Three men convicted for supporting plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Three men who were charged with supporting a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have been convicted on all charges.

The Associated Press reports that Joe Morrison, his father-in-law Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar were convicted for providing "material support" to a terrorist act. The men were part of a militaristic, right wing gang called the "Wolverine Watchmen."

The men were also convicted of a gun crime and membership in a gang. Prosecutors referred to the gang as a criminal enterprise.

The group met and held firearm drills in Jackson County. The alleged leader of the gang, Adam Fox, reportedly hated Ms Whitmer and the policies she enacted during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to prosecutors, the pandemic bolstered the group’s recruitment, spurring some to back a second civil war in the US.

“The facts drip out slowly and you begin to see — wow — there were things that happened that people knew about. ... When you see how close Adam Fox got to the governor, you can see how a very bad event was thwarted,” state Assistant Attorney General Bill Rollstin told jurors.

The men’s defense attorneys argued that their clients had already distanced themselves from Mr Fox by the time the plot to kidnap Ms Whitmer was formulated in summer 2020.