A man described as the leader of a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer he asked “when is the lynching?” after the state Supreme Court overturned a law in 2020 that it repeatedly used to impose restrictions during COVID-19 pandemicaccording to evidence presented Monday.
The revelation came at the end of the first phase of the testimony of a key government witness in the trial of four men. Dan Chappel, an Army veteran, was an FBI informant who secretly recorded hours of conversation, participated in chat groups, and trained to kidnap Whitmer, along with Adam FoxBarry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta.
Prosecutors say the four were anti-government extremists who wanted to take the Democratic governor to their North Michigan vacation home in retaliation for a series of radical orders during the pandemic.
With Chappel in the witness chair, U.S. Assistant Attorney Nils Kessler introduced written text messages after Whitmer lost a Michigan Supreme Court ruling on his powers.
“When’s the lynching?” Fox wrote. “She should be arrested now, immediately. Who wants to deploy?”
Kent County Sheriff, Delaware Department of Justice via AP
The exchange took place a few days before the FBI arrested the men before they could obtain an explosive to use in a kidnapping.
Fox, Croft, Harris and Caserta are charged with conspiracy. Chappel last week told jurors how two trips to northern Michigan were made to see Whitmer’s property, as well as a nearby bridge that could be blown up to distract police.
Defense attorneys allege that the informants and agents unduly influenced the four men. Two more men, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, pleaded guilty to the scheme and will eventually plead guilty by the government.
Whitmer rarely speaks publicly about the case, though he referred to the “surprises” of recent years that seem “something out of the ordinary” when he ran for re-election last week.
He has blamed former President Donald Trump for fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and for refusing to condemn right-wing extremists as defendants in the case. Whitmer said Trump was complicit in the January 6 Capitol riots.
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