Man pleads guilty in plot to kidnap Mich. governor
DETROIT — One of six men charged in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, admitting that the group discussed an incredible scheme to grab her at her lakeside vacation home and destroy a bridge to slow down police.
Ty Garbin’s guilty plea is a major catch for prosecutors, only about four months after arrests were made. His testimony could strengthen the government’s case against the others and back up evidence collected by informants and undercover agents.
The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, by anti-government extremists upset over coronavirus restrictions she had imposed in Michigan. Six people were charged in federal court, while eight others were charged in state court with aiding them.
In the plea agreement, Garbin, 25, acknowledged more than six pages of stunning allegations. He said he and others trained with weapons in Munith, Mich., and Cambria, Wis., last summer and “discussed the plan to storm the Capitol and kidnap the governor.”
The plot, he said, eventually switched to Whitmer’s second home in Antrim County.
In September, the six men trained at Garbin’s property near Luther, Mich., constructing a “shoot house” to resemble Whitmer’s vacation home and “assaulting it with firearms,” the plea deal states.
The men also made trips to Antrim County to study the home and the area, Garbin said.
Garbin said he sent a text message to someone who turned out to be a government informant, indicating that “if the bridge goes down it will stop the wave,” a suggestion that police would be delayed in responding to a kidnapping if a nearby bridge was blown up.
When the kidnapping case was filed, Whitmer pinned some blame on President Donald Trump, claiming his refusal to denounce far-right groups had inspired extremists.
The governor last year put major restrictions on personal movement and the economy because of COVID-19. The Michigan Capitol was the site of rallies, including ones with gun-toting protesters calling for Whitmer’s removal.