By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


Three of the six men charged by federal authorities with plotting to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are now facing additional counts of planning to use weapons of mass destruction to blow up a bridge.

40-year-old Adam Fox of Wyoming, Michigan; 45-year-old Barry Croft Jr. of Bear, Delaware; and 23-year-old Daniel Joseph Harris of Lake Orion, Michigan, were charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property. (Left to right - top photo)

The U.S. Justice Department said the charges were brought by a federal grand jury. Croft, Fox and Harris along with Brandon Caserta, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks were arrested and charged in October with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home in rural Antrim County.

The 24-year-old Garbin, of Hartland Township, previously entered a guilty plea to a federal kidnapping conspiracy charge in the case and is expected to testify against his co-conspirators. (Bottom photo)

Prosecutors said the men, who face up to life in prison if convicted, were part of a plot by a right-wing militia extremist group known as the Wolverine Watchmen to abduct the Democratic governor in retribution for public health orders she imposed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

The new charges allege Croft, Fox and Harris inspected the underside of a highway bridge near Whitmer’s vacation home in September of 2020 for a place to mount an explosive charge. The indictment says that the day after that, Fox ordered $4,000 worth of explosives for an undercover FBI agent posing as a co-conspirator. Several weeks later, Fox and Harris allegedly made payments toward the explosives.

The new indictment also accuses Croft and Harris of possessing an unregistered “destructive device” while Harris possessed an unregistered semiautomatic assault rifle.

Lawyers for the men were not immediately available for comment.

Eight other defendants accused of taking part in the kidnapping plot are charged in Michigan state court with domestic terrorism. The new charges reportedly stem from an ongoing FBI investigation seeking to crack down on extremist groups.