Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr have been convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. A Michigan jury also found them guilty of attempting to procure a weapon of mass destruction.
Fox and Croft were convicted Tuesday of two counts of conspiracy related to the kidnapping scheme and attempts to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors said they wanted to blow up a bridge to disrupt police if the abduction could be pulled off at Whitmer’s vacation home.
The result was a big victory for the U.S. Justice Department. A different jury just four months ago couldn’t reach unanimous decisions on Adam Fox or Barry Croft Jr. but acquitted two other men, a stunning conclusion that led to a second trial.
Fox and Croft now face up to life in prison.
“Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed,” said Whitmer, a Democrat, who turned 51 years old on Tuesday.
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Who are Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr?
Barry Croft Jr is a trucker from Bear Delaware. He is 46 years old. He was also convicted of another explosives charge.
The government alleges thatcAdam Fox, who was living under a Grand Rapids-area vacuum shop, and Croft wanted to target Whitmer as well as other public officials over their tough restrictions during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“I’m gonna hit soon,” Croft was heard saying during a June 2020 meeting of anti-government activists in Ohio.
Fox, Croft and others, accompanied by the government operatives, travelled to northern Michigan to see Whitmer’s vacation home at night and a bridge that could be destroyed. Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, too, were on that ride. They pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution.
