A man acquitted in April regarding a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) spoke out Friday after both sides rested their case in the retrial of two men charged in the conspiracy.
Brandon Caserta, a former member of the Wolverine Watchmen, said if it wasn’t for the fact that the government was involved in the alleged conspiracy, no one would be charged.
“People say things that are offensive and, you know, may sound violent but there’s a difference between actually physically doing violence or just being around a group of people and talking crap,” Caserta said, according to Local 4. “If the government wasn’t involved in this situation it would have never gotten to where it is now.”
JURY SELECTION BEGINS IN WHITMER KIDNAPPING RETRIAL
Caserta, who has posted videos with anti-government rhetoric that he claims is “all talk,” invoked the Fifth Amendment in the retrial of Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox. A federal judge ordered a retrial for the men after a jury failed to reach a verdict during their first trial in April. Caserta and another member of the watchmen were found “not guilty” on all charges last spring.
Prosecutors are putting Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. on trial again after a jury in April couldn’t reach a verdict. Two co-defendants were acquitted and two more pleaded guilty earlier. (Kent County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Two men, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and testified against Fox and Croft Jr., according to News Channel 3. The defense maintained that no action had been done to carry out the plot. However, prosecutors argued that surveillance of the governor’s home and a mock-up of her summer home constituted “action.”
“These defendants were outside a woman’s house in the middle of the night with night-vision goggles and guns and a plan to kidnap her,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in his closing arguments Monday. “And they made a real bomb. That’s far enough, isn’t it?”
The defense also argued that undercover informants for federal law enforcement further provoked anger in the men, according to the Associated Press.
Whitmer said over the weekend that she had not been following the retrial but was concerned about violent rhetoric in the country.
“This is a dangerous trend that is happening,” Whitmer said at the Michigan Democratic Party’s convention. “We cannot let it become normalized, and I do hope that anyone that’s out there plotting to hurt their fellow Americans is held accountable.”
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The jury is expected to begin its deliberations Monday after both sides present closing arguments. A verdict is expected later this week.
