Michigan jurors will hear closing arguments Friday in the trial of four men accused of planning to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Associated Press reports. One defendant, Daniel Harris, chose to testify in his own defense, but prosecutors responded with an aggressive cross-examination which used his own words to show his intent to take part in the plot. The contentious trial included examining chat messages from Harris that described assassinating Whitmer disguised as a pizza delivery man while Barry Croft, Jr., another defendant, said he wanted to overthrow multiple state governments. Defense attorneys assert that the men were pressured by federal agents who got them to say and do violent things.
Prosecutor Jonathan Roth asked Harris: “When this man talks to you at a diner about killing people, you don’t stand up and walk out, do you sir?” he asked “You don’t say, ‘This group is not for me,’ do you sir?” Harris answered, "No." The men were arrested in October 2020 while talking about raising $4,000 to build a bomb that could hinder police after the kidnapping. While the four men accused in the trial deny knowing about the plot, two others, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, have pleaded guilty and said that the group hoped to create chaos that would prevent Joe Biden from winning the presidential election.
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