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Jurors must decide whether four men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were serious or if it was just “stoned crazy talk” from men angry over COVID-19 restrictions, and who were duped into an FBI plot.
Barry Croft, 46, Adam Fox, 38, Daniel Harris, 24, and Brandon Caserta, 33, face up to life in prison if convicted on kidnapping charges. Croft and Harris also face charges of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Prosecutors say Fox was the ringleader, but Fox’s attorney argued that the FBI pushed him to act. As of Aug. 1, 2020, FBI informant Dan Chappel said the alleged plotters hadn’t picked a plan. Chappel suggested Fox surveil Whitmer’s cottage in Elk Rapids, which they acted upon on September 12, 2020. Prosecutors say Fox aimed to collect $4,000 to build a bomb to blow up a bridge near Whitmer’s vacation home to deter first responders.
Federal authorities captured most of the men in October 2020. But court records show complications, including a fired lead FBI agent and an informant turned “ double agent ” who the FBI knew was raising money under the pretext of combating child sex trafficking to fund weapons but didn’t charge him until a year later.
Prosecutors say the men aimed to kidnap Whitmer via a scheme that ranged across three states, encrypted chats, and a bomb, while defense attorneys say it’s all “stoned crazy talk.”
An FBI agent directed Chappel to place Fox into a “leadership chat” so he could get “focused” on a plan. Chappel was paid more than $60,000 by the FBI for seven months of work, including a $3,300 laptop and a smartwatch.
“Fox wasn’t a leader,” defense attorney Christopher Gibbons told jurors, describing Fox as a heavy marijuana user incapable of advanced planning who lived in the basement of […]
They’re Trying to Shut Us Down
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