6 Accused In Plot Against Whitmer Indicted By Federal Grand Jury

MICHIGAN — A federal grand jury has indicted six men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan's governor.

Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta all face the possibility of life in prison if convicted. Five of the accused are from Michigan, while Croft is from Delaware.

While six of those accused in the federal indictment had previously been charged, federal prosecutors are required to present felony cases to a grand jury and obtain an indictment in order to proceed with prosecution, according to the U.S. Constitution.

Related: Michigan Militia Members Accused In Plot To Kidnap, Kill Whitmer

According to the federal indictment announced Thursday, Fox and Croft met in Dublin, Ohio, where they discussed anti-government actions, including the potential kidnapping of Whitmer. They also wanted to recruit others to their cause, the indictment states.

Fox and Garbin, who led the Michigan-based militia group called the "Wolverine Watchmen," according to documents, were at a rally outside the State Capitol in Lansing. Fox invited Garbin and others to meet him in Grand Rapids with the intent of recruiting them to conspire to kidnap Whitmer, according to the indictment.

In June, Fox met Garbin and other members in Grand Rapids, where, according to the indictment, they discussed working together "toward their common goals."

Related: 5 Things To Know About Plot To Kidnap Michigan's Governor

About a month later, Croft traveled from his home in Delaware to Wisconsin for a field training exercise with Garbin, Franks, Harris and Caserta, according to the indictment. The group practiced combat tactics, including assaulting vehicles and using semiautomatic assault rifles and live ammunition, according to the documents.

At a Wolverines Watchmen live-fire exercise in Munith in August, Fox proposed kidnapping Whitmer, according to the indictment.

In August, Fox spied on Whitmer's vacation home and drew a map in which he noted the distance between her home and potential first responders, according to the indictment. Soon after, according to the documents, Garbin suggested destroying a bridge that would delay first responders from getting to her home, and offered to paint his boat black to secure it for nighttime spying on Whitmer's vacation home.

Related: Michigan GOP, Dem Legislators React To Governor Kidnapping Plot

The group practiced with explosive devices, including a projectile launcher, according to the indictment, while also planning how to fight with the governor's security detail.

Members of the Watchmen spied on Whitmer's house at night in September and eventually ordered more than $4,000 in explosives from an undercover FBI agent, according to the indictment.

Other people — Paul Bellar, Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor, William Null and Michael Null, Joseph Morrison, Brian Higgins and Pete Musico — are accused by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a state case. They also have been accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer.