Status: 08/24/2022 07:45 a.m
Two members of the far-right Three Percenters militia movement have been found guilty of planning the kidnapping of US Governor Whitmer. They face life imprisonment.
Two people have been found guilty of plotting to kidnap US Governor Gretchen Whitmer. A court found it proven that the two members of the ultra-right militia movement “Three Percenters” had planned to kidnap the governor of the state of Michigan at her vacation home in 2020. This was announced by the US Department of Justice.
One of the two men was found guilty of possession of explosives. The judge has yet to set the sentence. Life imprisonment is threatened. The proceedings against other men are still ongoing.
Whitmer: Political violence has no place
“Today’s verdict confirms that this plot was very real and very dangerous,” said prosecutor Andrew Birge. “These men were not only a threat to the governor personally, but also to bystanders.”
Governor Whitmer welcomed the verdict: Political violence has no place in the United States. The guilty verdicts showed that those who tried to divide society would be held accountable. Assaults on officials and threats against the FBI would highlight the worrying spread of “radicalized domestic terrorism” that threatens the very foundations of the United States.
sham trial against democracy
At a first trial in the spring, the jury did not come to a unanimous verdict. Some jurors echoed the defense’s argument that the FBI had set the men up.
After the kidnapping – out of anger at the Corona measures – the two men wanted to conduct a sham trial against the democrat, sentence her to death and thus start a civil war in the heated mood before the presidential election. Part of the plan was to blow up a bridge with a homemade bomb to distract the police. For practice, the men had already built a mock-up of the governor’s vacation home.
They could not implement their plans: the FBI had several informants in the group. The secret recordings of the conversations between the conspirators now ultimately led to the conviction.
Informants and secret recordings
Earlier in 2020, FBI investigators took to social media to see a group of people discussing the “violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components.” With the help of informants, undercover agents and secret recordings of conversations, the plans were finally uncovered in autumn 2020. In addition to the men who have now been found guilty, other suspects have also been arrested.
With information from Julia Kastein, ARD Studio Washington
Because they wanted to kidnap the governor: militia members found guilty
Julia Kastein, ARD Washington, August 24, 2022 6:30 a.m