(Ken Silva, Headline USA) One of the men convicted in the purported 2020 militia plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor had his conviction overturned Tuesday after the state’s appeals court ruled that he didn’t receive a fair trial.
Joseph Morrison, who was serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted in 2022 of providing material support for terrorism in relation to the alleged plot, may have a new trial after the appeals court sent his case back to Jackson County Circuit Court, according to the Detroit News.
As has been widely reported in both liberal and conservative media, the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was highly driven by FBI informants and undercover agents. For instance, the FBI gave prepaid credit cards to the kidnap plot “ringleaders,” Adam Fox and Barry Croft (the two never used them). The FBI also created phony “III%er” militia groups around the country, and appointed Fox as the leader of the Michigan chapter.
Joe Morrison's conviction has been vacated by the Michigan Court of Appeals and now the case is being sent back to Jackson County for a NEW TRIAL. I don't think they should be able to try this man again. He's innocent and this was always a hoax! https://t.co/wpWUtRrnqM pic.twitter.com/b3skUSax4p
— Radix Verum ☦︎ (@NotRadix) June 9, 2026
However, the Michigan appeals court didn’t overturn Morrison’s conviction Tuesday for any of those reasons. Rather, the three-judge panel said that Morrison was improperly charged, according to the Detroit News.
“Kidnapping, under the letter of Michigan law, is not considered a ‘violent felony’ and therefore cannot be presented to a jury to establish a terrorism-related charge,” the newspaper reported.
The newspaper quoted from the appeals court’s decision: “Given that the trial court specifically instructed the jury to consider kidnapping as a violent felony and that the jury heard considerable testimony about the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, the likelihood that defendant was actually convicted, at least in part, on an invalid basis tainted the jury’s verdict.”
Morrison’s case marks the first successful appeal to date in the Whitmer plot. Of the 12 men arrested, four took plea deals, five were eventually acquitted, and five, including Morrison, were found guilty — two of them in federal court and three in state court.
The so-called leaders of the plot, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, are serving 16- and 20-year sentences, respectively—both jailed at the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Meanwhile, state defendants Paul Bellar and Pete Musico are also serving seven-year and 12-year prison sentences, respectively.
John Oliver admits there were more government fingerprints than “you would like” in the “kidnapping” plot of Gretchen Whitmer.
“Remember when that group of men was arrested?”
“Guess how many confidential informants seem to help that plot along?”
“I’ll give you a clue — it is a… pic.twitter.com/3oXqhuhPT4
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) March 23, 2026
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
