They were seen as domestic terrorists, as the precursors to the violent stormers of the Capitol, as the vanguard of a new American civil war. On Friday, two of them were acquitted by a jury in Michigan, two others must be tried again because the jury could not reach a decision. As a result, the prosecution and the FBI have suffered a serious defeat in the fight against political extremism in the United States
In October 2020, the FBI arrested 14 men suspected of planning the kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. This Democratic driver was under fire for her very strict and sometimes inimitable corona measures (do-it-yourself stores closed, lottery outlets open). There had been major protests, with some protesters showing up in the parliament building armed. Whitmer was also a favorite target of then-president and tweeter Donald Trump.
Also read: Thwarted terror plot sparks debate over Trump ‘encouragement’ extremists
In that atmosphere, the October 2020 arrests, just weeks before the presidential election, were seen as a warning of the readiness of President Trump’s most radical supporters to use force. The much-discussed book How Civil Wars Start that political scientist Barbara Walter published this year, begins with an explanation of the supposed conspiracy. Then she writes: “I have seen how civil wars start, I know the signs that other people miss. And I see how those signs come up here surprisingly quickly. The 2020 plot by a group of white-nationalist, anti-government paramilitaries in Michigan is one of those signs.”
FBI informants ‘directed’
There is little doubt that the men were white, nationalistic and anti-government. One of the detainees posted a (now deleted) video on YouTube, in which he made a tirade against the mandatory seat belt while driving. “Why doesn’t that motorcyclist have to wear a helmet in Michigan, but do I have to wear a belt in my own car?” The charges against this man were already dismissed by a Michigan judge last year.
The prosecution built the case against six suspects around tapped conversations and text messages in which they discussed their plans. Two men pleaded guilty to the charges several months ago, admitting that they intended to kidnap Whitmer and bring him to trial. They testified in this case before the Public Prosecution Service against their co-defendants.
One of the reasons the jury nevertheless acquitted in two cases is that the wiretapped conversations and text messages were collected by FBI informants. The defendants’ lawyers successfully argued that these informants had played a driving role in the conspiracy. According to one of the lawyers, the suspects mainly indulged in boasting and bragging “in clouds of weed smoke”, and had no serious intention of doing anything to the governor themselves. Talk of killing “tyrants” and “taking out” a sitting governor would have been mere talk, as would a raid on Whitmer’s vacation home. The FBI informants are said to have called for tough action.
Capitol Riots Investigation
The role of FBI informants and the jury’s response to it is a sensitive matter. Right-wing circles, as far as the Senate, have suggested that undercover FBI agents also played a role in the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol by disappointed Trump voters after the lost election.
The House of Representatives committee investigating the events of that day announced at the beginning of this year that it found no indications. The man who was designated an FBI agent, and whose image was removed from a search list a few days after the assault, has stated under oath that he did not work for or on behalf of the federal police.
The criminal investigation into the Capitol riots got a big boost on Friday when one of the leaders of the Proud Boys militia pleaded guilty in a Washington court. He has admitted that he wanted to prevent the ratification of the election results that day — a wish from former President Trump — and that he planned to do so as early as January 4 with fellow Proud Boys, in a branch calling itself the Ministry of Defense. Charles Donohoe, 34, promised to cooperate with the criminal investigation.