Adam Fox has been described by prosecutors as the mastermind behind the plan.
Together with members of an armed far-right group, he would kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her country home. A mock trial would then be held where Whitmer would be prosecuted under trumped-up charges of treason. After that she was to be executed.
According to the indictment, the motive behind the plan must have been that the group opposed the measures and restrictions that Gretchen Whitmer introduced at an early stage of the corona pandemic. With their plan, they wanted to start an armed conflict before the contested presidential election in 2020.
Whitmer has on several occasions accused the former president of fueling political extremism on the issue. During a campaign rally in Michigan, the audience is said to have chanted, among other things, “lock her up” when Trump criticized Whitmer.
“Second American Revolution”
Adam Fox was sentenced in a federal court in the city of Grand Rapids in Michigan already in August on two charges – firstly for the plan to kidnap Gretchen Whihmer, and secondly for the plan to use a weapon of mass destruction that, according to prosecutors, had the purpose of starting a second American revolution. During Tuesday, the sentence was announced – 16 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, the weapon of mass destruction in question was a bomb that would be used to blow up a bridge during the escape.
In addition to Fox, a 47-year-old man, Barry Croft Jr, was also convicted on the same charges. The penalty for him will be announced sometime on Wednesday.
Showed no reactions
Defense attorneys have argued that prosecutors exaggerated Adam Fox’s role in the plot, and that neither Fox nor Croft used explosives. The defense has also said that the designated group had never even been able to kidnap the governor.
Fox himself was silent when the punishment was presented, and showed no reaction afterwards, according to Reuters. In addition to the prison sentence, Fox was sentenced to five years of supervised release following the prison sentence.
Fox and Croft were arrested along with eleven other men in October 2020.
Earlier in December, three of the men were sentenced to prison terms of seven to twelve years for involvement in the kidnapping attempt. Two more men have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to shorter prison terms after testifying against the main suspects. Two have been acquitted and five are awaiting trial.