In Trial of Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor Whitmer, Informant Talks of Violent Threats
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Violent threats, beer- and marijuana-fueled encounters, training with high-powered weaponry and clandestine surveillance all figured into testimony from a key government informant Monday in the trial of four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Dan Chappel, a 35-year-old combat veteran turned government informant, testified that he joined a group called the Wolverine Watchmen in March 2020 as a way to keep up his military training. But he said he quickly grew alarmed by threats to law-enforcement made by members of the group in a private online forum, so he called a friend who is a police officer.
Within a week, Mr. Chappel was contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, who asked him to monitor the group and launched an investigation.
Two of the six men originally arrested on Oct. 8, 2020, pleaded guilty and are expected to testify in the trial of the other four—Adam Fox, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, all of Michigan, and Barry Croft, of Delaware. Their trial began March 8 and is expected to take four to six weeks. The four have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Mr. Chappel testified that by June 2020, he had won the trust of a group called the Wolverine Watchmen and turned down the idea of becoming its leader. Instead, he took on the role of second-in-command, helping with training, organizational and tactical operations.
Around this time, though, he and his two FBI handlers grew frustrated with the group’s lack of direction.
“The agreement between the three of you was that these guys don’t have a plan,” said Julia Kelly, lawyer for defendant Daniel Harris, during cross-examination. “You remember saying that? I think you said that they’re wasting your time.”
That testimony gets to the heart of defense allegations that Mr. Chappel, whom they portrayed as a dynamic figure with extensive training, had goaded the group into a plan that none of them would have pushed to the point of execution without him.
Government lawyers have argued that they only need to show that the accused were predisposed to the crime and that any inducement provided by agents or informants were fair game.
Earlier in the day, in response to government questioning, Mr. Chappel confirmed being part of a chat group in which the alleged ring leader of the plot rallied others to take action against the governor.
“When’s the lynching?” asked Adam Fox in a message written to Mr. Chappel and others after Michigan’s Supreme Court struck down a law used by Ms. Whitmer to impose restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. “She should be arrested now, immediately. Who wants to roll out?”
Mr. Chappel also testified during cross-examination that he had bought alcohol for members of the group and that Mr. Fox and another person had smoked marijuana multiple times during a day in which they conducted surveillance on the governor’s vacation home in Elk Rapids. He also described one training that ended with each member of the group firing off rounds from a high-caliber, belt-fed weapon that sat on a tripod.
Mr. Chappel testified that he was told not to participate in tactical planning, but he admitted at times making suggestions that would de-escalate what others were discussing, such as firing a shot into the window of the governor’s empty home and sending her the bullet casing. At other times, he participated in discussions about how the group might acquire things like helicopters to accomplish various plots.
“I’m not a law enforcement officer,” Mr. Chappel said. “I’m just a guy with someone who wants to kidnap the governor. I had no playbook, this was all fluid every day.”
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Tucker Carlson was telling parts of this story months ago. I was hoping he was wrong.