'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABlAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQgQAAIBAwIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECBAADEgYRBQchIjEyQQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQcRAAICAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQAEQUhBhMx/9oADAMBAAIRAxEAPwCbypji9qycii0iReCyWxKZi61yUHDPue4pliN/grVsTT+USwRIxBtIQAh2HTx7UpRTszWNszE+pTskn6d5RPLqVTjeSnr1IUhiWdwqKOhrrP/Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On December 27, 39-year-old Adam Fox was sentenced to 16 years in prison for plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
According to the BBC, Adam Fox is associated with the Michigan-based militia group Wolverine Watchman. In 2020, amidst the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, members of the far-right group allegedly planned to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer and topple the Michigan government in protest of lockdown regulations.
A federal indictment revealed that Adam Fox was among at least 13 militia members allegedly involved in the plot. Along with the kidnapping charges, he was also accused of conspiring to blow up a bridge after the abduction, supposedly to thwart authorities as he escaped.
Adam Fox has been convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and use a weapon of mass destruction.
Officials respond to the Gretchen Whitmer case
The Detroit Free Press reported that Adam Fox, who was identified as the plot's mastermind, was reportedly living in the basement of a former employer when he began plotting the kidnapping of Gretchen Whitmer.
While Fox was accused of being a domestic terrorist by prosecutors, his defense lawyer Christopher Gibbons claimed that the suspect's capabilities had been exaggerated to impose a harsher sentence.
Gibbons said:
"These histrionic descriptions of Adam Fox do not rationally address his actual conduct and they do not accurately reflect either his actual intentions or his actual capabilities."
Gibbons claimed that undercover FBI agents who infiltrated the Wolverine Watchman had swayed Fox and other conspirators towards attempting to abduct Gretchen Whitmer.
Gibbons said:
"In America, the FBI is not supposed to create domestic terrorists so that the FBI can arrest them."
As per the Associated Press, however, the federal indictment claimed that Fox had played a proactive role in the conspiracy.
The statement read:
“(Adam Fox was a) driving force (in) urging their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stood in their way."
While Judge Robert J. Jonker acknowledged the severe nature of the allegations, he said that while Fox deserved a heavy punishment, he did not see it fit to sentence the alleged domestic terrorist to life in prison, as recommended by prosecutors.
Jonker said:
“It’s too much. Something less than life gets the job done in this case, is still in my mind a very long time.”
However, he added:
“It undoubtedly affects other people who are in public office or are considering public office. They have to count the cost. That does need a forceful sentence from the court.”
Gretchen Whitmer claimed that former President Donald Trump's rhetoric had allegedly emboldened far-right militias such as the Wolverine Watchman. Fox and other members claimed they were ultimately conspiring against the Michigan Government as they believed the United States was at risk of becoming a communist nation.
