GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is praising the convictions of two men who plotted to kidnap her in 2020 and warned that violent threats “have no place in our politics.” Whitmer says threats against officials are a “disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism” and undermine democracy. Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted of all charges Tuesday in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They were accused of plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor and spark a civil war near the 2020 presidential election. It was the second trial for Fox and Croft after a jury in April failed to reach a verdict. Two men were acquitted last spring and two others pleaded guilty. THIS IS AN UPDATE UPDATE. Previous AP story follows below. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A jury on Tuesday convicted two men of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a quick victory for prosecutors in a failed plot described as a rallying cry for a US civil war by anti-government extremists. Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. they were also found guilty of conspiracy to obtain a weapon of mass destruction, specifically a bomb to blow up a bridge and obstruct the police if the kidnapper could retreat to Whitmer’s cottage. Croft, 46, a trucker from Bear, Delaware, was also convicted of another explosive charge. The jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days. It was the second trial for the pair after a jury in April was unable to reach a unanimous verdict after five days. Two other men were acquitted and two others pleaded guilty and testified to prosecutors. The result was a major victory for the US Department of Justice after the shocking mixed result last spring. “You can’t just put on an AR-15 and body armor and go grab the governor,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler told jurors during closing arguments Monday. “But that was not the ultimate goal of the defendants,” Kessler said. “They wanted to start a second American civil war, a second American revolution, what they call a boogeyman. And they wanted to do it for a long time before they settled on Governor Whitmer.” The investigation began when Army veteran Dan Chappell joined a Michigan paramilitary group and became concerned when he heard talk of killing police. He agreed to become an FBI informant and spent the summer of 2020 approaching Fox and others, secretly recording conversations and participating in “shoot house” drills in Wisconsin and Michigan. The FBI turned it into a major domestic terrorism case with two more informants and two undercover agents on the team. Evidence showed the team had many problems, particularly the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Whitmer early in the pandemic. Fox, Croft and others, accompanied by government agents, traveled to northern Michigan to view Whitmer’s cottage at night and a bridge that could be destroyed. Defense attorneys tried to put the FBI on trial, repeatedly emphasizing through witness testimony and during closing arguments that federal players were present at every critical event and had ensnared the men. Fox and Croft, they said, were “big talkers” who liked to smoke marijuana and were guilty of nothing more than exercising their right to say bad things about Whitmer and the government. “This is not Russia. That’s not how our country works,” Croft’s attorney, Joshua Blanchard, told jurors. “You can’t suspect that someone might commit a crime because you don’t like what they say, that you don’t like their ideologies.” Fox’s attorney Christopher Gibbons said the FBI is not supposed to be creating “domestic terrorists.” He described Fox as poor and living in the basement of a Grand Rapids-area vacuum store that was a meeting place with Chappell and an agent. Whitmer, a Democrat, accused then-President Donald Trump of fueling distrust and anger over coronavirus restrictions and his refusal to condemn hate groups and far-right extremists like those accused in the plot. Over the weekend, he said he had not attended the second trial but remained concerned about the “violent rhetoric in this country.” Trump recently called the kidnapping plan a “bogus deal.”
Find AP’s complete coverage of the kidnapping plot trial:
White reported from Detroit.
Follow Ed White at Joey Cappelletti and Ed White, The Associated Press
