Top row from left: Adam Fox, Daniel Harris, Kaleb Franks, Ty Garbin and Eric Molitor. Second row from left: Pete Musico, Joseph Morrison, Brandon Caserta, William Null and Michael Null Third row from left: Shawn Fix, Paul Bellar and Barry Croft All face charges related to what the FBI says […]
Whitmer
CLOSE Though presumed innocent until proven guilty, six defendants charged with plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are likely to remain locked up pending the outcomes of their cases, legal experts say. Top row from left: Adam Fox, Daniel Harris, Kaleb Franks, Ty Garbin and Eric Molitor. Second row from left: Pete […]
Luther — Shotgun shells litter the ground. Human silhouettes are spray-painted in red on a wooden wall. Bullet holes are everywhere. This is a training ground of a group of men who plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to the FBI. Buried deep in the northern Michigan woods, 30 miles southwest of Cadillac, […]
Six men face federal charges and seven other men face state charges in the case. A few things jump out. First, this alleged plot, detailed by federal and state officials, was very plausible. It’s frightening to contemplate, but the alleged kidnapping scheme could well have succeeded had it not been […]
DETROIT — Thirteen people were charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in reaction to what they viewed as her “uncontrolled power,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Six people were charged in a federal investigation, and the Michigan attorney general charged seven. […]
By Julia Jones, CNN (CNN) — The Vac Shack sits in the middle of a row of single-story shops in a commercial part of Grand Rapids, Michigan, between a beauty salon and a taco joint. Adam Fox had moved into the basement of the vacuum repair shop after his girlfriend […]
Some of the people charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shared the stage in May with a county sheriff during a protest against state coronavirus restrictions. Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf is also in the hot seat for remarks made during an on-camera interview last week regarding those associated with the […]
CLOSE The federal government has charged six people with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, per newly unsealed court records. Wochit The 13 men charged Thursday in a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used Facebook and secure messaging apps to connect and plot their attack. The group’s use of […]
Federal agents said Thursday they thwarted a plot to violently overthrow the government as well as kidnap and harm Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — a conspiracy that included visits to her home in northern Michigan and training with firearms and explosive devices. The alleged plot mainly involved six conspirators unhappy in part about Whitmer’s coronavirus restrictions, […]
Investigators have a trove of evidence — audio recordings of meeting, taped phone calls, group and individual texts and online chats — against the men charged with planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. It was gathered by two informants and two undercover FBI employees, according to the criminal complaint. The investigation began in early 2020, when […]
Six men have been charged in federal court with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her El Rapids vacation home, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, and filed Tuesday, in federal court. The FBI investigation, which involved multiple confidential sources and undercover FBI personnel, has been ongoing […]
FILE – In this photo Sept. 16, 2020 file photo, provided by the Michigan Office of the Governor, Gov. Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich. According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, Oct. 8 six people plotted to try to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home. […]
Feb. 17—A Grand Rapids federal judge Tuesday refused to let prosecutors share secret grand jury testimony with state prosecutors who are trying to convict eight men on terrorism charges related to the alleged plot to kidnap and harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker said federal prosecutors failed […]
A Grand Rapids federal judge Tuesday refused to let prosecutors share secret grand jury testimony with state prosecutors who are trying to convict eight men on terrorism charges related to the alleged plot to kidnap and harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker said federal prosecutors failed to justify […]
DETROIT (AP) — One of six men charged in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, admitting that the group discussed an incredible scheme to snatch her at her lakeside vacation home and destroy a bridge to slow down police. Ty Garbin’s guilty […]
Michigan militia members helped the FBI thwart an alleged plot to kidnap and harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to a federal filing Friday that reveals new details about evidence that includes undercover agents and secret surveillance. Unidentified militia members have provided ongoing cooperation to a secret, federal grand jury investigation, the U.S. […]
Two West Michigan men charged in a plot to storm the state Capitol and kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were released from jail Thursday, one day after a judge amended their bond conditions. Michael Null of Plainwell and William Null of Shelbyville, both 38, were released from custody around 4 p.m., […]
Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced wide-ranging new restrictions limiting gatherings at high schools, colleges and restaurants Sunday night to combat what she described as the “worst moment” yet in the COVID-19 pandemic. The new policies will temporarily halt in-person instruction at high schools and colleges, indoor dine-in service […]
LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced today that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is making Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million available to eligible small businesses, agricultural cooperatives, and nonprofits impacted by excessive rain that occurred Oct. 1, 2019 through June 3, 2020. SBA extended the loans following the Secretarial Disaster Declaration obtained by Governor Whitmer from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue last year. “This is welcome news for Michigan […]
A Waterford man accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tried Wednesday to get out of jail on bond, arguing the alleged conspiracy was absurd and that there was no imminent threat to public officials. Kaleb Franks, 26, known as “Red Hot,” made the request two weeks after being […]
Judge me on my actions not my words. That’s the potential line of defense for one of the 13 suspects accused of plotting to abduct Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer over her restrictive stay-at-home COVID-19 policies. The attorney for Ty Garbin, a purported member of the paramilitary militia group Wolverine Watchmen, […]
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Reuters/Rebecca Cook Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told Business Insider she was “hanging in there” after the FBI foiled a right-wing plot to kidnap and assassinate her. “That’s my phrase for 2020,” she said, adding that she was “appalled” when President Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to […]