A jury convicts three accused of collaborating in the attempted kidnapping of the governor of Michigan

Pete Musico (left) and Joseph Morrison, both on screen, await the verdict of the court, this Wednesday in Jackson, Michigan.J.

Scott Park |

jpark4@mlive.com (AP)

The covid restrictions imposed in 2020 by the governor of Michigan, the Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, pushed a group of ultras to try to kidnap her, considering them "tyrannical".

Although the kidnapping could have been avoided, it was one of the clearest manifestations of political violence, that direct attack on the heart of democracy that culminated three months later in the storming of the Capitol on January 6 by a horde of Trump supporters.

In one of the ramifications of the most significant case of domestic terrorism, that encouraged by armed militias, a Michigan jury on Wednesday found three men guilty of collaborating in the plot.

Those convicted are among the long dozen arrested in October 2020, accused of state or federal crimes, conspiracy and attempted kidnapping.

The plot to kidnap Whitmer, aborted by the FBI a month before the 2020 presidential election, was caused, according to prosecutors, by the hostility that elements of the Republican orbit experienced due to the movement restrictions imposed during the pandemic, then in his first wave.

After two weeks of hearings in the Jackson County Circuit Court, the jury has ruled that Joseph Morrison, 28;

His father-in-law, Pete Musico, 44, and Paul Bellar, 23, are guilty of gang membership, violating firearms laws and providing material support to a terrorist act.

All three could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors have considered it proven that Morrison, Musico and Bellar belonged to a militia called the Wolverine Watchers.

The group planned to break into the governor's vacation home, kidnap her, and take her at gunpoint to a popular "trial" in which she would be charged with "treason."

The three convicted expected, like the rest of the detainees, that the action would provoke a violent uprising that would lead to a civil war, according to the indictment.

They also planned to storm the state Capitol, a sinister echo of what would happen in January at the congressional headquarters in Washington.

Morrison and Musico had been accused of organizing tactical training sessions at their farm, located in a remote part of Michigan.

Bellar was charged with providing tactical maneuver plans, coded language for covert communications, and ammunition.

Wednesday's verdict was a victory for state prosecutors, who argued that the three convicted aided two others convicted of conspiracy in federal court in August.

The convictions of the latter came after an inconclusive first trial due to jury disagreement.

This is the most important case on domestic terrorism and the action of armed militias, in a process that has made progress but also setbacks.

In early April, two defendants were acquitted, a fact that prompted complaints from Whitmer's team about "the normalization of political violence."

Two other defendants who collaborated with justice have achieved a reduction in prison sentences.

According to the

newspaper , the defense of the three men argued that they did not know about the kidnapping plan and that their actions were protected by the First and Second Amendments of the US Constitution, which enshrine freedom of expression, respectively. and assembly and the individual right to bear arms.

According to the FBI, the threat of so-called domestic terrorism already far outweighs the risk of jihadist-inspired attacks on US soil, as the assault on Capitol Hill demonstrated.

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