Updates About Governor

As previously reported in Updates from the Capitol, three members of the Wolverine Watchmen were to be sentenced on December 15 for their roles in supporting the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

On October 26, Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar, and Pete Musico were charged under Michigan’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002 and were later found guilty of providing support for terrorist acts, gang membership, and felony firearms. Among their proposed plans were to storm the State Capitol to take legislators hostage.

On December 15, the three men were given up to 20 years in prison for their charges. Musico will serve a minimum of 12 years, while Morrison and Bellar will serve minimum sentences of 10 years and seven years, respectively.

A Jackson County jury convicted three members of the Wolverine Watchmen on terrorism charges for plotting to attack Michigan’s Capitol building, hold government officials for ransom, and kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar, and Pete Musico were originally charged under Michigan’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002 and were later found guilty of providing support for terrorist acts, as well as gang membership and felony firearms on October 26.

The three men will be sentenced on December 15.

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.”