A jury has been selected for the trial of four men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Prosecutors say the men conspired to kidnap the Democratic governor in 2020 because they were angry about COVID-19 restrictions she imposed.
Prosecutors have said the men were angry over the Democratic governor’s pandemic restrictions and that they will present secret recordings and other evidence, including of a trip to check Whitmer’s vacation home and training with weapons and explosives.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker, presiding over the trial in federal court in Grand Rapids, told prospective jurors they must put aside any personal feelings about politics, Whitmer and her administration’s response to COVID-19, to fairly hear the case. Several said they weren’t sure they could be impartial.Whitmer, with one man saying, “I would probably be pretty biased.
During that turbulent time, when stay-home orders were in place and the economy was restricted, Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris were coming up with a plot to snatch Whitmer, prosecutors say.