Two men described as leaders of a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were thrilled as they watched videos of powerful explosives, a few hours before driving north to scout her vacation home, an FBI agent testified Monday.
In summer 2020, Tim Bates was working undercover as “Red” when he fooled the group into believing that he knew someone in the mining industry who could get high-grade explosives.
FILE – This combination of photos provided by the Kent County Sheriff and the Delaware Department of Justice shows, top row from left, Brandon Caserta and Barry Croft; and bottom row from left, Adam Dean Fox and Daniel Harris. The four members of anti-government groups are facing trial in March 2022 on federal charges accusing them in a plot to abduct Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. Jury selection begins Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in a trial the presiding judge at the U.S. District Court courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., said could take over a month. (Kent County Sheriff, Delaware Department of Justice via AP File)
A bomb is a key part of the government’s case against Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, who are charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer because of her tough COVID-19 policies and their broad disgust with government.
Prosecutors say Fox especially wanted to blow up a bridge near Whitmer’s second home in northern Michigan to thwart any police response to a kidnapping.
Bates, who was secretly recording conversations, said he showed up for a training weekend in Luther, Michigan, and shared videos of explosives blowing up an SUV.
“Mr. Fox was excited about what he saw in the video,” Bates told the jury, adding that Croft “was also excited.”
Traveling in three vehicles, Bates said he, Fox, Croft and others drove to Elk Rapids to look at Whitmer’s house on Birch Lake and inspect a nearby bridge.
Why? asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler.
“To kidnap her,” Bates testified.
Croft told the group that he “needed to take a nap … to have energy” if they were going to abduct Whitmer that night, but that wasn’t the plan, Bates said.
Later, after returning to the Luther camp, Fox asked Bates if he would “take an IOU” for the $4,000 explosive, according to a recording.
Monday was the 11th day of trial. Prosecutors plan to finish presenting evidence this week.
Defense attorneys deny there was an actual plan to snatch Whitmer, claiming the men were improperly influenced by undercover agents and informants, and exchanged wild talk while smoking marijuana.
Fox’s lawyer tried to downplay the stop at the bridge. Bates admitted that he encouraged Fox to take a picture of the underside of the structure while they were looking at it.
“That’s a public sidewalk. There’s no ‘no trespassing’ signs,” attorney Christopher Gibbons said to the agent. “Anybody can run up under that bridge, any time they want.”
First-term Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, right, and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II meet with reporters before the pair turned in 30,000 nominating signatures to the state elections bureau to run for reelection on Thursday, March 17, 2022, in Lansing. Mich. (AP Photo/David Eggert)
Croft attorney Joshua Blanchard suggested the FBI wanted to strengthen the case against Fox by getting a bridge photo on his phone.
“Nobody ever actually gave you money, right?’ Blanchard asked Bates, referring to money for explosives. “No one ever shook your hand and said, ‘You’ve got a deal.'”
“Correct,” the agent replied.
Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, two other men who were also arrested in October 2020, have pleaded guilty and were critical witnesses for the government last week.
Garbin said Whitmer’s kidnapping could ignite a U.S. civil war involving antigovernment groups and possibly prevent Joe Biden from winning the presidential election.
Fox talked about snatching the governor “every time I saw him, ” Franks said.
Whitmer, a Democrat, rarely talks publicly about the case, though she referred to “surprises” during her term that seem like “something out of fiction” when she filed for reelection on March 17.
She has blamed former President Donald Trump for fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists like those charged in the case. Whitmer has said Trump was complicit in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
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White reported from Detroit.
