MILITIAMAN Ty Garbin on Wednesday pleaded guilty in an elaborate plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home – before blowing up a bridge to slow the police response.
Garbin’s guilty plea to conspiracy comes four months after he and 13 other men were arrested for allegedly planning to kidnap Whitmer in an armed plot after she imposed strict coronavirus restrictions on the state.
He appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, shortly after a plea agreement was filed that included his pledge to fully cooperate in the investigation.
Asked by US District Judge Robert Jonker if he had second thoughts on pleading guilty, Garbin, 25, answered: “I do not, your honor.”
Garbin’s testimony could boost evidence gathered by undercover agents and informants and spell bad news for his co-defendants.
The anti-government extremists’s scheme to kidnap the Democratic governor was foiled by the FBI in October.
Six people including Garbin were charged in federal court, while eight other men were charged in state court for aiding them.
In the plea agreement, Garbin acknowledged that he took part in the allegations that spanned six pages.
The Hartland native said he and co-conspirators participated in armed trainings in Munith, Michigan, and Cambria, Wisconsin, last summer.
Garbin said they initially planned to storm the state Capitol and kidnap Whitmer, but changed the plan to target her lakeside vacation home in Antrim County.
As part of the training, six men gathered at Garbin’s property near Luther, Michigan, and shot at a makeshift house they built resembling Whitmer’s home, according to the plea deal.
The men also traveled to Antrim County to familiarize themselves with Whitmer’s home and the region, Garbin said.
In addition, Garbin sent a text message to a person who wound up being a government informant, stating that taking down a bridge would “stop the wave”, seemingly referring to delaying the police response.
The militiaman also offered to paint his boat black for surveillance at night.
After the court hearing on Wednesday, defense attorney Mark Satawa said Garbin thought a guilty plea was the right action.
“This is about our client saying, ‘Look, I need to own up to what I did. It was wrong. I’m accepting responsibility. I’m sorry for having done it,’” Satawa told reporters.
It was a change in course from last fall, when Satawa said Garbin did not intend to follow through with the kidnapping plot despite his online and recorded conversations.
Counterterrorism expert Javed Ali, a visiting instructor at the University of Michigan, said the co-conspirators must be “extremely nervous” about Garbin’s guilty plea and “may also rethink their legal strategies as a result.”
The co-defendants in the trial scheduled for March 23 are Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr, Adam Fox, Kaleb Franks and Daniel Harris.
