defendants acquitted in Michigan governor kidnapping case; mistrial declared for 2 others By Brian

[Lasher]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Yonnie3 (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: CNN

A federal jury on Friday found two men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer not guilty of kidnapping conspiracy and a mistrial was declared for two other defendants.

Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta faced federal charges for allegedly conspiring to kidnap the Democratic governor. All four defendants, who pleaded not guilty, faced up to life in prison if convicted of kidnapping conspiracy.

Harris and Caserta were found not guilty of kidnapping conspiracy. The jury also found Harris not guilty on other charges. The jury could not reach a verdict for Fox and Croft, after which US District Judge Robert Jonker declared a mistrial for those defendants.

US Attorney Andrew Birge said in a statement to CNN that the Michigan US Attorney’s Office is “disappointed” with the jury’s decision but that it respects the jury trial system. He added that two defendants await a retrial and so he would not comment further.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/08/politics/whitmer-trial/index.html

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WTF? What else could it possibly require for a jury to convict these fascists?

[onecaliberal]

1. WHAT!

[old as dirt]

2. This is not good. (nt)

[Lucky Luciano]

3. Holy shit. Our country is well and truly fucked. The fascists won.

[gab13by13]

4. I predicted it at day 4 of deliberations.

[Leith]

5. rethug terrorists will do it again

and probably kill the Democrat they abduct. Well, why not? They can get their ya-yas out and get away with it.

[Ford_Prefect]

6. Sounds like what happened in the Ammon Bundy trial over occupying Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

[Tumbulu]

12. Yes, the long term consequences

of ignoring hate propaganda blasted out 24/7 on am radios for nearly 40 years.

[McKim]

7. Shocking!

Shocking, now they are free to hold forth at the local tavern with their Oaf Keeper type friends.
A slap on the wrist for this outrageous crime. This country IS fucked. I could never convince my husband to leave over the War on Iraq lies, like our friends did! Now we spend our golden years watching America go down the drain.

[SunImp]

8. I feel so sad for Lady Justice

She can't stop weeping

[Martin68]

9. I don't get it. Is the jury system disfunctional?

[Effete Snob]

11. No, the methods used by FBI with informants is

[Tommymac]

15. If just one of the jurors is a die hard QAnon TFG follower then a mistrial will happen every time.

Our jury system relies on Good Faith.

Obviously in short supply on the ReTHUG side.

[pacheen]

10. This was entrapment

The Feds paid the ringleader to find and organize these individuals, who were spewing anti government rhetoric on social media. They were pissed off at the Governor for orders she gave to try to contain the virus. Read about it.

[Omaha Steve]

13. Kick

Last edited Sat Apr 9, 2022, 08:28 AM - Edit history (1)

[Marcuse]

14. We did get guilty pleas from two of the deplorables, so there's that.

Their testimony against their fellow deplorables was tainted by their own deplorabilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

[DashOneBravo]

16. I haven't followed this one.

But it looks like the FBI undercover agents and informants might have caused this verdict

When they were arrested the case seemed a slam dunk. But as more evidence has unfolded and the trial has begun, a different narrative has emerged. Far from being a dedicated bunch of coup-plotters, their attorneys argue, the Wolverine Watchmen are hapless victims of FBI entrapment who had been induced by paid informants to commit crimes they would not otherwise have considered.
The FBI, according to defense filings, deployed at least 12 informants, as well as several undercover agents. “There was no plan, there was no agreement and no kidnapping,” defense attorney Joshua Blanchard said last week.
It is not an entirely outlandish claim. The defense’s argument of FBI entrapment draws on a long history. In the post 9/11 era, when internal US security agencies focused on the existence of Muslim extremist plots, several prosecutions, including of the Newburgh Four, hinged on informants actively promoting a plot before turning would-be perpetrators over to the government to be tried on conspiracy charges.

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/19/michigan-governor-kidnap-case-terrorists-fbi-dupes-gretchen-whitmer

[msfiddlestix]

18. I recall botched up 9/11 domestic terror bomb threat entrapment plot in Florida

with similar theme.

a few young, homeless knuckleheads hanging out on the streets in a town in Florida. (Silver Springs ?) .

essentially FBI undercover agent hooks up with them and start discussing making bombs and blowing up Sears Tower in Chicago.

So the bust happens just in the nick of time, I recall watching Anderson Cooper on CNN breathlessly reporting on the story as it was breaking. Well, how did I immediately KNOW that this was plot at the hands of FBI agents pretending to be terrorists and cooking up a domestic terrorists entrapment plot?

Cuz it was straight up from the playbook of the 60's. that's how. time and time again. way to many of them to count.

Side note: I actually placed a call to CNN news room minutes after that report, and let them know they were being played.

It wasn't immediate, I think it was some months later, it was revealed on one of the cable shows, that's exactly what happened.

I understand why they do this, but surely by now they would have improved tactics and strategy.

[DashOneBravo]

19. That's pretty interesting!

I’m always surprised that so many news reporters gets played.

[msfiddlestix]

20. It was actually pathetic to watch Anderson Cooper "breaking the news", literally with breathless

performance. I was both outraged and stunned at his naivete. The details made it obvious. The first detail that sent up the first alert to me, was his description of the main ring leader's hair was in dreadlocks, repeatedly.

There were additional details that really were just as lame.

I knew immediately this was not a domestic terrorist plot, but something hatched up by the FBI. Homeless people of color, wearing dreadlocks but otherwise didn't even have boots. In Florida. slept in some empty warehouse. or some such.

omg.

As it happens at the time, i was sort of involved in "media activism". printing the truth about the casus belli i for the Iraq invasion, wmd bullshit, etc etc etc. tucking the print outs in magazines of Libraries, dr's offices bookstores. you name it. So I had a contact list of every news organization, print and broadcast at hand. It was all on an old hard drive which was destroyed before e-cycling.

Back when I truly thought we could make a difference in ending the war before it got underway and attempting to end soon after.

a hopeless cause. pissing at windmill as they say.

[AncientOfDays]

17. Some takeaways

The following article covers some of my thoughts about the situation:

5 takeaways from the Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot trial

2. FBI calls ‘mastermind’ Bonehead

Croft was considered the “mastermind” of the alleged plot, but the FBI didn’t think that highly of him, attorney Josh Blanchard said. He noted that his client was nicknamed “Bonehead,” or “BH,” by FBI special agents.

3. Living in a buddy’s basement

Fox was living in the basement of his buddy’s business, the Vac Shack near Grand Rapids, when he was arrested. There was no running water but he was down on his luck and needed a place to stay.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/04/5-takeaways-from-the-gov-whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial.html

========

From my remote and ill-informed perch, it looks as if the conspirators were a mixed bag - a few that knew what they were doing, others more along the lines of The Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers.

[niyad]

21. Calling Nemesis.

[Yonnie3]

22. Locking ...

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