Photo via Kent County Sheriff’s Office, Tyler Merbler/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
January 27, 2021, 3:02 pm
A plea agreement released from the case against the group of men who are accused of planning to kidnap and possibly execute Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has revealed that they also practiced breaching the state Capitol. According to the document, they even discussed targeting Secret Service convoys with “a 37-millimeter projectile launcher,” which is a terrifying thing to Google.
Advertisement
Hide
These details are extremely alarming so soon after an actual right-wing assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 that left five dead and could have been a lot worse if lawmakers had been evacuated even a tiny bit slower.
Advertisement
Hide
This revelation appears to come courtesy of Ty Garbin, who pled guilty to his kidnapping conspiracy charge and has agreed to cooperate with authorities on this case. The plea agreement with Garbin states that the members of militia group “Wolverine Watchmen” conducted “field training exercises” by constructing a fake building they referred to as the “shoot house.”
Advertisement
Hide
“The conspirators practiced breaching it with firearms to simulate assaulting the Capitol or elsewhere,” the document reads.
They were referring to the Michigan state Capitol rather than the U.S. Capitol, but it feels like some of that practice could translate to the federal level. The group ultimately decided that taking the state Capitol would be too difficult and pivoted to their kidnapping plot.
At the same time, one of the kidnapping plotters told his cohorts that he had obtained a taser and zip ties, bringing to mind the disturbing images of men inside the Capitol chambers with zip tie handcuffs.
It appears that most of the other defendants in this case are pleading not guilty to the charges and could face life sentences. Garbin could be granted some leniency for his cooperation, but will never be allowed to legally own a firearm again. This will likely be hard on him considering that his nickname is “Gunny.”
The plea agreement also reveals that the men conducted several surveillance missions to the governor’s vacation home, where they ultimately planned to kidnap her. Luckily, the group was already infiltrated by informants and the feds moved to arrest them when they started buying up explosives, planning to collect $4,000 worth before launching the assault.
Advertisement
Hide
Thirteen men now face serious charges, but Garbin’s lawyer says he’s very sorry.
“Everyone is entitled to their thoughts about what the governor should or should not do, but he realized that he had made a terrible mistake,” said Gary K. Springstead.
*First Published: January 27, 2021, 3:02 pm
0 Comments