Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping mastermind jailed for 16 years

The mastermind of the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The federal court found Adam Fox guilty of conspiring to abduct the Democratand blow up a bridge to ease an escape.

Adam Fox’s sentence is the longest of anyone convicted in the plot so far. It comes from four months after Fox and his aide Barry Croft Jr were convicted of conspiracy charges at a second trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Croft Jr is due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

Both of them targeted the Democratic governor in 2020 because they were opposed to the Covid rules she imposed during the pandemic. Additionally, they were trying to ferment a wild plot to incite anti-government extremists just before the presidential election that year.

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The prosecutors argued that the mastermind behind the plan, Fox, plotted to enter Gretchen’s vacation home, capture her at gunpoint and then force her to stand “trial” on fake treason charges – and face the death penalty.

They said that these convicted men wanted to trigger a “second American revolution”.

“They had no real plan for what to do with the governor if they actually seized her,” Nils Kessler, a prosecutor on the case, wrote in a court filing.

“Paradoxically, this made them more dangerous, not less.”

The government said that while Croft offered bomb-making skills and ideology, Fox was the real “driving force urging their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stood in their way.”

Prosecutors wanted life sentences for the men, but Judge Jonker said that would not be necessary to act as a deterrent. He, however, added that a "significant sentence" was required.

(With inputs from agencies)

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