GOVERNOR KIDNAP PLOT TRIAL State seeks to connect men to 'threat streams'

Aug. 26—BELLAIRE — Michigan Assistant Attorney General William Rollstin, during jury selection earlier this week, asked a variety of specific questions of prospective jurors, then said: "You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep."

On Day Three of the criminal trial in 13th Circuit Court for three men accused of participating in a plot to kidnap Michigan's governor, Rollstin's statement now reads like a precursor to the state's case.

Eric Molitor and brothers Michael Null and William Null are each charged with providing material support for an act of terrorism and being in possession of a firearm during the commission of felony. The men have pleaded not guilty.

Rollstin spent the day Friday guiding a state witness, FBI Special Agent Henrik "Hank" Impola, through more than three dozen exhibits depicting what Rollstin has previously described as "three threat streams coming together."

The three streams, he said, are Adam Fox, Barry Croft and a militia group, the Wolverine Watchmen.

"I heard Mr. Croft and Mr. Fox complement the Wolverine Watchmen," Impola testified late in the afternoon. "They stood out."

Fox and Croft aren't on trial here. They're each serving lengthy prison sentences after being convicted in federal court of conspiracy — and Impola previously testified that none of the Antrim County defendants were members of the Wolverine Watchmen.

Rollstin's task, then, is to prove to the jury the defendants had a relationship with Fox and Croft, and not only knew of the kidnapping plot but willingly participated in furthering its plans and providing support for its potential outcome.

"What was the American Patriot Council?" Rollstin asked Impola during the morning's proceedings.

"A political organization that would do rallies in Grand Rapids and around the Capitol," Impola said.

"What was happening April 30, 2020?" Rollstin asked.

"There was an American Patriot Council rally that had been organized at the Capitol," Impola said. "The House was in session and they were going to vote on some COVID measures."

Outside the Capitol, nearly 1,000 protesters participated in the rally, many expressing distrust of the government and intense anger over proposed pandemic restrictions and specifically over executive orders signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Dozens of the protesters wore body armor and carried military-style firearms, news photographs from that day show, and some lawmakers said they feared for their safety after former President Donald Trump tweeted out "Liberate Michigan!"

Inside the undercover investigation into the kidnapping plot, a number of "firsts" happened that day, Impola told the jury.

It was the first time a key FBI confidential informant, "CHS Dan," serving as the FBI's eyes and ears inside the Wolverine Watchmen, was outfitted with a recording device.

It was the first time, Impola said, he'd taken note of the Null brothers, but didn't yet know their names or anything about them.

It was the first time Impola had seen the Null brothers and Fox in the same place at the same time.

"They weren't there together," Impola said. "They were there independently and I did not know who the Null brothers were at that time."

Fox, while standing outside and inside the Capitol, posted videos on Facebook Live, which Impola said he later acquired with a search warrant and Rollstin showed to the jury as Exhibit 46.

Upstairs on the second floor, the Null brothers were armed, wearing their "kits" — fatigues, body armor with bright red patches from another militia, the Michigan Liberty Militia —and looking down on the crowd and Michigan State Police officers, Impola said.

"They're at an elevated position," Impola said. "We call that position 'tactical advantage.'"

William Null posted a video online, which Impola said he later acquired with a search warrant and Rollstin showed to the jury as Exhibit 48.

"So, we're here going live in the Capitol," Null says, looking into the camera. "We're going see what they have to say about this whole shutdown order and whatever else they're trying to hide here in Michigan. Just stay tuned."

The first floor of the Capitol, by now, is packed with protesters. They're loud, and their voices echo off the black- and white-checked tile floor and up to the second floor. An unknown woman and an unknown man have a brief, conversational exchange with Null.

"I'm not going to lie, though," the man says. "If s- — starts happening, I'm going to head up North."

"Not me, dude," Null says in the video. "I'm going to have fun hunting."

The Record-Eagle reported on this video in October 2020, days after Null and 12 other men were arrested in what law enforcement has consistently referred to in court as "the take-down" — a coordinated action by the FBI, the Michigan State Police, the U.S. Department of Justice and the state Attorney General's office when the men were taken into custody.

A Benzonia-based freelance videographer, Eric VanDussen, said in May 2020 he'd seen the video on YouTube, downloaded it and shared it with Gov. Whitmer's office, the AG's office, state legislators and the Michigan Capital Commission.

"There's state troopers and Capitol security, and they have sidearms, but there's multiple individuals standing over them with semi-automatic weapons," VanDussen said in October, after providing the video to the Record-Eagle.

"With what they are saying was their plan, it's crazy that no one put an emphasis on curtailing that type of weaponry going into the Michigan Capitol," VanDussen said. "Hopefully, this is going to be a wake-up call."

Earlier this month, the Michigan State Capitol Commission voted unanimously to ban explosives from the Capitol. Open-carry firearms were banned in 2021, though lawmakers with permits may still carry firearms.

The jury, during the afternoon, listened as Rollstin, with questions to Impola, marched through voluminous video, audio, text and social media messages, detailing interactions between the defendants and Fox and Croft.

Some of the men attended various firearms training exercises and some did not. Some of the men traveled to Dublin, Ohio, and met with others from a variety of states — Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin — and some did not. Some of the men commented on Facebook Videos or Facebook posts and some did not.

"When you get these threat streams coming together, do they all meet together every time?" Rollstin asked Impola late Friday afternoon.

"No," Impola said.

Defense attorneys William Barnett for Molitor, Damien Nunzio for William Null, and Thomas Siver for Michael Null, have repeatedly objected to what they call "cherry-picking" the evidence, where only slices of an audio or video are played.

For example, the video William Null recorded at the Capitol and posted on YouTube is 48 minutes long. Less than two minutes were shown to the jury on Friday.

Presiding Judge Charles Hamlyn has largely overruled these objections, and said "cherry-picking" is not a term the court would use. The defense, he said, could take up these arguments during their cross-examination of Impola, which is expected to be sometime next week.

Court adjourned for the weekend at 5 p.m. Friday, with Judge Hamlyn reminding the jury not to speak about the case, or read or watch any news reports. The trial will resume Monday at 9 a.m.