FBI: Suspects in Michigan plot also considered kidnapping Virginia governor

By Gabriella Borter

(Reuters) – Some suspects accused of trying to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also discussed whether to shoot her in the head and considered kidnapping Virginia Governor Ralph Northam as well, an FBI agent testified on Tuesday.

Thirteen people, including at least seven with ties to an armed militia, were arrested last week on charges of plotting to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat who has been attacked by Republican President Donald Trump and right-wing extremists over her handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Five of those defendants were due to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Tuesday. There, a U.S. Justice of the Peace ordered that three of them remain in custody without bail pending trial. Bail decisions for the other two defendants were expected at a hearing on Friday.

FBI Special Agent Richard Trask testified that some of the suspects also discussed targeting Northam, a Democrat who also enacted coronavirus restrictions that he opposed.

Trask described a planning meeting in Dublin, Ohio, in June that at least two of the co-defendants attended, basing his testimony on confidential informants’ statements and encrypted messages from the group.

“At that meeting, they discussed possible targets, including an incumbent governor, particularly issues with the governor of Michigan and Virginia because of the lockdown orders,” Trask said.

From the group’s messages, the FBI learned that one of the suspects at some point suggested going to Whitmer’s house to “arrest” her, possibly disguised as a pizza delivery man, Trask said.

Internal U.S. security memos have warned in recent months that violent domestic extremists could pose a threat to election-related targets – a concern heightened by the coronavirus pandemic, political tensions, social unrest and foreign disinformation campaigns.

The arrests last week, in the final stages of the November 3 presidential election campaign, underscored the country’s political polarization as Trump seeks re-election against his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

The defendants in Tuesday’s hearing are among six people facing kidnapping charges in federal court who could face life in prison if convicted.

Judge Sally Berens denied bail for three of the defendants, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta.

Franks’ defense attorney, Scott Graham, argued that Franks was a follower, not the leader of a conspiracy, and that he posed no flight risk.

Harris’ attorney, Parker Douglas, urged Berens to consider house arrest for Harris, who was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps last year.

“Although this plan appears to have been thwarted, it is not clear whether the movement has ended and whether there are other people who could help Mr. Harris,” Berens said.

Berens had not yet decided whether to release Adam Fox or Ty Garbin on bail. A sixth co-defendant, Barry Croft, was extradited from Delaware to Michigan on Tuesday after a brief appearance in federal court in Wilmington, The Detroit News reported.

Seven other suspects linked to the Wolverine Watchmen militia group are facing charges in the state of Michigan.

The conspiracy came after Trump tweeted in April, alluding to the gun rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution: “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under attack!”

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Text by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Howard Goller)