Opening statements in Whitmer kidnap plot: Were suspects dangerous or just disgruntled?

In opening statements in a Jackson trial in which three men are accused of plotting to help kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from her northern Michigan vacation home two years ago, the prosecutor said Wednesday the defendants' formed a dangerous gang, the Wolverine Watchmen, to commit terrorism, which they planned to carry out.

The state also called its first witness, an FBI special agent.

Joseph Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar are charged with providing material support for terrorism, a felony punishable by up to 20 years, and additional related charges. Their participation, prosecutors said, was part of a larger scheme that was broken up by the FBI in 2020.

"These guys were serious, ladies and gentlemen," said Assistant Attorney General William Rollstin, who went first, addressing the jury. The prosecutor added that the "story is simple" and he would describe what unfolded in the defendants' own words and writings.

The defendants, Rollstin said, planned to kill police, start violence and spark an anarchist movement.

But the defense countered that while the suspects' words and actions, as presented by the state, may be upsetting, they are presented out of context and do not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspects broke any laws or did more than offer "tough talk."

Two men who were responsible for the plot — Adam Fox and Barry Croft — already have been convicted in federal court. And any plot that may have been hatched, defense lawyers said, actually came from a confidential informant, known as Dan and nicknamed Dad, to whom they looked up.

After two days of jury selection, Rollstin began opening statements in one of the nation's highest-profile domestic terrorism cases.

In many ways, the state's case is an extension of the federal case that resulted in four convictions and two acquittals. It also shows what appears to be increasing distrust of government and the advent of what authorities are calling violent extremist groups in Michigan — and nationwide.

And real-time — but somewhat spotty — access to the courtroom was extended to the public by livestreaming them on YouTube. There also was adjacent chat window on YouTube that allowed remote viewers, if they chose, to type in their thoughts as the judge, attorneys and witnesses spoke.

It is "not a crime to be dangerous," Rollstin said, but it is indicative of their motives.

The three men, the assistant attorney general said, believed in an ideology called the boogaloo, a word he said might sound cute, but meant civil war, which they planned to start. The prosecution compared them to the mujahedeen, fanatical Muslims intent on a spiritual war.

In their own words

"Why is this going on?" Rollstin asked, noting that the defendants were upset that during the pandemic, the governor had shut down businesses and schools, and the group intended to start a civil war in connection with a larger national network organized with "like-minded people" to coordinate attacks.

The men, Rollstin said, were not loyal to a political party, but an ideology, and even used a word, combining boogaloo and mujahedeen, "boojahedeen," among themselves. They planned, the prosecutor added, to kill police, and anyone else, who got in their way.

The Wolverine Watchman, Rollstin said, planned to kidnap Whitmer and kill her security detail.

In audio clips, photos, and other glimpses of evidence that had been collected during a police investigation, the prosecution outlined its case, telling the jury that the men were dangerous, and serious, about their cause. They had training, and they had hatred toward the police and others in positions of authority.

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They recruited others through social media, vetted candidates, and communicated through Wire, an encrypted digital chat, to "keep police out of the group" and prevent others from seeing and recording what they were doing, but "what they didn't count on" was an informant, who the prosecution referred to as Dan.

Dan, Rollstin said, had been in the Army, contacted the Wolverine Watchman on Facebook, but became concerned when he saw the group was trying to get addresses of police officers and target them, and then went to the FBI and became a confidential source, the "eyes and ears" into the group.

"There is no upside for Dan to do this," Rollstin said, and, in fact, he risked his own life to get the FBI the story.

Later, Wednesday, FBI special agent Henrik Impola described how the monthslong law enforcement investigation began, and how Dan also known as Big Dan, came to the FBI with encrypted text messages that he said he found alarming.

Impola asked Dan, a truck driver and Army veteran who joined the Wolverine Watchmen and had no criminal record, to become an informant so that law enforcement could have access to the group's encrypted conversations and record and follow them.

"The source is supposed to listen and report," Impola said, adding that afterward, he'd tell the FBI what he witnessed. The reports were verified and "if the source is not truthful, you have to confront him" the agent said. If he lied, the FBI would let him go.

Impola said he paid Dan — about $30,000 before the defendant's arrests, and then another $24,000 afterward — but that Dan never asked the FBI for remuneration. The federal agency, Impola said, also gave money to Dan for a new phone, watch and laptop, that Impola said were necessary for the investigation.

The agent added that the Wolverine Watchman was a paramilitary group intent on committing violence. He added that it had more than five members, rules for joining, and a vetting process that asked if members would be willing to be "considered a domestic terrorist," a leadership hierarchy.

Evidence out of context

Bellar's attorney, Andrew Kirkpatrick, said that he was there to tell "the rest of the story."

Kirkpatrick said his client didn't break any laws, and that, in the end, the prosecution would fail to meet its burden of proof: Bellar did not support terrorism; he was not a member of the gang and did not use a firearm during a crime.

Kirkpatrick told the jury that after meeting Fox, Bellar decided that he was crazy, said so and he left the Wolverine Watchman. On top of that, he even left the state, moving to South Carolina. Kirkpatrick asked: "Did he materially support terrorism?" And added: "Give me a break."

Leonard Ballard, the attorney representing Morrison, said in his opening that the prosecution was throwing this at the wall to see what sticks, but in reality, its case is full of problems and selectively ignores key details that don't support their claims.

Ballard, a public defender, took over representation from Nick Somberg, who said Wednesday that after two years and just weeks before the trial, he was stunned and disappointed that Morrison suddenly dismissed him.

Ballard said the real man behind the meetings and training was Dan, the paid confidential informant.

And, Ballard added, Morrison wasn't the leader of the Wolverine Watchman, as the prosecution claimed, it was Dan.

"We keep hearing gang, gang, gang," Ballard said, but there was no gang. By the prosecution's standard, they would consider him and his poker-playing buddies a gang. The defendants were, he added, "a collection of guys who were tired and frustrated" with their government.

Kareem Johnson, Musico's attorney, urged the jury to consider the context — not just the content — of the recordings that would be played during the trial, and said that his client did not support terrorism, and that the Wolverine Watchman was not a gang.

Johnson told the jury that the prosecution, by offering evidence out of chronological order, might confuse them.

The defendants, he said, were upset about some things and talked about them, including daily protests, some of them violent, that were unfolding nationwide, and that motivated them to set up defensive training exercises and to monitor the police.

But, Johnson added, they "never take any action, and that's the important thing."

The trial, which is expected to continue for at least two weeks, is set to continue with testimony at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opening statements begin Michigan's Whitmer kidnapping plot trial