A federal grand jury has formally charged six of the men accused of planning to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
A total of 14 men are accused of participating in the plot. The six men accused in federal court have been held since October. But they had not been formally indicted until now.
Five of the men appeared via video in U.S. District court in Grand Rapids on Thursday, and pleaded not guilty to the crimes. The sixth man has not yet been arraigned.
Federal prosecutors say the men opposed the state’s stay at home orders and called Governor Whitmer a tyrant. Defense attorneys argued in court in October that the planning was “just talk,” and the men didn’t violate any laws.