Domestic Terrorists Arrested in Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

It's been just a little over a week since the President of the United States declined to condemn white supremacists at the first presidential debate.    Instead Donald Trump encouraged the supremacist group, the Proud Boys, to "stand back and stand by," a remark that some seemed to take as a call to arms because the following day the group was circulating manufactured patches bearing that statement.

That statement, of course, was not Donald Trump's first shoutout to America's diseased underbelly of white supremacy.   Last spring he targeted several states in an attempt to bully governors into reopening their state's economies earlier than many experts deemed medically advisable.  Michigan and its governor, Gretchen Whitmer, were especially favorite targets of Trump.  At one point he posted a tweet that said simply, "Liberate Michigan!"  Many saw those two words as an open endorsement of anti-state government groups that were active in Michigan.

It was about the same time that Trump was stirring the anti-government fervor in Michigan that the FBI became aware of a serious effort by a group of Michigan extremists to launch an attack on the state's government and to kidnap the governor.    The FBI began a covert investigation into the threats, and managed to have a confidential informant placed in the group by early June.  The federal agency wisely did not inform the White House of the operation until yesterday - after the investigation was completed and arrests were made.

Yesterday the FBI arrested five Michiganders and one resident of Delaware in connection with the plot to attack the government of Michigan - and possibly those of some other states as well - and to kidnap Governor Whitmer of Michigan.  Those arrested by the feds include Adam Fox (37), a businessman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the apparent leader of the group, Ty Garbin (24), Kaleb Franks (26), Daniel Harris (23), Brandon Caserta (32), and Delaware resident Barry Croft (44).  

The core group of terrorists held some of its strategy meetings in a cellar beneath Fox's business in Grand Rapids.  They had plans to attack the state capitol in Lansing. disable the vehicles of police responders with Molotov cocktails, and kidnap Governor Whitmer and place her on trial for "treason."  In doing reconnaissance work for their grandiose plot, members of the group were also dispatched on a couple of occasions to spy on the governor's vacation home.

The terrorist group had planned to launch its attack prior to the November election.

The Michigan State Police arrested an additional seven individuals who were thought to have been giving support to the terrorist cell.  Those Michiganders who face a variety of firearms and terror charges include Paul Bellar (21), Shawn Fix (38), Eric Molitor (36), Michael Null (38), William Null (38), Pete Musico (42), and Joseph Morrison (42).   The seven arrested by the Michigan State Police were associated with a militia group known as the "Wolverine Watchmen."

Governor Whitmer was effusive in her praise of both law enforcement agencies - the FBI and the Michigan State Police - for their decisive action in curbing the terrorist plot against the government of Michigan and herself.  She noted that while the White House had dispatched Trump senior adviser Jason Miller to Fox News to criticize her after the arrests were made, Joe Biden, on the other hand,  had telephoned the governor to ask if she was okay.  

And Governor Whitmer is okay - and she's still in charge - and America's democratic values have once again reined triumphant!