Michigan jury gets case against 3 men tied to Whitmer plot

By ED WHITE
Associated Press

Jurors have begun deliberations in a third trial connected to a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. It’s a spinoff of the main case that resulted in four convictions in federal court. Prosecutors acknowledge that Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were not deeply involved by fall 2020 when anti-government extremists trained in northern Michigan and scouted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s vacation home. The three men are accused of providing assistance earlier that summer, especially in June 2020 when a leader of the plot drilled with their paramilitary group in Jackson County, Michigan. Prosecutor Bill Rollstin told jurors, “Once you commit a crime you can’t undo it.” Defense lawyers say the men were on the sideline when the kidnapping scheme shifted to northern Michigan.