ExtremismMichigan Plotters Also Targeted Virginia Governor: FBI

Published 13 October 2020

Two of the six men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer participated in a discussions earlier this year with other members of far-right militia groups about abducting Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, an FBI agent testified Tuesday.

Two of the six men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer participated in a discussions earlier this year with other members of far-right militia groups about abducting Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, an FBI agent testified Tuesday.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the testimony was given at a hearing Tuesday in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as part of the Justice Department’s case against six men charged with plotting to kidnap Whitmer.

Special Agent Richard Trask testified that two of the defendants, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, attended a meeting in June in Dublin, Ohio, with members of militias from four or five states.

At that meeting, they discussed possible targets, taking a sitting governor, specifically issues with the governors of Michigan and Virginia based on their lockdown orders,” Trask said.

Trask did not say whether any of the attendees proceeded to take any action toward potentially targeting Northam, and no one has been charged with any threats against him.

In a statement, Northam’s office said the FBI alerted key members of the governor’s security team during the investigation, but neither the governor nor other members of his staff were informed.

At no time was the Governor or his family in imminent danger,” his office said. “Enhanced security measures have been in place for Governor Northam and his family for quite some time, and they will remain.”

Following the Ohio meeting, Croft and Fox linked up with militia members in Michigan. Court papers show they discussed different ideas, including storming the state Capitol by force and shooting up police vehicles, before settling on the idea of kidnapping Whitmer at her vacation lake home.

Their goal was to her on “trial” for “treason” – and have the trial distributed on social media before the elections.

The conspirators trained, military-style, in preparation for the abduction of the governor. Trask testified that the drills included drills on how to clear a building and how extract a person from it.