A Michigan federal judge sentenced Barry Croft Jr. to almost 20 years in prison for his role as co-leader of a conspiracy to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. It was the longest sentence to date in the bizarre case, which could potentially have led to untold violence, based on social media posts and secretly recorded conversations that revealed plans to unleash a “reign of terror” in 2020.

Croft, believed by prosecutors to be the spiritual leader and prophet of the local militia, is the last of the defendants to be convicted in the case. Croft’s plan to use his grenade launcher and a mounted machine gun to thwart prosecution was part of the judge’s reasoning. He also considered Croft’s criminal history. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Croft to life imprisonment.

Croft’s co-conspirator Adam Fox was also sentenced this week to a hefty 16-year sentence. The government, according to the AP, said Croft offers bomb-making skills and ideology, while Fox is the “force driving its recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who get in their way.” asked”.

What happened?

More than a dozen people were charged in October 2021 in connection with the conspiracy following Gov. Whitmer’s remark when she said Trump encourages hate groups and “gives comfort to those who spread fear, hatred and division”. In front he was kicked off twitterthe former president called on the people to “Liberate Michigan!”

Court evidence showed that Croft had practiced detonating a shrapnel-filled explosive using paper human silhouettes at a training event.

Croft, who did not speak at the sentencing hearing, appears not to have changed his views, according to prosecutor Nils Kessler, who told the court that “this man is radicalized through and through.”

“The governor’s kidnapping was only to be the beginning of Croft’s reign of terror,” Kessler said. “He called for riots, ‘torched’ government officials in their sleep and around them…