Fox News Flash top headlines for December 7
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
- The final sentences for individuals involved in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be handed down on Thursday.
- Shawn Fix and Brian Higgins pleaded guilty earlier this year in northern Michigan's Antrim County, the location of Whitmer's second home.
- Higgins confessed to a night ride with a camera near Whitmer's residence, pleading guilty to attempting to provide material support for terrorism.
A judge will hand down the final sentences Thursday in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, capping a remarkable investigation that broke into public view on the eve of the 2020 presidential election but produced mixed results in court.
Shawn Fix and Brian Higgins pleaded guilty earlier this year in northern Michigan's Antrim County, the location of Whitmer's second home.
MICHIGAN JURY ACQUITS 3 MEN IN PLOT TO KIDNAP GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER
They were not key figures in the investigation. But Higgins, a resident of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, acknowledged he went on a night ride on Whitmer's road with a camera rigged to his pickup truck. He pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support for terrorism.
Shawn Fix, center, confers with defense attorney Nichole Dougherty, left, during a court hearing at Antrim County Circuit Court in Bellaire, Mich., on June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/John Flesher, file)
Fix pleaded guilty to providing material support. The suburban Detroit man admitted he assisted plot leader Adam Fox pinpoint Whitmer's address for an earlier drive. Prosecutors said they also had other evidence against Fix.
Whitmer, a Democrat, was targeted as part of a broad effort by anti-government rebels to trigger a civil war around the time of the 2020 election, investigators said. Her COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy, were deeply scorned by critics and stoked anger.
A raft of informants and undercover FBI agents, however, was inside the group for months, leading to arrests in October 2020. Whitmer was not physically harmed.
Fourteen people were charged in three different courts in Michigan. Nine people were convicted. But in cases that went to trial, prosecutors lost five and only won five.
Three of those acquittals happened in September in Antrim County among Fix's and Higgins' co-defendants. The pair had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors but were never called as trial witnesses.
After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given "comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division." Trump, out of office, called the kidnapping plan a "fake deal" in 2022.
True Crime
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.
