(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/29/2023) "We are at war now … I don't see how things will ever get better without bloodshed. No matter who wins this election, they won't go by the constitution. We will still be forced to comply or the pigs will kill us."
Those are the words William Null, who is on trial in Antrim County for providing material support to a terrorist act, wrote in September 2020 to the group of men accused of plotting to kidnap and kill the Governor.
Tuesday, the 18-member jury continued to see photographs and transcripts of video recordings in which Null, his twin Michael Null and Eric Molitor spoke about the plot with members of the Wolverine Watchmen and ringleaders Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., who were convicted and sentenced in federal court.
The trial, being heard before Judge Charles Hamlyn, is expected to last until at least Sept. 11.
Still on the witness stand is FBI Special Agent Henrik Impola, who is reading the transcripts and explaining the exhibits to the jury.
The evidence essentially paints a landscape of the group's alleged ideology that includes ballistic and body armor vests with patches that read "FUCK GRETCHEN" and "Michigan Liberty Militia."
Officers found other patches in William Null's home, including one that read: "I don't believe in anything. I'm here for the violence."
In addition to the patches, Impola testified about the cache of weapons law enforcement seized from the defendants' homes, including 13 firearms, body armor, gas masks and flex cuffs from Molitor's home. In William Null and Michael Null's homes, officers found 45 guns and 40 guns, respectively, as well as body armor and radios in both men's homes.
Tuesday's evidence also showed that the Wolverine Watchmen planned to sell their self-manufactured ghost guns – a move that led law enforcement to decide they could not allow the group's planned October 2020 training exercise to occur.
The defendants, along with 11 other men, were arrested on Oct. 7, 2020.
In another exhibit, Fox talked about how they needed to take down Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after she imposed her COVID-19 pandemic orders that restricted businesses, and in some members' minds, led to deaths "because of her unconstitutional orders."
"The bitch is hanging and doesn't even know it apparently," Molitor said in a recording. "Desperate people do even dumber shit. She will not sit in office ever again.
"And (Attorney General Dana) Nessel backing her bullshit fucked her as well. I ain't going to jail over a dead bitch. But would love to be on the serving end of legal justice in this case a lot," he added.
The day ended with the jury hearing video clips of Molitor's January interview with a freelance videographer in which the defendant calls the FBI's confidential informant a "piece of shit" and in which he said Whitmer is not scared after learning about the plot because she publicly campaigned for President Joe Biden.
Barnett objected to the use of the interview, saying the clips are "out of context," "prejudicial" and contain profanity.
"It's just a way of smearing him again and putting him in a dark light," the attorney argued. "He has a right to free speech."
