GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal jury Tuesday convicted two men accused of orchestrating a plan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as prosecutors salvaged the largest domestic terrorism case in a generation that has shed light on political extremism in Michigan.
The convictions came on Whitmer's birthday, four months after jurors deadlocked on charges against Potterville resident Adam Fox and Delaware truck driver Barry Croft and acquitted two others who were accused of being part of a broader group of people angered by pandemic restrictions and hoping to spark a second Civil War. Fox and Croft face up to life in federal prison.
The verdicts give the U.S. Justice Department a landmark victory prosecuting extremism and domestic terrorism amid an increase in threats nationwide.