Gretchen Whitmer was to be tied up and posed for photos in kidnap plot, trial hears

Extremist group’s defence has accused FBI informant of goading plotters into exaggerating their plans

Four self-proclaimed militiamen who allegedly planned to kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer had plans to tie her up and pose for photos with her, a court has heard.

The plotters, who were arrested in autumn 2020 after an FBI operation, are accused of making an elaborate plan to abduct the governor and put her on “trial” for treason based on their grievances against her Covid-19 policies. As the trial unfolds, the details of what they allegedly imagined doing are becoming clearer.

According to a recording played in court on Thursday, one of the four men told FBI agent Mark Schweers that he wanted to see Ms Whitmer – a “tyrant”, by his description – “flex-cuffed on a table while we all pose and get our pictures taken like we just made the biggest drug bust in…history”.

He then mused that that would be enough satisfaction as far as he was concerned, at least provided Ms Whitmer went to jail “even if we gotta go with her”.

Affiliating themselves with another militia-style group known as the Wolverine Watchmen, the small cell was infiltrated by the FBI, whom the defence team have accused of influencing the men to continue planning their operation in the summer of 2020 even as their group appeared to be on the edge of collapse.

The FBI has dismissed this allegation, with agent Christopher Long testifying this week that the group’s members would have been a threat whether or not they broke up.

“The concern was that they were going to have a lone wolf attack, and we weren’t going to have access to specific individuals,” Mr Long said in court. “The entire group was violent. Mr Croft was violent, as well.”

When the news of the plot broke publicly in 2020, Ms Whitmer gave a press conference during which she accused Donald Trump of helping incite right-wing extremism and domestic terrorism, as well as targeting her in particular.

Barry Croft, Daniel Harris, Adam Fox and Brandon Caserta, defendants in a case about an alleged plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer (AP)

Calling her the “lockup queen” and tweeting the words “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”, Mr Trump levelled specific grievances at the governor over her Covid-19 policies. “What she’s done to that place is horrible. She’s locked it up. She’s got people like living in prison. The courts just overturned her. They said what you’re doing is unconstitutional.”

Soon after he called for the state’s “liberation”, crowds of armed Trump-supporting anti-lockdown protesters arrived at the Michigan state capitol in Lansing, some of them entering the building. Their planned “Operation Gridlock” protest briefly prevented ambulances moving through the city centre.

Additional reporting by Associated Press