FBI agents have raided a home in Hazel Park amid an investigation into threats made against the judge and defence lawyers involved in the Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping conspiracy trial, according to The Detroit News.
Two sources familiar with the matter reportedly have revealed that agents are investigating threats directed at several people, including Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker who is presiding over the trial in question, and defence lawyers Josh Blanchard and Christopher Gibbons, who represent the accused ringleaders of the alleged plot.
"FBI Detroit will work closely with other FBI field offices and with our law enforcement partners across the country to identify the source of any threat made to anyone involved with the ongoing prosecution in Grand Rapids," FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider wrote to the media outlet. "Individuals found responsible for making threats in violation of state and/or federal law will be referred for prosecution in the appropriate jurisdiction."
No arrests have reportedly been made since the raid, which had taken place during the third week of the trial.
The media outlet also notes that the investigation comes amid an increase in the number of threats made against federal judges in recent years "fuelled by a rise in domestic extremism".
The four men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Whitmer - Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta – were arrested in October 2020 following a sting operation by FBI; their trial started on 8 March this year.
While the prosecution argues that the accused were motivated by anger over the restrictions imposed by Whitmer in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the defence lawyers insist that there was no kidnapping plot, and that "FBI agents and informants orchestrated the case", as the media outlet puts it.