In trying to salvage itshistoric domestic terrorism case, the prosecution left jurors with one final image Monday to remember as they deliberatethe Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case: a group of men casing the governor's house in the middle of the night.
"Dont forget the most important thing these defendants were outside a woman's house in the middle of the night with night vision goggles, and guns, and a plan to kidnap her. And they made a bomb. Thats real enough, isn't it," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in his closing arguments, which focused heavily on attacking defense claims that this was just make-believe, and entrapment.
"Look at how close they got, yards away from her house where she stayed with her family casing her house," Kessler said.
Kesslerargued repeatedly in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids that Adam Fox andBarry Croft Jr.were willing participants in the kidnapping scheme and portrayed them as angry militiamen who wanted to set off a second civil war.
"And they wanted to do it long before they set sights on Whitmer," said Kessler."They didnt want to just kidnap her. … They wanted to execute her.
Fox and Croft are being retried on charges they plotted to kidnap the governor out of anger over her handling of the pandemic.Later Monday the defense made itsclosing arguments, which you can read here. The jury then began deliberations.
The first trial in April ended in no convictions. Two men were acquitted and the jury deadlocked on charges against Fox and Croft, whose lawyers have long maintained their clients were set up by rogue FBI agents who enticed them into saying and doing things they wouldn'thave otherwise.
More: Defense urges Whitmer kidnap jury to acquit: 'Send this show packing ... this isn't Russia'
Not quite, countered the prosecution, which urged the jury to remember comments that Fox and Croft made in the spring of 2020,before the FBI infiltrated their group.
"Remember what they said ... 'Which governor is going to be dragged off and hung first.... God knows the governor needs hung. .... Take the governor, we have to do something bold for once in our lives. ... If we can get to her, we can get to you.' "
They were talking aboutWhitmer, Kessler said, telling jurors that Croft recruited Fox to be part of a national militia movement that involved targeting governors and law enforcement with the hopes of sparking a second civil war.
"Adam Fox is totally on board," Kessler said. "He wants you to believe hes just some poor sap who got suckered into this."
But he wasn't, Kessler said, arguing that Fox was a willing participant who in the summer of 2020 told an undercover FBI informant the following:
"'Were gonna kidnap the bitch. We need a seven- to eight-memberteam.Were gonna go up to her house and take a look at it ... and were going as low-profile tourists, pure Michigan bro.'"
Kessler later added: "The recordings are the strongest witnesses ...you heard them saying in their own voices over and over again, saying they were going to do it."
But they didn't just talk about it, Kessler said, stressing that Fox and Croft also made several overt acts took action to carry out the kidnapping plan, including:
Even if kidnapping Whitmer wasn't a realistic possibility, Kessler said, the threat was still present.
"They would've killed somebody," he said. "How far do you let something like this go?"
In closing, the prosecutor laid out a timeline for the jury as it moves into the deliberation room. Here is how the prosecution laid out its case, one last time, for the jury:
In 2017, Croft, a trucker from Delaware, fell on the government's radar when he started talking about starting a revolution. By 2020, Croft launched a call to action: He wanted to kick off his revolution by hanging a governor.
Croft would eventually meet Fox on social media and tell him about his plan.The two set their sights on Whitmer and hatched a plan to kidnap her, with Fox agreeing to recruit members.
"Im on board man. Im going to actively begin recruiting, I cant wait. … were going to put together a group to go snatch a motherf-----," Fox tells Croft in an audio message that was played for the jury.
This was before the FBI infiltrated their group.
In April of 2020, akey government informant known as Big Dan went undercover for the FBI. The former army veteran did this after joining the Wolverine Watchmen and hearing members talk about killing cops. He reported this to a police-officer friend, who contacted the FBI, with Big Dan agreeing to go undercover,fearing police were being targeted.
The defense claims Big Dan manipulated Fox. But the prosecution says Fox was willing and eager to kidnap the governor, and that two weeks before Fox even met Big Dan, hehe had talked about a plan to take the governor … we have to do something bold for once in our lives
On June 18, 2020, came a Second Amendment rally at the state Capitol, as public outrage over lockdowns and masks built. Fox met members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia at the rally, and invited them back to his place for a meeting to discuss plans to kidnap Whitmer.
It was held in the basement of a vacuum shop in the Grand Rapids area, where Fox lived, and Fox made all the invitees leave their cellphones upstairs, concerned one might be a spy and he didnt want the session recorded.
Unbeknownst to Fox, Big Dan was wired, and recording the whole thing.
After the vacuum shop meeting, Fox reported back to Croft, told him he had rounded up militia members, and that he would bring them to a meeting in Cambria, Wisconsin, whereCroft made the following comments:Governors are destroying the nation … we need to clean out the rubbish … if we get her in custody, treason is a hanging offense.
He wasreferring to Whitmer, and called for a quick precise grab on that f------ governor. Whitmer. Whitmer.
Two weeks after the Wisconsin meeting, Fox told Big Dan the group would kidnap Whitmer.
On Aug. 29, Fox and Big Dan headed up to Eagle Rapids to find Whitmers lakefront cottage.
Thats it, dude. Thats it. Lets turn around and see it again, Fox is heard saying.
During that trip, Fox also discovered a boat launch, drove by the police station to see how far it was, then drew a map of the area marked with Elk Rapids Police Department, 3 miles.
In September, the group started ramping up for another training exercise, with Fox saying: We need a hood for our asset. I have flex cuffs.
On Sept. 12, 2020, came the nighttime surveillance. Three cars set out and Fox says: We already put eyes on our f------ cottage up there. Were going to take a look tonight. Its perfect. Theres a boat launch concealed by trees.
Croft was in the same car as Fox that night. His lawyer argued during trial that Croft didnt know where he was going.
Do you think its a coincidence that Mr. Lets-hang-a-governor ends up yards away from Gov. Whitmers house in the middle of the night? Do you really think he didnt know where they were going? Kessler askedthe jury.
But Croft did know where he was going, Kessler argued.
"If he didnt know what they were doing, he may have stayed silent, or said, What are we doing here?'"Kessler said, adding that Croft instead was looking for his accomplices on the other side of a lake as they drove past Whitmers house.
"He says, She should be right around where those three lights are,'"Kessler said, referring to Crofts comments that night. "The defense suggests he might be doing land navigation. But he says 'she.' Thats Governor Whitmer who hes talking about right there.
Kessler then asked the jury to consider what Croft said after the nighttime surveillance: "Taking her out by the big lake is the best option."
Kessler also told the jury to remember Croft talking about Joe Biden winning the election and giving Whitmer extra security, telling his cohorts they would need a rocket launcher to fight the security detail during the kidnapping.
"In an operation of this magnitude, you are going to have to walk away from your life," Croft is heard telling his accomplices.
Kessler also told the jury to recall Fox saying: We need to practice. Get her in her sleep. Ill get some regular f------ handcuffs sowe can practice.
The group also talked about needing body armor and silencers for the operation.
Ask yourself, who needs a silencer? Kessler said. These guys did. And you know what for."
After Foxs arrest, the FBI searched his home and found a so-called go bag, filled with the following: duct tape. Rope. Flex cuffs. A knife and a gas mask.
The defense suggested this was camping gear. The prosecutor disagreed.
When you go camping, you dont need a gas mask. You dont need flex cuffs. Thats part of the kidnapping kit, Kessler said.
Fox and Croft are also charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up a bridge.
The defense has denied the claim, maintaining the men experimented with benign fireworks in the woodsand hadno plan to blow anything up.
But the prosecution cited some of Crofts comments like, Im going to blow shit up. Im going to terrorize people." Prosecutors told jurors that he built explosive devices out of fireworks, pennies and BBs that he said would go right through your skin. It also showed jurors videos of Croft trying to detonate his homemade bombs, but they didnt work.
Thats when Fox told his cohorts, "I have a baker Up North."
"Baker" is code for bomb builder. In this case, the baker was a man named Matt Keepers, who testified at trial that Fox reached out to him and asked him to join his militia and build a bomb. But the man told the jury he wanted no part in it.
According to the prosecution, the FBI was fearful that the group would obtain explosives on their own, so they placed an undercover agent in the group who pretended to be a bomb builder.
His cover name was Red. He gave the group a menu of explosives and said, This is what I can build for you.
What kind of price tag are we looking at? Fox allegedly asks.
"Its not, 'Woah, I dont want to do that, the prosecutor told the jury. "Its, 'How much is it going to cost?'"
According to the prosecution, Red said the bomb would cost $4,000. Fox gathered the group on Sept. 13, 2020, and told them they needed to raise $4,000, and another $600 for flash-bangs.
On Oct. 7, Fox and four cohorts traveled to Ypsilanti to make a down payment on the explosives and pick up free military gear that Red promised.
Butwhen they got there, the FBI was waiting with handcuffs and arrested the men. Croft was arrested at a gas station in New Jersey.
Fox had $360 on him when he was arrested. After the sting,Fox shared a jail cell with one of his co-defendants, who said Fox told him: "'Ive got another 600 toward the bomb back at the vac shack."
The FBI searched the vacuum shop, Kessler told the jury, "and thats exactly what they found" $600 in cash.
Kessler also urged the jury to consider the testimony of Kaleb Franks and Ty Garbin the two co-defendants who pleaded guilty early on and agreed to testify against the others at trial in exchange for leniency.
They pled guilty. They knew it was real. It wasnt costume play, Kessler said before asking the jury to consider Garbin and Franks' outfits on the stand. And those orangejumpsuits arent costume either. They went to prison.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com.
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Feds try to salvage Whitmer kidnap case in closing arguments: 'They wanted to execute her' - Detroit Free Press