Man Involved in Plot to Kidnap Michigan Gov. Testifies They Planned to Use Grenade Launcher and Machine Gun to Fight Her Security

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A man who pled guilty in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) over objections to her “tyrannical” Covid restrictions in 2020 told jurors on Thursday that the group was prepared to use a grenade launcher and machine gun to facilitate the kidnapping.

Kaleb Franks, 27, and Ty Garbin, 26, outlined to jurors the plan to kidnap Whitmer and strand her in a boat on Lake Michigan.

“I was going to be an operator,” Franks said Thursday about his role in the plot. “I would be one of the people on the front line, so to speak, using my gun.”

Franks added that another man charged in connection to the plan, Barry Croft Jr., wanted to use a grenade launcher and machine gun to fight Whitmer’s security.

According to the Associated Press, authorities have said the group scouted Whitmer’s second home, trained by “dashing in and out of crude structures built to resemble a house or office,” and were trying to come up with $4,000 to purchase an explosive.

The plot was busted by the FBI, in part because Army veteran Dan Chappel joined the organizing militia and became an informant after the group started discussing killing police.

During his testimony on Thursday, Franks acknowledged inconsistencies in his stories, telling jurors he “was untruthful in that interview because I was trying not to go to jail.”

He had previously told investigators that the alleged leader, Adam Fox, was frequently egged on by Chappel — a statement that conflicted with his remarks Thursday that Chappel did not try to influence Fox or the group.

Franks said he hopes to receive a lighter sentence because of his cooperation, but “there’s no guarantee.”