A jury has been seated in the trial of three men charged in connection with a 2020 anti-government plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
FILE - This combo of undated file images provided by Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, left, and Jackson County Sheriff's Office, show, from left, Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico. A scheme to kidnap Michigan's governor in 2020 will get yet another airing in a different court when three men face trial Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, just weeks before voters consider whether to reelect Gretchen Whitmer to a second term.
The trio is not charged with directly participating in the kidnapping scheme, which was broken up by the FBI in October 2020. That prosecution, which was handled in federal court, produced four convictions andMorrison, Musico and Bellar are accused of assisting others. The charges were filed in state court by the Michigan attorney general.
The jury will see and hear hate-filled conversations about police and public officials who were denounced as tyrants, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when businesses were shut down, people were ordered to stay home and schools were closed. Prospective jurors were repeatedly urged by defense lawyers to be fair and open-minded, despite what they hear. Bellar was deeply critical of police but is not charged with threatening law enforcement.
Defense attorneys insist Morrison, Musico and Bellar cut ties with Adam Fox, a leader of the kidnapping plot, before it picked up steam in summer 2020.
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