Witness says Whitmer kidnapping plotters were prepared to use grenade launcher, machine gun

A man involved in the kidnapping plot of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday testified that those involved in the planning of it were prepared to use a machine gun and grenade launcher in order to overcome the governor’s security.

Kaleb Franks, 27, who says that he worked alongside Adam Fox, the group’s leader, said they allegedly planned to use the weapons to fight off Whitmer’s security officers while she was at her vacation home, according to The Associated Press.

Franks added that Fox routinely talked about the kidnapping in response to Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions, which the group called “tyrannical” and felt within their constitutional rights to retaliate against, the news outlet noted.

He reportedly said Fox did not force anyone to join the plot, and many dropped out by the summer of 2020. Franks described his role in the plot as an “operator.”

“I was going to be an operator,” Franks told a prosecutor, according to the AP. “I would be one of the people on the front line, so to speak, using my gun.”

On Wednesday, defendant Ty Garbin told jurors that there was “no question” that the four defendants in the case knew the plot was a kidnapping.

Should they be convicted, all of the men on trial could face up to life in prison.