Antrim County: All five Whitmer kidnapping plotters headed to trial, Judge declares

TRAVERSE CITY — The five latest defendants in the kidnapping case of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are headed to trial.

District Judge Stepka in Traverse City declared Wednesday, Dec. 7, there was "more than enough" evidence providing probable cause to send to trial five men allegedly involved in plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from her summer cottage near Elk Rapids in Antrim County in 2020.

Twins Michael and William Null, 40, of Plainwell and Shelbyville, respectively; Shawn Fix, 40, of Belleville; and Eric Molitor, 38, of Cadillac, have each been charged with one count of providing material support for an act of terrorism and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Brian Higgins, 53, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, faces one count of providing material support for an act of terrorism.

The five are the last of 14 who have been charged at the state and federal levels in connection to the so-called Wolverine Watchmen militia — a group accused of targeting the governor over her early COVID-19 mandates. Half of the suspects were tied to the paramilitary group. Six of the suspects were charged in federal court, while the other eight were charged with state crimes.

The historic case has thus far seen two men strike a deal to plead guilty, two men acquitted, two men found guilty of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to possess weapons of mass destruction (one of which was also convicted of an explosives charge) and three men convicted of felony counts of gang membership, providing material support to terrorism, and illegal weapons possession in the first state trial stemming from the case.

“In my mind, there is clearly a criminal conspiracy here,” said Judge Stepka. He said all the planning and discussions the defendants had surrounding the kidnapping, presented as evidence in the preliminary hearing in August, show probable cause for the prosecution’s charges, according to Stepka.

“The five defendants were willfully and deliberately engaging in planning a violent felony which is the kidnapping of the governor at her home in Antrim County,” he said, citing their discussions of blowing up Whitmers’s boat, of shooting and hanging her, and impersonating a pizza delivery driver to gain access to the front door and shoot the governor.

“This is terrible stuff to talk about, but we have to. This is what was presented in the examination,” said Stepka.

A scheduling conference will be in January to determine the circuit court trial dates.

Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Judge Stepka sends five men charged with conspiring to kidnap the governor to court.