Adam Fox, one of two men convicted on federal charges for plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The sentence, which was delivered on Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jonker, came after Fox and co-conspirator Barry Croft were both found guilty in August on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Croft is scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday.
A total of six men were originally charged in the case. Two pled guilty before the trial began and another two were later found not guilty. The jury was unable to reach a verdict in the charges against Fox and Croft last April. The men were retried and convicted by a different jury.
The group intended to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, a Democrat, from her vacation home before the Nov. 2020 election and hold a sham “treason” trial in response to her pandemic lockdown orders. The weapon in question was a bomb that they planned to detonate after the kidnapping to distract law enforcement.
They hoped the scheme would instigate a “second American Revolution” or “boogaloo”. Fox was considered to be a ringleader of the operation, along with Croft.
Former U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the Western District of Michigan applauded the long prison term in a statement from the Department of Justice.
“Rest assured: we will spare no effort to disrupt plots like these and hold those responsible accountable to the law.”
Three other men, all members of a separate militia group called Wolverine Watchmen, were convicted in October on terrorism and gang charges. On Dec. 15, they were each sentenced up to 20 years in prison.
For Whitmer, the nightmare hasn’t ended. “Threats continue,” she said in a victim impact statement last August that was later summarized by the Detroit Free Press. “I have looked out my windows and seen large groups of heavily armed people within 30 yards of my home. I have seen myself hung in effigy. Days ago at a demonstration, there was a sign that called for ‘burning the witch.’ For me, things will never be the same.”
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/lorencecil1/adam-fox-michigan-kidnap-sentence
