A man described as the leader of a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked “when’s the lynching?” after the state Supreme Court in 2020 struck down a law that she repeatedly used to impose restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to evidence introduced Monday.
The disclosure came near the end of the first phase of testimony by a key government witness in the trial of four men. Cross examination of Dan Chappel followed.
Chappel, an Army veteran, was an FBI informant who secretly recorded hours of conversations, participated in chat groups and trained to abduct Whitmer, along with Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta.
Prosecutors say the four were antigovernment extremists who wanted to grab the Democratic governor at her vacation home in northern Michigan in retaliation for a series of sweeping orders during the pandemic.
With Chappel in the witness chair, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler introduced messages written after Whitmer lost a Michigan Supreme Court decision about her powers.
