Update 08/25/2021 10:31pm:
According to reports, the first of 6 suspects to be federally charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer last year was sentenced to six years in prison.
Ty Garbin, 25, admitted to his role in the plot weeks after being arrested last fall and the only suspect to plead guilty. “I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of stress and fear her family felt because of my actions. And for that I am truly sorry,” Garbin said during his sentencing.
In a victim impact statement to the judge, Gov. Whitmer said “things will never be the same.”
“Threats continue,” she said in June. “I have looked out my windows and seen large groups of heavily armed people within 30 yards of my home. I have seen myself hung in effigy. Days ago at a demonstration, there was a sign that called for ‘burning the witch.’”
“The plots and threats against me, no matter how disturbing, could not deter me from doing everything I could to save as many lives as possible by listening to medical and health experts,” Whitmer said. “To me it is very simple: this had to be the priority.”
Original 10/08/2020 3:41pm:
On Thursday (October 8) afternoon, Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, held a press conference to address the arrest of over one dozen men on federal and state charges in connection to a foiled plot to kidnap her.
Six of the men- identified as Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta- were apprehended and charged with federal crimes. The other seven, revealed to be Paul Bellar, 21, Shawn Fix, 38, Eric Molitor, 36, Michael Null, 38, William Null, 38, Pete Musico, 42, and Joseph Morrison, 42, were picked up on state charges.
It was also revealed that the men were linked to the Wolverine Watchmen militia, which was involved in discussions about a "violent overthrow" of certain government and law enforcement officials. Officials also revealed that the six men facing federal charges used encrypted messaging to communicate about the plot, conducted coordinated surveillance on the governor's vacation home, and detonated an improvised explosive device wrapped with shrapnel.
A July meeting between an informant and Fox revealed that the defendant stated, "Snatch and grab, man. Grab the f**king governor. Just grab the b*tch-. Because at that point, we do that, dude — it’s over." According to U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge, Fox and Croft also spoke about "detonating explosive devices to divert police from the area of the (governor's vacation) home."
