Jury Convicts 2 Men In Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

MICHIGAN — Two men were convicted Tuesday morning by a federal jury for plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

After deliberating for about eight hours the past two days, the jury found Potterville resident Adam Fox and Delaware truck driver Barry Croft guilty on all counts, including conspiring to kidnap Whitmer and to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property.

Croft was additionally convicted of knowingly possessing an unregistered destructive device, specifically an improvised explosive wrapped in pennies for shrapnel.

Fox and Croft both face life in prison for the kidnapping conspiracy and the conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Possession of an unregistered destructive device and the possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

They will be sentenced to prison by Judge Robert Jonker at a later date.

"Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed," Whitmer said. "But we must also take a hard look at the status of our politics. Plots against public officials and threats to the FBI are a disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism that festers in our nation, threatening the very foundation of our republic."

Prosecutors said Fox and Croft intended to kidnap Governor Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids and use weapons of mass destruction to blow up a bridge to hinder responding police.

"These defendants believed their anti-government views justified violence," Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office James A. Tarasca said. "Today’s verdict sends a clear message that they were wrong in their assessment. Violence is never the answer. The FBI will continue to investigate anyone who seeks to engage in violence in furtherance of any ideological cause and hold them accountable."

Fox and Croft were ordered to a retrial after a jury was initially deadlocked on charges against the two in April. During that trial, two others were found not guilty by the jury.

Two others, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, pleaded guilty to federal kidnapping conspiracy charges and testified as the government's star witnesses.