could not: acquit them.
Adam Fox, 38, of Potterville, and Barry Croft, 46, of Delaware, are facing a retrial after a jury deadlocked in April following a 20-day trial that ended in no convictions. The jury acquitted 24-year-old Daniel Harris, of Lake Orion, and 34-year-old Brandon Caserta, of Canton Township, on all counts. Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict for Croft and Fox.
The prosecution has vowed to retry the men, who are accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer out of anger over her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But lawyers for Croft and Fox have asked a judge to acquit their clients, arguing there is not sufficient evidence to convict them of kidnapping conspiracy or agreeing to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors allege the men plotted to blow up a bridge near Whitmer's vacation house to slow down law enforcement, and practiced blowing up explosives during training exercises.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/2-whitmer-ki ... 39425.html
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Tim Walz’ Golden Rule: Mind your own damn business!
Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
But...I keep hearing all the Fox types and Ron DeSantis and his elk claiming this was a big scam the FBI and whoever else cooked up.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Shirley you can't be serious. When has the Right ever not supported the FB----<Whisperwhisperwhisper>---oh, I see.
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
I am serious...and don't call Kendra, Shirley...
I'll come in again...
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He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"
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He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"
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Re: U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/co ... smsnnews11
Convicted Whitmer kidnap plotter who cooperated wants out of prison. Now.
Convicted kidnap plotter Ty Garbin wants out of prison now, arguing he has paid his dues for conspiring to harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and deserves his freedom for helping the government salvage one of the biggest domestic terrorism cases in U.S. history.
Moreover, his lawyer argued, Garbin faces "grave danger" if he stays locked up.
"The target that Mr. Garbin presents for extremists, prison gangs or someone out to make a name for themselves cannot be ignored. The danger is real and will pervade everything Mr. Garbin does and everywhere he goes," defense attorney Mark Satawa argued in a Friday court filing. "For all that Mr. Garbin has done to assist the Government in this case, and in the future, the state prosecution − he deserves to be allowed to reside in the safety of his own home."
Satawa's filing is a response to the government's latest request that Garbin, 26, an airline mechanic from Hartland, get another three years trimmed off his sentence for his cooperation in the case. Prosecutors made this request last month, one day after Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted in a retrial on kidnapping conspiracy and weapons of mass destruction charges by a federal jury in Grand Rapids.
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U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Croft got 19 years. I paid attention to Croft back in the days before the Whitmer thingy. He was buddies with Massey - the poot that shot himself a few years ago. Croft was batshit crazy (based on my memories from his Massey FB posts and totally not clinical).
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/28/11458125 ... ence-croft
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/28/11458125 ... ence-croft
U.S. v. Fox (Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial)
Croft was too crazy for Moo's sister wife and a poot named Jill Robinson. They both used to admin Massey's FB page. Here is a pic of Massey before he killed himself. He was a stupid fucking poot and buddies with tricorn hat wearing poot Croft.