Co-leader in Whitmer plot gets 16 years in prison

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker sentenced Adam Fox to 16 years in prison on Tuesday for planning to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of life in prison. Fox and his co-defendant Barry Croft Jr. were also convicted of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction. Croft is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday. Fox was accused of leading the plot with Croft, but Fox’s attorney said Fox did not have the means or intent to execute the plot. Fox was using social media to vent his frustrations but was within Michigan’s laws, his lawyer said.

What was the kidnapping plan? The FBI broke up the plot in October 2020, arresting people accused of training with guns and scoping out Whitmer’s vacation home to kidnap her. The plan included blowing up a bridge to slow down the FBI, according to evidence presented at the trial. Three members of a paramilitary group that trained with Fox were sentenced earlier this month, receiving sentences that ranged between 7 and 12 years in prison. Two other men pleaded guilty to the kidnapping conspiracy and testified against Croft and Fox, while two others were acquitted last spring. 

Dig deeper: From the World archives, read Jamie Dean’s report about social and political unrest in the fall of 2020, when the men were arrested.