LANSING, Mich. – One of the men charged in connection with the domestic terror plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer revealed many of the unusual and disturbing details of the scheme as part of his guilty plea.
Ty Gerard Garbin, 24, of Hartland, agreed to plead guilty to an indictment that charges him with kidnapping conspiracy. In return, Garbin has agreed to cooperate with officials as they continue investigating the case.
READ: Deep dive into the details of a scheme to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, hold her hostage
Here are some of the details about the plot confirmed by Garbin in the guilty plea.
1. Garbin and other members of the Wolverine Watchmen participated in a Second Amendment Rally outside the Michigan Capitol building on June 18, 2020.
2. Adam Fox wanted to recruit 200 people to storm the Capitol, put politicians they captured on trial for treason and execute them by hanging on live television, Garbin said.
3. During a meeting in the basement of a Grand Rapids business on June 20, 2020, Fox collected everyone’s cellphones to make sure they weren’t recording for the government, according to Garbin.
4. Garbin said Fox proposed using Molotov cocktails and other explosive devices to distract authorities while storming the state Capitol.
5. During a field training exercise in Cambria, Wisconsin, members of the group discussed targeting Whitmer at her vacation home in northern Michigan.
6. They created a “shoot house” from plywood, shipping pallets and a door frame to practice breaching buildings with firearms.
7. Group members practiced combat first aid, such as applying tourniquets and treatment gunshot or shrapnel wounds, in case they were injured during a fight with law enforcement.
8. Garbin said Barry Croft from a modified AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle, a silencers, a 37-millimeter projectile launcher and materials for IEDs to the training exercise.
9. Croft proposed firebombing a Michigan State Police outpost as a distraction while they stormed the Capitol, according to Garbin.
10. Members of the scheme plotted to blow up a highway bridge near Whitmer’s vacation home in an effort to slow police response to the kidnapping.
11. Garbin said he offered to paint his boat black for a night reconnaissance of Whitmer’s vacation home.
12. Fox said he wanted to take Whitmer out into the middle of Lake Michigan on a boat, remove the engine and leve her there to be rescued as a “statement,” according to Garbin’s guilty plea.
13. During a nighttime trip to the vacation home, some members went to a boat launch on the other side of the lake while others tried to signal to them from across the lake with a flashlight. A third car drove around to make sure nobody was following the others.
14. On Sept. 13, the group spoke about everyone contributing $4,000 to buy an explosive device large enough to destroy the bridge near Whitmer’s vacation home.
15. The men discussed fighting Whitmer’s security detail and the possibility of Secret Service being involved if she was added to a cabinet position for President Joe Biden.
16. They discussed putting a shoulder-fired weapon on the back of a pickup truck to use against the lead vehicle in Whitmer’s convoy, Garbin said.
17. Fox told the others in an encrypted chat that he was preparing the basement of his workplace for close combat training, Garbin said.
18. According to Garbin, Fox said he had a Taser and zip ties to “neutralize” Whitmer.
19. On Oct. 7, Garbin said he, Fox and others went to Ypsilanti to meet an undercover FBI agent who they thought was part of their group. The meeting was a ruse set up to arrest them, according to Garbin.
You can watch Shawn Ley’s story in the video below.