The fourth trial involving an anti-government extremist plot to abduct the governor of Michigan and start a civil war shortly before the 2020 presidential election is scheduled to have final arguments heard by the jury on Wednesday.
The 14th man to be charged in a state or federal court is Eric Molitor, William Null, and his twin brother Michael Null.
They weren’t one of the six people who were at the centre of the federal court’s abduction conspiracy charge. Instead, they are charged with taking part in militia-style manoeuvres and travelling to view Whitmer’s vacation property in Antrim County in a supporting capacity.
William Null, 41, and Molitor, 39, admitted taking the excursions but told the jury they weren’t entirely sure what they were there for. William Null claimed that he was frequently subjected to “crazy talk” by the two pot-smoking plotters Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox and that he didn’t take it seriously until the conversations shifted to explosives.
The 41-year-old Michael Null has declined to testify in his own defence, but through his lawyer, he has denied any wrongdoing. 250 miles northwest of Detroit, in Bellaire, Michigan, the trial took place.
William Null admitted that at some time, he probably ought to have called the police. However, during dramatic cross-examination, prosecutor William Rollstin pressed him on his social media anti-government sentiments and contempt for Whitmer, particularly her COVID-19 restrictions.
“You’re going to meet with a bunch of terrorists, aren’t you?” Rollstin said to Null, referring to a summer 2020 meeting of militia leaders at a Dublin, Ohio, hotel.
Dan Chappel, an Army veteran who agreed to serve as an informant, and an FBI agent served as the major witnesses for the government. He has testified crucially in every trial, recounting hours of covertly taped chats and several texts.
Before arrests in October 2020 put a halt to the scheme, informants and undercover FBI agents had been operating within the gang for months. Whitmer suffered no bodily injury.
In three trials or through guilty pleas, nine men have been found guilty, while two have been found not guilty.
Whitmer cited then-President Donald Trump as the cause of the plot’s failure, claiming that he had provided “comfort to those who spread fear, hatred, and division.” Trump referred to the kidnapping scheme as a “fake deal” in 2022 after leaving office.
