Michigan Domestic Terror Plot Sends Shockwaves Through Militia World

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state in Lansing, Michigan, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. The governor delivered remarks after the Michigan Attorney General, Michigan State Police, U.S. Department of Justice, and FBI announced state and federal charges against 13 members of two militia groups who were preparing to kidnap and possibly kill the governor.

AP

The news raced through the encrypted chats of leaders in the far-right militia movement: The Feds got Barry Croft.

Croft, one of 13 men charged Thursday in connection with a domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was a visible figure on the message boards and Facebook pages of the so-called Patriot Movement. NPR interviews with associates who know him from that world portray a power-hungry figure whose angling for stature was unsettling at times. Now that Croft is in custody and his connections under scrutiny, their fear is: Who’s next?

“He was very out and open in the movement,” one militia leader said.