(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Wisconsin resident Brian Higgins pled guilty Wednesday to assisting the men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
Higgins, one of the five men who were facing state charges of providing material support for terrorism, was accused of conducting surveillance of Whitmer’s second home in Antrim County.
The allegation has been widely denounced as dubious, at best. According to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, Higgins drove with two other defendants, but there’s no evidence proving they were actually driving by or anywhere near Whitmer’s home.
“They literally just drove around in the rain and then parked and tried communicating on the walkie talkies,” said a person with direct knowledge of the matter, whose name Headline USA is withholding for privacy reasons.
Despite the dubious allegation, Higgins changed his plea from innocent to guilty on Wednesday.
His decision came after the presiding judge revealed his bias in the case, publishing a decision that erroneously said “the independent evidence demonstrates that [Daniel] Harris, [Brandon] Caserta” “acted in concert” with Higgins to conspire to kidnap Governor Whitmer and/or harm law enforcement officers.” This is a clearly false statement because Harris and Caserta were acquitted of their charges by a federal jury last March.
The judge has also waivered from his previously held position that all the documents related to the trial will be made public.
Fourteen people were charged in three different courts. The U.S. Justice Department secured convictions against four men in federal court, including Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox, who are currently being held in supermax facilities and are unable to communicate to the public.
Three men charged with aiding Fox were found guilty in Jackson County in October and are serving long prison terms.
Higgins won’t be sentenced by Judge Charles Hamlyn until after the August trial of his four co-defendants. His cooperation could improve his chances for a lighter sentence.
Independent journalist Christina Urso is working on a documentary about the case that will aim to show how the FBI infiltrated the Midwest militia movement and fomented the plot to kidnap Whitmer.
The Associated Press assisted with this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
