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Federal trial over alleged governor-kidnapping plot enters third day

A federal grand jury has charged six men with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The suspects are (from top left) Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta and Adam Fox, and (from bottom left) Daniel Harris, Barry Croft and Ty Garbin.
Kent County, Mich., Sheriff via AP
A federal grand jury has charged six men with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The suspects are (from top left) Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta and Adam Fox, and (from bottom left) Daniel Harris, Barry Croft and Ty Garbin.

Prosecutors played secret recordings to jurors today in the federal trial over the alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

“You can tell the feds Barry Croft did it,” jurors heard Barry Croft say in a recording made by an FBI informant in June of 2020. Croft is one of four men charged in the case. In the recording, he says he’s going to “terrorize people,” and says “I might kill a cop.”

“Hypothetically,” another person on the recording interjects.

“No. I’m not being hypothetical,” Croft says.

In another recording later that summer, Croft identifies Whitmer as the target for a “quick, precise grab.”

Croft’s attorney has told jurors he smoked a lot of marijuana and claims the FBI “knew it was just crazy talk.”

Dustin Dwyer reports enterprise and long-form stories from Michigan Public's West Michigan bureau.