The trial of four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan's governor will proceed after a jury was seated.
WXYZ-TV in Detroit has reported that jury selection was completed Tuesday in the trial of the men charged with plotting to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
There will be 18 people participating in the trial, consisting of 11 women and seven men, all of them White. There will be 12 jurors and six alternates. The proceedings will take place in Grand Rapids before Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Brandon Caserta, and Daniel Harris are all charged with conspiracy to kidnap. If convicted, they could face life in prison. Two other suspects, identified as Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, have already pleaded guilty and will testify against the other four defendants.
The plot was exposed in October 2020 when federal agents raided a property in Hartland township, east of the state capital of Lansing. An affidavit from the FBI indicated that an unnamed militia was plotting to violently overthrow the government and kidnap the governor, either at her official residence in Lansing or her property in northern Michigan. The FBI also reported that the militia members were allegedly training on property owned by one of the suspects, not far from the governor's summer home.
The group had planned to force the governor to "stand trial" for treason, according to the FBI. The men were reportedly upset over Whitmer issuing executive orders designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, which included mask mandates and lockdowns.
According to the Free Press, prosecutors believe the group had every intention of carrying out its plan by casing both Whitmer's vacation home and the Governor's Mansion, drawing maps, and communicating in code to elude investigators.
The defence argues that there was never any intention to follow through with the plan, that federal investigators entrapped the defendants, and that the men were just verbally blowing off frustration with Whitmer over COVID-19 restrictions.
Opening statements will begin Wednesday morning, with the trial to last four to six weeks.
