On August 23, a federal court jury found Adam Fox and Barry Croft, two individuals who conspired to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and use a weapon of mass destruction in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. This unanimous verdict came after the first attempt to prosecute the men ended in a mistrial.
Deliberations were delivered in less than 24 hours after a two week-long retrial. Two other men involved in the kidnapping plot – Brandon Caseta and Daniel Harris – were both acquitted in the first trial. Attorney for Ty Garbin, another man involved in the plot who agreed to a plea deal in the initial trial, filed a request with the court to reduce his sentence by 36 months, stating that Garbin provided significant assistance to convict Fox and Croft.
Following the verdict, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued the following statement: “Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed, but we must also take a hard look at the status of our politics. Plots against public officials and threats to the FBI are a disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism that festers in our nation, threatening the very foundation of our republic.”
