{"id":2025375,"date":"2023-09-08T01:19:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T05:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-man-charged-with-aiding-michigan-gov-whitmer-kidnap-plot-says-the-scheme-didnt-seem-serious\/"},"modified":"2023-09-08T01:21:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T05:21:20","slug":"a-man-charged-with-aiding-michigan-gov-whitmer-kidnap-plot-says-the-scheme-didnt-seem-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-man-charged-with-aiding-michigan-gov-whitmer-kidnap-plot-says-the-scheme-didnt-seem-serious\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of aiding Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot claims it wasn&#8217;t serious."},"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\">24<\/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%2Fa-man-charged-with-aiding-michigan-gov-whitmer-kidnap-plot-says-the-scheme-didnt-seem-serious%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=2025375&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--><h2>Man Accused of Assisting Plot to Kidnap Michigan\u200c Governor Testifies in His\u200d Own Defense<\/h2>\n<p>One \u2062of three men accused of \u200cassisting a\u2063 plot \u200bto kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified in his own defense Thursday, portraying himself as\u200b a\u200b scared participant\u2063 in a\u200d daytime ride to see her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/five-states-whove-had-enough-of-their-governors-emergency-powers\/\" title=\"Five States Who\u2019ve Had Enough Of Their Governors\u2019 Emergency Powers\">vacation home<\/a>\u2064 in northern\u2062 Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Molitor and\u2064 twin brothers William Null\u2063 and Michael Null are charged with\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/actblue-facilitating-donations-to-terror-tied-charity-legal-group-says\/\" title=\"ActBlue Facilitating Donations to Terror-Tied Charity, Legal Group Says\">providing material support<\/a> for\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-joe-bidens-foreign-policy-reset-will-be-a-disaster\/\" title=\"Why Joe Biden\u2019s Foreign Policy \u2018Reset\u2019 Will Be A Disaster\">terrorist acts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Molitor said Whitmer\u2019s \u200bname didn\u2019t come up \u200dwhen he was\u200c encouraged by the scheme\u2019s leader, Adam Fox, \u2064to \u2064go to Antrim County to \u2064check out a \u201chigh-profile vacation house\u201d in August 2020.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/whitmer-approves-24-3-billion-education-budget-for-michigan-5413380\">Whitmer Approves $24.3 Billion\u2064 Education Budget for Michigan<\/a><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-comp-caption\">7\/20\/2023<\/span>\n    <\/li>\n<li>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/wisconsin-man-pleads-guilty-to-role-in-whitmer-kidnap-scheme-5125533\">Wisconsin \u2062Man Pleads Guilty to\u200b Role in\u2063 Whitmer Kidnap Scheme<\/a><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-comp-caption\">3\/15\/2023<\/span>\n    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But \u2064Molitor said he became anxious when\u200b he learned \u200dthat it was the governor\u2019s lakeside house in Elk Rapids. He was in \u2062a \u200dpickup truck with Fox and an FBI informant when they twice drove by the property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat \u200bdo I say? How \u200cdo \u2062I act? \u200cWhat \u200ddo I do? How do I get out of this situation?\u201d Molitor told the jury. \u201cI don\u2019t have training. I don\u2019t have backup. I got nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Molitor\u2019s decision to testify was a rare move: In four trials so far in state and federal\u2064 courts, only one other defendant has taken the\u200d witness stand. He was \u200bacquitted.<\/p>\n<p>Molitor and the Nulls are accused of aiding plot leaders\u200d Fox and \u200dBarry Croft\u2062 Jr. Social media posts and text\u200c messages show they were outraged over COVID-19 restrictions, but\u200b evidence\u200d also revealed that they\u2062 had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/carlson-how-long-until-we-get-canadian-style-tyranny-in-the-u-s\/\" title=\"Carlson: 'How Long Until' We Get Canadian-Style Tyranny in the U.S.?\">anti-government views<\/a> before the pandemic and\u200d were girding for a civil war.<\/p>\n<p>Molitor, 39, said his concern about the\u2064 drive to Whitmer\u2019s home eased, and he didn\u2019t contact \u200dpolice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt didn\u2019t seem serious. \u2026 The \u2063danger level in my mind \u200cwas decreasing just based on the fact that they\u2064 were not organized. It was two guys, one of them just talking crazy,\u201d Molitor testified. \u201cMy danger level went way down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said he voted for Whitmer and \u2062Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats, \u200din 2018\u2063 but soured on them. Molitor said mask rules\u2062 and lockdowns during the peak of COVID-19 were \u200dexcessive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid I have thoughts of \u2064hurting people? No. I did \u2063back the idea of a civilian arrest if that was possible,\u201d he said of Whitmer. \u201cOther \u2064than that,\u2064 voting her out was my best way of taking\u2062 care of\u2064 that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Null brothers were part of a separate night ride to see Whitmer\u2019s property several days later. The three men also participated\u200c in\u2064 paramilitary training.<\/p>\n<p>Informants and undercover FBI agents were \u2063inside the group for months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of three men on trial for aiding a plot to abduct Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defended himself, claiming he was a fearful participant on a daytime trip to her vacation home in northern Michigan. Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null face charges of supporting the plot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2025376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2025375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025375","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\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2025375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2025376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2025375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2025375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2025375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}