GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Four men on trial and accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer didn’t just talk about wanting to kidnap and kill Michigan's governor, they planned, prepared and armed themselves to spark a second Civil War, a federal prosecutor said during closing arguments Friday.
“In America, there’s a lot of things you can do. You can criticize the government publicly, absolutely," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler told jurors. "If you don’t like the government’s policies, you can protest them. If you don’t like elected leaders, you can vote them out at the ballot box. What you can’t do is kidnap them, kill them or blow them up.
"It wasn't just talk."
