Headline Roundup • August 23rd, 2022
Jury Convicts Two Men of Conspiring to Kidnap MI Gov Gretchen Whitmer
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A jury on Tuesday found two men guilty of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox were among six men charged in October 2020 over a domestic terrorist plot to overthrow Michigan's government, which was ultimately stopped by the FBI. Prosecutors named Fox as the leader of the anti-government extremist group and alleged that their goal was to ignite a second American Civil War. Croft and Fox were also convicted of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction in the form of a bomb, which they planned to use to demolish a bridge. Whitmer on Tuesday said that the verdicts prove that "violence and threats have no place in our politics." Eight more men involved in the attempted coup are facing state charges.
Coverage was prominent across the spectrum. Some reports framed the ruling as a "big victory" for the Justice Department, which was left "embarrassed" after the first trial in April ended in a mistrial. Other reports accentuated defense attorneys who claimed that Croft and Fox were "influenced" by undercover FBI agents that formed the conspiracy.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Michigan Office of the Governor via AP
A jury has found defendants Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. guilty of conspiring in 2020 to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.
After about nine hours of deliberation over two days, the jury convicted Fox and Croft of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Croft was also convicted of possession of an unregistered destructive device.
This was the pair’s second trial before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jonker.
Their first trial in April ended with the jury unable to arrive at a unanimous...
Kent County Sheriff's Office/AP
A jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a swift victory for prosecutors in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were also found guilty of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction, namely a bomb to blow up a bridge and stymie police if the kidnapping could be pulled off at Whitmer’s vacation home.
Croft, 46, a...
Getty Images
A jury convicted two men Tuesday for plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) in 2020, part of what prosecutors have described as a larger domestic terrorist plan to set off a civil war and attempt to overthrow the government.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted of all charges brought against them in federal court in Michigan, including conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to obtain weapons of mass destruction, and Croft was convicted of an additional explosives charge, according to the Associated Press and other outlets.
The two...
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