The deadlocked jury has still not come to a unanimous decision on some of the ten charges levied against the four defendants
In October of 2020 6 men were arrested and charged for conspiracy to kidnap Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Two of the men have since plead guilty, leaving four defendants to stand trial.
While all four remaining defendants–Brandon Caserta, Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr, and Daniel Harris–face the main charge, a kidnapping conspiracy, there are additional charges against three of the defendants for a total of ten charges. The jury has yet to come to a unanimous decision on some of the ten charges, and as such is currently deadlocked.
The trial, which has covered 20 days since March 8th when jury selection began, included testimony from undercover agents, informants, and two of the accused men who had pleaded guilty.
From PBS:
Prosecutors said the group was steeped in anti-government extremism and angry over Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Defense lawyers, however, said any scheme was the creation of government agents who were embedded in the group and manipulated the men.
While prosecutors and the FBI have attempted to make a bulletproof case against the four defendants, and Whitmer has attempted to frame the defendants as rabid, white supremacists with loyalty to Donald Trump, it has been rocky with defense attorneys casting doubts on the FBI’s credibility in their involvement.
FBI special agent Richard Trask was charged Monday with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder following a domestic incident with his wife.
A lawyer for an alleged bombmaker charged in the Whitmer case raised questions last Sunday about whether the FBI is trying to sabotage the defense ahead of trial. Delaware resident Barry Croft’s attorney filed excerpts revealing the existence of a recording in which lead investigator FBI special agent Henrik Impola discussed creating “utter disarray and chaos” for defense lawyers, whom he labeled as “paid liars” whose jobs are to “take the truth and portray it in a different sense.”
There is also more truth to the defendants being anti-Trump, anti-government anarchists than to them being either white supremacists or Trump supporters, much to Whitmer’s chagrin.
More evidence that the trial and investigation are unfair
With Trask being the face of the FBI investigation into the conspiracy, there is ample reason to believe that the FBI set up the defendants.
During their piece on the arrest of the violent FBI agent, the Wood TV reporter reveals that Richard Trask was posting hateful messages directed at President Trump and his supporters on March 28, 2020, early on in his investigation of the kidnapping plot anti-Trump supporter messages were posted to his Facebook page.
Beyond that, further government bias is alleged by the defense attorneys
Defense lawyers, meanwhile, argued that the government has only produced snippets of conversations in the case and that there is no evidence that the accused had any real plan to kidnap Whitmer. They said that it remains to be seen what roles the undercover informants and FBI agents played in the case and whether they pushed the others into carrying out the plan, which in the end was foiled when FBI agents arrested five men during a setup on Oct. 7.
Graham was grilling FBI special agent Richard Trask about his testimony that at least 13 self-described militia members plotted to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home and do one of two things: either take her on a boat in the middle of Lake Michigan and leave her there or, take her to Wisconsin and try her for treason.
Graham asked agent Trask how the suspects planned to get Whitmer to Wisconsin.
The agent had no specific answer, beyond saying there were audio recordings of the suspects discussing a plan to take Whitmer to another state, among them Wisconsin.
Graham then asked the agent what the suspects planned to do with Whitmer after they left her in the lake. The agent had no specific answer, beyond testifying that the accused ringleader, Adam Fox, wanted to “take her out on a boat and leave her in the middle of Lake Michigan.”
This indicates that the “conspiring militia” may not have even made it this far without the help of the FBI, with Trask’s rampant hatred of Trump supporters.
Except, they weren’t Trump supporters
The anarchists consist of multiple anti-Trump members whose interests seem more aligned with BLM and Marxism than with white supremacy.
“Trump is not your friend dude,” Caserta said.
He says Trump is “a tyrant” and calls President Trump an “enemy.”
Another of the accused, Marine Daniel Harris, allegedly asked the group if they would be interested in going to Maine to kill a police officer.
So what exactly makes these radicals pro-Trump white supremacists instead of BLM, anti-cop, anti-government, anti-Trump Marxists? And why are Trask and Whitmer so concerned with pushing this false narrative?
They hate patriots, and they love Whitmer’s tyranny. The FBI and the Democrats want to control the narrative to demonize decent, patriotic people and this case is a prominent example of how they can do it.
