Prosecutors prepare evidence in trial of 3 men accused in plot to kidnap gov

Prosecutors were preparing Wednesday to present evidence against three men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in what investigators described as an extremist scheme to ignite a civil war.
Attorneys were scheduled to make opening arguments in the trial of Eric Molitor and brothers William Null and Michael Null, who were among 14 defendants charged weeks before the November 2020 election. Nine have been convicted in state or federal court, including four who pleaded guilty, while two were acquitted.
Investigators described them as members of paramilitary groups angered by Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy.
Eleven women and seven men were selected Monday to serve as circuit court jurors in Republican-leaning Antrim County, a rural area popular with tourists. Whitmer has a vacation home in the Lake Michigan village of Elk Rapids.