Ringleader of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison
NBCSep 11, 2022
The Facts
A jury in northern Michigan on Friday acquitted twin brothers Michael and William Null, as well as Eric Molitor, who had been accused of participating in the 2020 attempted kidnapping of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Prosecutors had argued that the three men — who were charged with providing material support for a terrorist act and illegally possessing firearms — of scouting Whitmer’s vacation home in Antrim County and conspiring in the plot to kidnap by participating in preparatory drills.
The Spin
Right narrative
This entire sham of a kidnapping plot, which was conveniently discovered right before the 2020 election, was all a ploy to make Republicans and Trump supporters look like violent criminals before America went to the polls. At least as many non-FBI agents and informants were part of it as there were actual Feds. The Democrats were successful in gaining consensus for this flawed presentation, so now it's time to admit that the FBI made it all up and entrapped innocent Americans for political purposes.
Left narrative
While some of these men have now been acquitted by a jury of their peers, that doesn't mean the militia members heading to prison were innocent, too. This was a violent attempt to use guns and explosives to kidnap a sitting US governor, and both the FBI and the jurors understood the need to put convicted domestic terrorists behind bars. All of these men should be in jail, but that shouldn't stop America from celebrating the convictions that were won to protect democracy from far-right extremism.