Pot-Smoking Terrorist Gets 20 Years For Gov. Whitmer Kidnapping Plot, Longest Sentence Yet

A Michigan federal judge sentenced Barry Croft Jr. to nearly 20 years for his part as the co-leader of a conspiracy to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. This was the longest sentence yet in the bizarre case that could potentially have resulted in untold violence based on social media posts and secretly recorded conversations that revealed plans to spark a “reign of terror” in 2020.

Croft, seen by the prosecution as the spiritual leader and prophet of the local militia, is the last of the defendants to be sentenced in the case. Croft’s plan to use his grenade launcher and a mounted machine gun to thwart law enforcement was part of the judge’s sentencing rationale. He also took into account Croft's previous criminal history. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Croft to life in prison.

Croft's co-conspirator Adam Fox also received a hefty 16-year sentence this week. The government, per AP, said Croft offered bomb-making skills and ideology while Fox was the “driving force urging their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stood in their way.”

What Happened

More than a dozen people were charged in October 2021 in connection to the plot  following Gov. Whitmer's remark when she said Trump encourages hate groups and gives "comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division." Before he got kicked off Twitter, the former president called on people to “Liberate Michigan!” 

Trial evidence showed that Croft practiced detonating an explosive filled with shrapnel at a training event using human silhouettes made of paper.

Croft, who did not speak at the sentencing, has apparently not changed his views according to the prosecutor Nils Kessler who told the court that “This man is thoroughly radicalized.” 

“The abduction of the governor was only meant to be the beginning of Croft’s reign of terror," Kessler said. "He called for riots, ‘torching’ government officials in their sleep and setting off a ‘domino’ effect of violence across the country."

Don’t Blame Cannabis

Croft’s attorney, Joshua Blanchard, had asked the judge to consider his client’s history of substance abuse and mental health concerns related to his excessive marijuana use and family medical history. 

Local press reports at the time of the trial noted that the jury had heard about the defendant's weed consumption repeatedly and on a regular basis.  

Blanchard told jurors at the August trial that Croft was “frankly high on marijuana all the time” and was described by some as a “stoner pirate kind-of whack nut” in a tri-cornered colonial hat.

Photo: BigNazik on Shutterstock and Air Force Master Sgt. Scott Thompson on Wikimedia Commons