Whitmer kidnapping plot trial nears end, with closing arguments upcoming

Jurors sitting on the panel overseeing the prosecution of three men's involvement in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be instructed not to consider the impact of an undercover federal agent who defense attorneys argued influenced the paramilitary group's operations.

This decision to direct the jury not to consider entrapment comes a week after defense attorneys heavily implied that the FBI's confidential source was more than just an observer and was rather playing a vital role in the operations of the paramilitary group the Wolverine Watchmen. In Jackson County Circuit Court Friday, Judge Thomas Wilson decided to instruct the jury not to consider whether Big Dan, the informant, was entrapping members of the group.

Despite defense attorneys' vehement opposition to this move, arguing that it would confuse jurors and that entrapment wasn't emphasized during cross-examinations, Wilson said the jury has already heard testimony that would suggest members of the group would not have taken action had they not been motivated to do so by Big Dan.

Morrison's attorney, Leonard Ballard, told the Free Press that arguments in the trial thus far have not been exclusive to entrapment and, rather, Big Dan's role in the Wolverine Watchmen's enterprise went beyond entrapment and this set of instructions would muddy the argument the defense has spent weeks weaving.

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Also during Friday's session, the final day of testimony before closing arguments, Michigan State Police Lt. Scott McManus, an undercover FBI agent and a gas station employee testified against defendants Joseph Morrison, Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar, who are charged with providing material support for terrorism, a felony punishable by up to 20 years.

The confidential agent, who identified himself as Mark, said he made contact with the group online in June 2020 when another undercover federal agent got him in contact with the Wolverine Watchmen's convicted ringleader Adam Fox. The undercover agent told Fox's girlfriend that Mark had similar aspirations as Fox, and asked her to connect Mark to Fox, which she did.

The men began a texting relationship through an encrypted service before meeting in person the weekend of July 4, 2020, when Mark visited Fox at his workplace and hideout: the Vac Shack. Once customers cleared out, Fox asked Mark if he had a cell phone, which he did, and to leave it upstairs so they could continue speaking in the shop's basement, where Fox was hiding out. In the basement, Fox discussed his plans to overtake the Capitol by force and was gathering people to take violent actions against legislators.

Speaking in court Friday, the agent said he took Fox seriously and believed Fox would commit violent acts. The agent also later attended a group exercise training in Wisconsin, where Bellar was leading medical training, including instructions on tourniquet application, he testified.

Also on Friday, a gas station employee, Shawn Toth, testified against Musico and Morrison, who frequented the gas station once or twice a week. The pair, who Toth said were always visibly carrying guns, would discuss conspiracy theories and the state's coronavirus response with him and bring up Whitmer in almost every conversation, during which they'd mention ideas to kidnap — and even kill — the governor.

"They were very angry that they’re was a lockdown, that it was a conspiracy to lose their rights and their rights to own guns and be enslaved in some way," Toth said in court Friday. "It was very very off.”

Closing arguments are scheduled to take place Monday.

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mmarini@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer kidnapping trial nears end, with closing arguments Monday