Plot to kidnap and kill Governor Whitmer seen as test-run for January 6 InsurrectionÂ
GRAND RAPIDS — Adam Fox and Barry Croft, Jr. have been convicted for their role in the kidnapping plot targeting Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The pair now face life in prison after being convicted in Federal Court for their role in the 2020 plan to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Sentencing will be at a later date.
This was the second trial after the first trial was declared a mistrial when the jury failed to convict or acquit Fox and Croft, Jr. In 2020, the FBI arrested six men who had planned to kidnap Governor Whitmer from her vacation home.
Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler drew a line showing that the plot was tied to a broader right-wing goal of a second Civil War, “you can’t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor and go snatch the governor. But that wasn’t the defendants’ ultimate goal. They wanted to set off a second American civil war, a second American Revolution, something that they call the boogaloo. And they wanted to do it for a long time before they settled on Governor Whitmer.”
Governor Whitmer responded to the verdict, “I want to thank the prosecutors and law enforcement officers for their hard work and my family, friend and staff for their support. 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.”
