by WorldTribune Staff, August 20, 2025 Real World News
The so-called plot by Trump supporting militia members to kidnap Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was a “full-blown setup” that was “run by the federal government,” a documentary filmmaker says in a new interview.
Christina Urso details to Revolver News “how the case unfolded, how the FBI ran the operation from start to finish, and how the justice system turned a blind eye to serious constitutional violations.”
“I first heard about the case in October 2020,” Urso recalls.
“Whitmer came out smirking — not the reaction of someone just informed of a violent plot against her. It felt off, especially with Michigan being a swing state right before the election.”
Urso said the case reminded her of PATCON, a past FBI operation targeting right-wing groups. “It felt like the same playbook — FBI-engineered entrapment dressed up as domestic terror prevention.”
To entrap the 14 men charged in the case, Urso said the FBI deployed at least 12 informants, 2 undercover agents, and multiple online covert employees to create fake militia groups on social media platforms.
“They paid informants, created training events, and even gave these working-class men drugs and alcohol — then used their intoxicated words as evidence,” Urso said.
None of the 14 men had committed violence. Most had no criminal history and were represented by underpaid or negligent public defenders. Only two out of the 14 could afford private counsel, Urso said.
In April of this year, a federal appeals court upheld the convictions of two men convicted of “leading” the 2020 “plot” to kidnap Whitmer.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were found guilty in August 2022 of conspiring to kidnap and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in connection to an effort that sought to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home in northern Michigan in 2020. Federal prosecutors said the pair were part of a group that orchestrated the scheme in retaliation for her Covid restrictions early on in the pandemic.
Croft, 41 and a trucker from Delaware, was additionally found guilty of possession of an unregistered destructive device and was sentenced to just over 19-and-a-half years in prison. Fox, 49 and from Grand Rapids, is serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Revolver News noted that Fox’s court-appointed attorney, Stephen Nolder, “submitted a weak 75-page appeal brief lacking exhibits, omitted one of the charges, and failed to consult his client. As a result, Fox missed his Supreme Court filing deadline and now has no legal representation.”
While prosecutors went after Fox as the leader of the plot, Urso said the true ringleader was FBI informant Dan Chappel.
Chappel infiltrated a prepping group, transformed it into a militia, assigned leadership roles, conducted tactical training, and organized events. “He taught them how to shoot and clear rooms while the FBI filmed everything,” Urso said.
Another informant — a felon and convicted pedophile — created the fake “United States Patriot Three Percenters” militia and named Fox as Michigan chapter head. This was later used as “evidence” of leadership, Urso said.
FBI Special Agent Jayson Chambers, while moonlighting with a private intelligence company, arranged “recon” trips to Whitmer’s vacation home. Informants picked up defendants, got them high, and filmed the trips, Urso said.
One defendant, Eric Molitor, didn’t even know the destination until they were nearly there — and was asked by Chappel to Google the address so his search could be used as “evidence.”
Urso said the FBI ran the operation like a movie set, complete with drones, mobile command centers, undercover agents with codenames, and rehearsed “shoot house” drills. But Urso insists: “It wasn’t criminal. It was a standard militia exercise — planned, paid for, and recorded by the FBI.”
As for Fox and Croft, their best hope now is a presidential pardon. Three other men — Joe Morrison, Paul Bellar, and Pete Musico — were convicted at the state level in Michigan and are currently appealing. While ineligible for a presidential pardon, political pressure can be put on Whitmer and the state of Michigan to issue clemency, Urso said.
Urso and her husband are producing a feature-length documentary to reveal what mainstream media won’t about the Whitmer kidnap case:
“The non-profit Patriot Freedom Project is one of the only groups that seems to care about these defendants. They are supporting us with our documentary project, but we need more support,” says Urso. “This isn’t just entrapment. It’s a full-blown setup by the federal government. If they can do this to poor, patriotic Americans, they can do it to anyone.”
The trailer to Urso’s documentary:
Documentary on Whitmer kidnap case: ‘Full-blown setup by the federal government’ added by Editor Two on
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