The suspects were tied to a paramilitary militia group that called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen. The group was co-founded by suspects Pete Musico and Joseph Morrison; the latter is considered the group's "commander".[18][19][20] The group was reportedly an offshoot of the Michigan Militia.[21] The day after the suspects were arrested, the Michigan Militia issued a statement disavowing the Wolverine Watchmen offshoot.[22]
An NBC News investigation into the suspects' social media profiles found links between their ideologies and those of the broader
boogaloo movement (The boogaloo movement is a loosely organized far-right, anti-government, and extremist political movement in the United States.).[23] The Wolverine Watchmen group had been recruiting members on Facebook from November 2019 to June 2020, when Facebook began purging all boogaloo-related material.[24]
The suspects named in the federal indictment, charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, were Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta. Five of the men were Michigan residents, while the sixth, Croft, was from Delaware.[25][26][27] Adam Fox and Barry Croft were accused of being the ringleaders of the plot.[28] The suspects charged with state crimes, including providing material support for terrorist acts, firearm crimes, and gang membership, were Wolverine Watchmen founders Musico and Morrison, along with Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor, Michael Null, William Null, and Paul Bellar.[29] At least four of the 13 suspects had attended prior rallies at the Michigan State Capitol.[30]
Biographical sketches and motives
Adam Fox had been living in the basement of his former employer, a vacuum repair shop in Grand Rapids. He received permission for that living arrangement from the shop's owner who felt empathy towards Fox, as Fox was homeless and had dogs. The basement was used to hold one of the group's meetings.[31][32] Fox posted a YouTube video in June, mentioning Whitmer's handling of the pandemic as one of his motives for the plot.[2] According to his employer, Fox espoused anti-police and anti-government views, along with support for the
boogaloo movement and had recently become
worried about the U.S. becoming a communist country and Democratic politicians taking away his guns.[31]
Barry Croft's social media accounts depicted him wearing a tricorne and a sweatshirt with an insignia associated with the
Three Percenters militia group (The Three Percenters, also styled 3 Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right militia movement and paramilitary group.). He expressed support for the Russia investigation origins counter-narrative and opposition to the country's current immigration policy, and he believed the investigations into President Trump constituted an "uprising".[23][33] Croft was arrested multiple times from 1994 to 1996 for assault and burglary. He was convicted in 1997 for possessing a gun in the commission of a felony and spent three years in prison. In April 2019, Croft was pardoned for the conviction, as well as the prior assault and burglary charges, by Delaware Governor John Carney.[26][33]
Daniel Harris served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2015 to June 2019.[34] The group met at his home in Lake Orion on August 23 to discuss the plot.[35]
Brandon Caserta was depicted wearing a Hawaiian-style shirt associated with the boogaloo movement in a TikTok video; and on Facebook, he praised Kyle Rittenhouse, a civilian who shot and killed two protesters during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Caserta was also a COVID-19 denier and supported the
QAnon conspiracy theory;[36] however, in one video, he criticized President Trump and called him a tyrant.[37] His belief system apparently became more extreme following Whitmer's implementation of the statewide lockdown. His social media activity originally consisted of posts about comedy shows and podcasts, motivational quotes, and selfies; but following the lockdown, he began "liking" posts about conspiracy theories regarding Bill Gates, as well as memes about hogtying police officers.[23]
Pete Musico was active on YouTube, where he posted video blogs
against taxes, gun control, and the so-called deep state. A video posted in 2019, entitled "Gretchen Whitmer Interview", depicted him railing against her policies around automobile ownership. Musico was also
active on Gab, where he
promoted the unfounded claim that there is an ongoing campaign to kill white people in South Africa. He also followed the accounts of
Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs and InfoWars personality Owen Shroyer. On Twitter, he expressed support for
Trump and conspiracy theories regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the high presence of mercury in vaccines.[18]
Joseph Morrison's home in Munith, which he shared with Musico, was used as a training site, according to Michigan Assistant Attorney General Gregory Townsend. Photographs of the home show a
Confederate battle flag and a variation of the U.S. flag with alternating, vertical red and white stripes and a circle of stars surrounding the words "Liberty or Death".[18][38] Morrison's neighbors told The Daily Beast that the home's residents were "disrespectful" and said large groups regularly gathered there on weekends, whereupon gunfire would be heard.[18] His online alias was "
Boogaloo Bunyan".[38]
Michael and William Null, twin brothers, were photographed at a protest held by
Michigan United for Liberty, a right-wing group protesting against Whitmer's COVID-19 lockdown orders, at the Michigan State Capitol on April 30.[39] William also attended another anti-lockdown rally in May, as well as a Black Lives Matter rally in Grand Rapids to pass out water, according to Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf. The Null brothers later helped conduct surveillance on Whitmer's vacation home.[40] William was also photographed at a February 2017 protest against President Trump's Executive Order 13769, held by the Equality Caucus of Genesee County in Flint.
He and members of the Michigan Liberty Militia were counter-protesting while wearing military fatigues, carrying firearms, and waving a
Gadsden flag. William also allegedly made threats against the protesters on Facebook.[41]
Paul Bellar, who was arrested in Columbia, South Carolina, where he had moved from Milford over the summer after an eviction, was allegedly responsible for designing the tactical training exercises used by the Wolverine Watchmen.[38] Bellar's former neighbor in Milford called him a "very angry person" and said he threatened her with a gun after a run-in with him.[42] According to Bellar's father, he trained for the U.S. Army at Fort Jackson for a year before being discharged in 2019 with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.[43]
Meinaa jo tulla toi yrjön värinen hymiö