A Michigan man who prosecutors alleged was trying to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a conspiracy charge.
25-year-old Ty Garbin of Hartland Township pleaded guilty to the kidnapping conspiracy charge and has agreed to cooperate with authorities, according to a copy of the plea deal filed in Western Michigan federal courts.
Five other individuals are charged with plotting to kidnap Whitmer and Garbin has agreed to testify against them, according to the plea deal.
Garbin and three other individuals banded together to form the “Wolverine Watchmen,” a militia style group, according to the plea. In June, the group added fifth member, Adam Dean Fox, who allegedly said he wanted to work with other “militia” groups in Michigan. Days later the group members met at a Second Amendment rally outside the state capitol, with Fox saying he wanted to find 200 people to storm the Capitol and try any politicians caught for “treason,” according to the plea deal.
LANSING, MI – OCTOBER 17: The Boogaloo Boys hold a rally at the Capitol Building on October 17, 2020 in Lansing, Michigan. The Boogaloo boys called it a Unity Rally in an attempt to distance themselves from the Wolverine Watchmen who plotted to kidnap Michigans Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Two of the men arrested in the plot were affiliated with the Boogaloo Boys. (Photo by Seth Herald/Getty Images)
During later training exercises, the group discussed at various points kidnapping Whitmer, with Fox apparently interested in killing Whitmer. (RELATED: ‘I Do Not Tolerate ANY Extreme Violence’: Trump Lashes Out At Gretchen Whitmer After 6 People Were Arrested In Foiled Kidnapping Plot Against Her)
At one “field training exercise” in Cambria, Wisconsin in July, the group used plywood, shipping pallets and a door frame to build a makeshift “shoot house” that they used to practice breaching the capitol, according to the plea deal. They later built a similar structure at another training exercise in Luther, Michigan, to simulate an attack on Whitmer’s home.
The group also visited Whitmer’s vacation home twice and had plans to buy $4,000 worth of explosives to blow up a bridge in a bid to prevent police from responding to the attack should they have carried it out.
If convicted, Garbin could face life in prison, a fine of $250,000, five years of supervised release and $100 special assessment, according to the plea deal.
The scheme was foiled after an undercover FBI agent posed as a member of the group, according to the Washington Examiner.