Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer addresses the media about the flooding along the Tittabawassee River, after several dams breached, in downtown Midland, Michigan, U.S., May 20, 2020.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Six men have been charged by federal authorities with allegedly plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, court papers revealed Thursday.
The investigation that led to the case began in early 2020 when “the FBI became aware through social media that a group of individuals were discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law-enforcement components,” court records show.
At a meeting in July, the men allegedly “discussed attacking a Michigan State Police facility, and in a separate conversation after the meeting, [Ty] Garbin suggested shooting up the Governor’s vacation home,” court documents say.
At at July 27 meeting with a confidential FBI source, Fox discussed “their best opportunity to abduct Governor Whitmer,” which would be “when she was arriving at, or leaving, either her personal vacation home or the Governor’s official summer residence,” and FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.
Fox then said that after kidnapping Whitmer, the group “would remove her to a secure location in Wisconsin for ‘trial,’ ” the affidavit said
Fox allegedly said that day, “Snatch and grab, man. Grab the f— Governor. Just grab the b–. Because at that point, we do that, dude — it’s over,” court documents allege.
In addition to Garbin and Fox, also charged in the case are Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta, court records show.
All of the men except for Croft, who lives in Delaware, are Michigan residents.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told NBC News that, “There’s more to come.”
“Many more defendants and charges from our office,” Nessel said.
A court filing says that Fox had “reached out to a militia group” based in Michigan after the men decided they needed to increase their numbers.
The investigation that led to the arrests involved multiple confidential human sources and undercover FBI personnel.
A press conference on the case is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
