Jury begins deciding verdict in trial of 4 accused in Mich. kidnapping plot

April 4 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury in Michigan began deliberations on Monday over the charges against four men who plotted to abduct Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 over COVID-19 restrictions.

The jury is deliberating in Grand Rapids on the fates of anti-government militia members Barry Croft Jr., Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris.

They face charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and all but Caserta also face weapons charges.

Two other members of the same militia, Ty Garbin and Kaleb James Franks, have pleaded guilty and agreed to turn state's evidence against the others.

In the men's 14-day trial, prosecutors used testimony from two informants and more than two dozen witnesses to argue that they actively worked on a plot to kidnap Whitmer.

Defense attorneys countered that the men were entrapped and that government informers goaded them into the plot, and that it was "just talk" that would never have amounted to anything.

The defense's claims, at times, veered into some strange accusations -- for example, saying that the men's kidnapping plot was actually orchestrated in secret by the government.

"When I look at what happened in this case, I am ashamed of the behavior of the leading law enforcement agency in the United States," defense attorney Josh Blanchard said, according to the News. "The investigation was an embarrassment. There was no plan and there was no agreement."

Prosecutors told jurors last week in closing arguments that it's not criminal to be critical of the government -- but it is criminal if that criticism leads to unlawful actions.

"You can criticize the government publicly, absolutely," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said, according to the Detroit News.

"If you don't like the government's policies, you can protest them. If you don't like elected leaders, you can vote them out at the ballot box. What you can't do is kidnap them, kill them, or blow them up.

"It wasn't just talk."

Prosecutors, though, said the men actively participated in seeking explosives and even went on a surveillance trip to a cottage Whitmer owned.