Six 'anti-government extremists' are indicted for 'plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer by surveilling her home and blowing up a nearby bridge to prevent cops from responding'
A federal grand jury has charged six men with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in what investigators say was a plot by anti-government extremists who were angry over her coronavirus policies.
The men allegedly surveilled the Democratic governor's vacation home, mapped out the nearest police stations, and suggested blowing up a connecting land bridge to prevent law enforcement officials from responding.
The indictment released Thursday by US Attorney Andrew Birge levied the conspiracy charge against Adam Dean Fox, Barry Gordon Croft Jr., Ty Gerard Garbin, Kaleb James Franks, Daniel Joseph Harris and Brandon Michael-Ray Caserta.
They are all from Michigan except for Croft, who lives in Delaware.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, Birge said in a statement.
The six were arrested in early October following an FBI investigation into an alleged plot to kidnap the Democratic governor at her vacation home in northern Michigan.
Defense attorneys have said their clients were 'big talkers' who didn't intend to follow through on the alleged plan.
The indictment repeats allegations made during an October hearing, where agent Richard Trask testified that the men were involved with paramilitary groups.
A federal grand jury on Wednesday returned an indictment against six alleged anti-government militia members who are suspected of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (seen above in Detroit on October 31)
The alleged co-conspirators named in the indictment released on Thursday by the US Atorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan are seen above. Clockwise from top left: Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta, Adam Dean Fox, Ty Garbin, Barry Croft, and Daniel Harris.
If convicted, the men face life imprisonment. The above image shows the first page of the six-page indictment released on Thursday by the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan
Fox and Croft attended a June meeting in Dublin, Ohio, at which the possible kidnapping of governors and other actions were discussed, the indictment states.
During the hearing, Trask said Virginia's Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, was among those mentioned as potential targets.
It says Fox later met Garbin, a leader of a Michigan group called the 'Wolverine Watchmen,' at a rally outside of the Michigan Capitol in Lansing.
At a meeting in Grand Rapids, the two men and other members of the Watchmen agreed to work together 'toward their common goals,' the document says.
It describes live-fire 'field training exercises' and other preparations, including the surveillance of Whitmer's vacation house and the exchange of encrypted messages on WhatsApp.
Fox, the suspected ringleader, is alleged to have even drawn a map that demarcates Whitmer's vacation home and the distance between the house to a nearest police station.
During one training event, 'they practiced assaulting a building in teams, and discussed tactics for fighting the governor's security detail with improvised explosive devices, a projectile launcher, and other weapons,' the indictment says.
They also discussed destroying a highway bridge near Whitmer's house to prevent law enforcement from responding, it states.
The indictment says that in an electronic message, Caserta wrote that if the men encountered police during a reconnaissance mission, 'they should give the officers one opportunity to leave, and kill them if they did not comply.'
They were arrested after four members scheduled an October 7 meeting in Ypsilanti, west of Detroit, to meet an undercover FBI agent and buy explosives and other supplies, the indictment says.
Fox, the suspected ringleader, allegedly planned to storm the state Capitol and execute other politicians on live television
Eight other men who are said to be members or associates of the Wolverine Watchmen are charged in state court with counts including providing material support for terrorist acts.
Some of them are accused of taking part in the alleged plot against Whitmer.
Last month, authorities released evidence which they say proves that Fox had planned to storm the state Capitol and execute other politicians on live television.
Court documents allege that Fox's 'Plan A' was to target other state politicians at the Capitol, hold them hostage and execute the 'tyrants' over the course of several days, according to the Michigan Attorney General's Office.
In a brief obtained by the Detroit News, officials claim that his 'Plan B' involved locking the doors of the Capitol and setting the building on fire with politicians trapped inside.
The new details were submitted before a bond hearing for Pete Musico, 42, who was released from custody on a GPS tether last month.
Musico's attorney has claimed that he was kicked out of the group that planned to kidnap Whitmer.
In October, federal authorities released evidence which they say incriminates the suspects, including training videos and text messages exchanged among the co-conspirators.
The Western District of Michigan US Attorney's Office released a wealth of photos, videos, phone calls and encrypted messages that they are planning to use as evidence against the indicted six men.
In October, the US Attorney's Office released video and text messages which prosecutors say is evidence in their case against the six men who face federal conspiracy to kidnap charges against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Men were seen carrying out supposed tactical training exercise after exiting a PT Cruiser
The alleged conspirators were also seen showing off their quick gun-reloading skills
The evidence includes videos of the men training with semi-automatic weapons and demonstrating a Taser, which they allegedly planned to use in the kidnapping plot.
Video released by the US Attorney's Office showed several of the men facing federal charges carrying out what appeared to be a tactical training exercises, involving exiting a PT Cruiser and shooting at an unseen target.
Additional videos showed men doing split-second ammunition reloads and boasting about what they would do if things go wrong.
One video also shows accused conspirator Fox smiling as he sets off a Taser, identified as a 800,000-volt model, according to the Detroit News.
Earlier in October, Fox had told others in the group that he had bought a Taser, which the group had discussed using in the supposed kidnapping plot, according to a court document obtained by KVIA.
It's unclear if the Taser in the video and the Taser Fox allegedly discussed are the same one, however.
Caserta, meanwhile, can be seen talking to the camera and saying: 'If this s**t goes down, if this whole thing, you know, starts to happen, I'm telling you what dude. I'm taking out as many of those motherf**kers as I can.'
He goes on to say that he's 'sick of being robbed and enslaved by the state,' apparently referring to police officers.
He then tells whoever was meant to watch the video that if they happen come across the supposed robbers and enslavers while they're doing 'recon,' that 'you either tell them to go right now or else they're gonna die, period' because 'they are the f**king enemy, period.'
Text messages that were released by the government were said to have been encrypted text messages that the suspects supposedly sent each other over the last few months regarding their alleged kidnapping plans.
'Have one person go to her house. Knock on the door and when she answers it just cap her,' reads one message, obtained by Fox 17.
Another text message included emojis that suggested a plan to blow up a bridge as a way of slowing down police who might be responding to the kidnapping.
One of the videos showed alleged conspirator Brandon Caserta, 32 , making anti-police statements while another video showed Adam Dean Fox demonstrating a Taser
In the video showing the alleged tactical training video, the men were seen exiting a PT Cruiser
Authorities also shared encrypted messages supposedly sent by the alleged conspirators
The alleged conspirators shared stories about having been stopped by police and how easy it would be to 'tap' them and get away with it at night
Authorities said the text messages included images of the conspirators as they carried out surveillance on properties that Whitmer owned
The alleged conspirators also texted each other about stashing med kits and buying getaway vehicles, while saying that they have 'focused righteous anger backed by truth and morality.'
One message noted: 'When it comes there will be no need to try and strike fear through presence. The fear will be manifested through bullets.'
Other text messages, obtained by Local 12, show the alleged conspirators sharing stories about being 'robbed' - pulled over - by police officers who 'illegally' searched their cars and planting Xanax in their car for the next time he gets pulled over.
At one point, one of the alleged conspirators says he has the name of the officers who pulled him over and that it would be easy to 'tap' them and get away unseen because they work nights.
Also among the text messages were maps and what appeared to be surveillance pictures of bridges and homes.
Authorities said the images were taken on properties that Whitmer owned.