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Leader in plot to kidnap US governor sentenced to 16 years | The Far Right News

One of the men accused of masterminding the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, four months after he was convicted in a Michigan courtroom.

Adam Fox was convicted in August of conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer, a prominent figure in the Democratic Party, and conspired to use weapons of mass destruction in this scheme. He was facing a life sentence.

Prosecutors allege that Fox, along with his accomplice Barry Croft Jr, were the ringleaders of a thwarted operation aimed at sparking a “second American revolution.”

“Today’s sentencing reflects the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to protecting our elected officials, law enforcement officers and dedicated public servants from threats of crime and violence, ” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement Tuesday.

But before the hearing, Fox’s defense team defended clemency, saying he had been “dragged” into “extremism” in part thanks to the intervention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ), the agency has informants among them. conspirators.

Fox and Croft were among 13 men arrested in October 2020 in a kidnapping plot that prosecutors allege was aimed at provoked unrest before that year’s US presidential election.

According to prosecutors, both men had ties to a far-right militia group known as the Three Percenters, named for the unfounded claim that only 3% of American settlers in the period participating in the American Revolution.

Fox’s defense team sought to portray his mental state as precarious at the time: They said in 2020, Fox was anxious and depressed, smoking marijuana daily in his apartment in the basement of a vacuum cleaner shop in Michigan.

They also assumed that he was poor and incapable of obtaining the necessary materials to carry out the plot.

Instead, the defense team sought to point the finger at the FBI, which has informants and undercover agents on the team. They describe individuals like Fox as “talkatives” who are pushed into action by secret agents.

Fox’s attorneys say he’s specifically seeking friendship and acceptance from individuals like Dan Chappel, a military veteran who joined the Wolverine Watchmen militia in 2020. Chappel became an informant. news to the FBI after he claimed that the group’s rhetoric turned violent and that he helped build the case against Fox and his accomplices.

When questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler, Chappel identified Fox as the mastermind of the scheme.

A headshot from Adam Fox's prison
Adam Fox faces life in prison on conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction [File: Kent County Jail/AP Photo]

But in the criminal complaint against Fox, US authorities describe him as the recruiter and organizer of the scheme, and accuse him of encouraging others to participate in the kidnapping plot. Whitmer.

Governor of Michigan drew national attention in 2020 because implement state-level COVID-19 restrictions, including stay-at-home orders. That policy prompted then-President Donald Trump to write on Twitter, in all caps, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”

She also served as campaign co-chair for Trump’s Democratic opponent, Joe Bidenwho was running for president at the time of the kidnapping attempt.

According to the criminal complaint, Fox considers Whitmer a “tyrant”. He proposes to kidnap her to put her on trial for “treason” at an undisclosed location in Wisconsin, just before the scheduled 2020 election, in hopes of sparking conflict. armed.

Fox said it would be a “snap and grab” campaign, targeting the governor at her lakeside vacation home in the north of the state.

Prosecutors said Fox led efforts to coordinate nighttime surveillance around the home, intelligence gathering using two-way radios and night vision scopes.

Fox and his co-conspirator Croft are also charged with planning to plant a bomb under a highway bridge leading out of the motel. In September 2020, prosecutors said Fox approached an undercover FBI agent to purchase $4,000 worth of explosives while Croft tested improvised explosives as a field training exercise. .

A few weeks later, Fox also purchased a high voltage Taser. A final training exercise was scheduled for late October, according to the criminal complaint. The group was arrested before the plot took place and Whitmer was unharmed.

The government said Croft provided bomb-making skills and ideology while Fox was “an impetus to urge their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stand in their way”.

After the arrest, a federal court jury in Michigan acquitted the two men but no verdict in the charges against Croft and Fox, which resulted in a false trial.

A jury later find both Croft and Fox guilty in August after the second test.

Prosecutors used two cooperating witnesses at that trial, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, both of whom had previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the kidnapping plot.

Garbin was released after two and a half years in prison. Franks, meanwhile, is serving a four-year prison sentence.

Croft, a truck driver from Bear, Delaware, will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Three more men convicted and sentenced to prison earlier this month for their role in the kidnapping plot.



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