How a postal worker became a man inside the FBI in a terrorism plot against Governor Whitmer

JACKSON, Mich. – New evidence in the domestic terrorism plan to kidnap or kill Governor Gretchen Whitmer was presented to the court on Wednesday.

READING: 3 men accused of domestic terrorism conspiracy against Governor Whitmer appear in court

State prosecutors said they had evidence that Pete Musico, his son-in-law Joseph Morrison and Paul Bellar not only formed the Wolverine Watchmen group, but used social media to recruit other members who were against the government and called Whitmer a tyrant.

READING: Who are the Wolverine Watchers? What is ‘boogaloo’?

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The men believed they were sending text messages in secret through an application called Wire. The FBI said it would express violent thoughts and threats through the app.

RELATED: A look at group texts among suspected terrorist conspirators against Michigan Governor Whitmer

An FBI informant was capturing all communications.

In early 2020, the FBI hadn’t even heard of the Wolverine Watchers until one of the men created a Facebook group and the hatred for Whitmer became so intense that they had to alert their security team at the beginning of the investigation.

Much of what was revealed came from an FBI informant.

According to the FBI, a veteran who worked for the Post Office in Flint heard a lot from the defendants and went to the FBI, but this he wanted to do until the FBI convinced him to risk his life and infiltrate the group.

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“Not only did they hate law enforcement, they were also taking steps to obtain target addresses and kill them later,” said FBI special agent Henrick Impola.

The man wanted to leave, but the FBI asked him to stay with the Wolverine Watchers, use a bug, record everything and risk his life.

Musico, Morrison and Bellar are accused of providing material to support terrorist acts.

The FBI said the men trained on Musico’s estate in Munith and set up death traps in case the police raided.

READING: The Jackson County home was alleged to be a ‘training ground’ in the plot to kidnap Whitmer

Defense lawyers said it was all talk, but Ty Garbin pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against them all in connection with the plot to kidnap or kill Whitmer.

READING: 19 details within Whitmer’s kidnapping defendant’s guilty plea

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