{"id":1426355,"date":"2022-04-08T21:00:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T01:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1426355"},"modified":"2022-04-08T21:00:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T01:00:11","slug":"jury-declares-2-men-not-guilty-in-gov-whitmer-kidnapping-plot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jury-declares-2-men-not-guilty-in-gov-whitmer-kidnapping-plot\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury Declares 2 Men Not Guilty in Gov. Whitmer Kidnapping Plot\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjury-declares-2-men-not-guilty-in-gov-whitmer-kidnapping-plot%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1426355&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A federal jury on Friday found two men not guilty and failed to reach a verdict for two other suspects in the conspiracy case to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).<\/p>\n<p>The jury found suspects Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta not guilty of conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer. However, the jury deadlocked on charges against suspects Adam Fox and Barry Croft, resulting in a mistrial.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAfter using the suggestions of the court, we\u2019re still unable to reach a unanimous decision on several counts,\u201d the jury said in a note after three hours of deliberations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to vote your own conscience at the end of the day. See if anything moves you on a locked decision,\u201d the judge\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a>\u00a0the jury.<\/p>\n<p>Three hours after that, the jury returned with its partial verdicts.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>All four defendants were charged with kidnapping conspiracy, and three were charged with weapons of mass destruction. The alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer resulted in over a dozen arrests on federal and state charges after FBI agents unraveled the plan in October 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecution argued that the men planned to kidnap Whitmer because they felt the governor was infringing on their freedoms while Michigan dealt with the coronavirus\u2019s impact. However, the defense argued, \u201cthat was all fantasy talk carried out by men who were stoned most of the time, and that they had no real plan or ever intended to kidnap Whitmer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FBI became involved in the alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer after a former member of the group became disgruntled with their message of violence.<\/p>\n<p>As the <em>Detroit Free Press<\/em>\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2022\/04\/08\/verdict-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-plot\/9512571002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The witness who helped crack the case was a former Wolverine Watchmen who told jurors he quit the group after hearing the men talking about killing police, told his cop-friend about it, and then got a call from the FBI asking him if he would go undercover. He agreed, and became known to the group as Big Dan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The defense argued that Big Dan was the catalyst for the kidnapping plot, as he drove the suspects to a warehouse, where they thought they would purchase equipment for the plot but were ultimately arrested by federal agents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Caserta\u2019s defense attorney Mike Hills said the FBI\u2019s actions were \u201cunconscionable.\u201d \u201cI think what the FBI did is unconscionable. And I think the jury just sent them a message loud and clear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Hills chalked up the defendant\u2019s behavior to \u201crough talk,\u201d and said, \u201cWe have the freedom to say that. If I don\u2019t like the governor and it\u2019s rough talk, I can do that in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s beautiful about this country. That\u2019s what\u2019s great about it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>After the jury\u2019s decision, Gov. Whitmer said the alleged plot is \u201cthe result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere must be accountability and consequences for those who commit heinous crimes. Without accountability, extremists will be emboldened,\u201d Whitmer\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2022\/04\/08\/verdict-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-plot\/9512571002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal jury on Friday found two men not guilty and failed to reach a verdict for two other suspects in the conspiracy case to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}