Trial in conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ends in partial mistrial

• Trial of four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 ends in partial mistrial.
• The four men faced lifelong prison terms for their roles in the conspiracy.

A grand jury couldn't agree on verdicts for the four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after deliberating for more than four days.

The four men, Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta, were arrested in October 2020 men were charged with conspiracy to kidnap for allegedly planning to kidnap the governor from her vacation home in northern Michigan. Three of the men also faced weapons charges related to the plot.

The federal jury returned not guilty verdicts for Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. They could not agree on a verdict for the accuses ringleaders, Adam Fox and Barry Croft.

Harris was acquitted of knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property, in an alleged plot to slow responding police; possession of an unregistered destructive device; and possession of a semi-automatic assault rifle that wasn't registered to him.

Caserta was found not guilty on the conspiracy charge.

"Today Michiganders and Americans — especially out children — are living through the normalization of political violence," Whitmer's chief of staff, JoAnne Huls, said in a statement. "The plot to kidnap and kill a governor may seem like an anomaly. But we must be honest about what it really is: the result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across out country."

Prosecutors alleged that the men were angry over Whitmer's stay-at-home orders and mask mandates imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government alleged that three of the men, Fox, Harris, and Croft also planned to buy and create explosives to help them carry out their plan, resulting in a weapons of mass destruction charge, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The crew plotted to use explosives to destroy a bridge near Whitmer's vacation home to slow the response of her security detail and law enforcement, according to prosecutors.

All four men faced sentences of up to life in prison on the kidnapping conspiracy and weapons of mass destruction charges. Harris and Croft each faced an additional sentence of up to 10 years for possession of an unregistered destructive device.

Two other men, Kaleb Franks and Ty Garbin, already pleaded guilty for their part in the plot in January, admitting that they had scoped out Gov. Whitmer's home in preparation for the kidnapping.

Franks testified against the other four men in the closing days of the trial in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Franks told the jury that Croft discussed preparing weapons to attack Whitmer's security detail, the Associated Press reported.

"He said he would use the grenade launcher that he had, and he was discussing mounting a machine gun on top of the truck," Franks said in court, according to the AP.

Jurors asked Judge Robert Jonker for the legal definition of the word "weapon" during the first day of deliberations, according to The Detroit News. Judge Jonker also declined the jury's request to use a dictionary and transcripts of the trial during deliberations, according to The News.

According to USA Today, Judge Jonker told jurors before deliberations that they also may consider whether undercover federal agents and informants entrapped the four men into crossing the line into illegal acts.

"Somebody rattles the keys, somebody beats the drum, and gets 'em all worked up," Christopher Gibbons, an attorney for Fox, said in closing arguments on April 1, Reuters reported. "That's unacceptable in America. That's not how it works."

Prosecutors argued in closing statements that the men planned and mapped out the plot before they "gathered weapons and bombs" to execute it, Reuters reported.

"That is the conspiracy that they are charged with, and in America, it's a crime," Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler told jurors, according to Reuters.