Described by prosecutors as a plot to create a civil war by anti-government extremists, two men have been found guilty of conspiring to kidnap Governor Whitmer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler told jurors, "You can´t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor and go snatch the governor." "But that wasn´t the defendants´ ultimate goal, they wanted to set off a second American civil war, a second American Revolution, something that they call the boogaloo. And they wanted to do it for a long time before they settled on Gov. Whitmer."
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were found guilty on all charges.
Adam Fox:: Guilty of Conspiracy to kidnap Guilty of possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
Barry Croft: Guilty of conspiracy to kidnap Guilty of possession of a weapon of mass destruction Guilty of possession of a destructive device.
The defense argued that the FBI attempted to entrap the men. The FBI who infiltrated the group, "traveled to northern Michigan to see Whitmer´s vacation home at night and a bridge that could be destroyed."
Fox and Croft, they said, were "big talkers" who liked to smoke marijuana and were guilty of nothing but exercising their right to say vile things about Whitmer and the government.
Croft attorney Joshua Blanchard told jurors, "This isn´t Russia. This isn´t how our country works, You don´t get to suspect that someone might commit a crime because you don´t like things that they say, that you don´t like their ideologies."
Fox attorney Christopher Gibbons said the FBI isn´t supposed to create "domestic terrorists."
In April, a jury acquitted two men, Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris, on all charges after their attorneys successfully argued the men had been framed by the FBI. Two other defendants, Kaleb Franks and Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty and testified for the government at both trials.