Two Men Convicted In Attempted Kidnapping Of Michigan Governor Whitmer

Topline

A jury convicted two men Tuesday for plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) in 2020, part of what prosecutors have described as a larger domestic terrorist plan to set off a civil war and attempt to overthrow the government.

Key Facts

Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted of all charges brought against them in federal court in Michigan, including conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to obtain weapons of mass destruction, and Croft was convicted of an additional explosives charge, according to the Associated Press and other outlets.

The two men face maximum sentences of life in prison.

The two-week trial was the second for Fox and Croft, three months after a jury in a previous trial deadlocked over charges against the two men (during the first trial, two other defendants were found not guilty).

Whitmer thanked the prosecutors and law enforcement in a statement Tuesday, saying the verdicts prove that “violence and threats have no place in our politics.”

Crucial Quote

“Plots against public officials and threats to the FBI are a disturbing extension of the radicalized domestic terrorism that festers in our nation, threating the very foundation of our republic,” Whitmer said Tuesday.

Key Background

Prosecutors said Fox and Croft organized a group of anti-government extremists who aimed to start a civil war with the Whitmer kidnapping, which they intended to line up with the 2020 presidential election. The men were arrested in October of that year after they discussed using a bomb to blow up a bridge to escape from police after kidnapping Whitmer. Their defense attorneys attempted to portray the two men throughout the trial as “big talkers” who never intended to carry out the plots they discussed as they smoked cannabis together. Defense attorney Joshua Blanchard told jurors earlier this month that Croft was “frankly, high on marijuana all the time.”