Three More Far-Right Militia Members Convicted in Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

“Politically motivated plots, threats, and violence are increasingly common against public officials as well as everyday citizens,” Whitmer wrote in a statement.

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One day after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faced off against Republican challenger Tudor Dixon on the debate stage, a jury found three more men guilty of materially aiding a terrorist and being gang members in association with the plot to kidnap Whitmer in 2020.

As my colleague Arianna Coghill has reported, the two lead orchestrators of the plot, Barry Croft and Adam Fox, were found guilty in August of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer in a far-fetched plan intended to spark a civil war. Today, after a three-week trial, three more men—Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison, and Pete Musico—were found guilty of aiding either Croft or Fox, The Detroit News reports. They face up to 42 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, the three men were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a far-right militia group. In this capacity, they provided medical and firearms training to Fox and Croft and encouraged the two men to commit violence against Whitmer.

The defense argued that Bellar, Morrison, and Musico were simply exercising their freedom of speech. Per the New York Times:

Kareem Johnson, a lawyer for Mr. Musico, said that his client’s actions were protected by the First and Second Amendments and that he believed Mr. Musico was being punished for his belief system.

“In this country, you are allowed to talk the talk,” Mr. Johnson told the jury. “But you only get convicted if you walk the walk.”

That may be true, but statements like, “One, two, I’m coming for you, three, four, better lock your door,” “let’s grab that bitch while she comes out the back [through an emergency exit at a protest at the Michigan Capital],” and “I swear to God…I’m going to moltov [sic] her fucking house” arguably rise above “talking the talk” and begin to look more like a concerted plan to commit violence.

These types of messages, combined with copious audio recordings and private messages obtained by a confidential FBI informant, provided the basis for the prosecution’s argument that the three men’s conversations amounted to more than just idle chatter.

“Politically motivated plots, threats, and violence are increasingly common against public officials as well as everyday citizens,” Whitmer wrote in a statement responding to the verdict. “They are the logical, disturbing extension of radicalization, hatred, and conspiratorial thinking that festers in America, threatening the foundation of our republic.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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