Yesterday in Grand Rapids, Michigan there were “not guilty” verdicts for two men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and there was a hung jury for two other defendants.
Huge blow to the FBI: Zero guilty verdicts in the case of the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan governor. Not guilty verdict for three, hung jury on the alleged ringleader, per @PeteWilliamsNBC
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) April 8, 2022
From the way the trial played out, it looks like the jury pretty much agreed that the actual “ringleader” of the kidnapping plot was the FBI. The Associated Press called it a “stunning defeat for the government”:
A jury on Friday acquitted two men of all charges in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer but couldn’t reach verdicts against the two alleged leaders, a stunning defeat for the government after a weekslong trial that centered on an FBI sting operation just before the 2020 election.
The decisions were announced a few hours after the jury said it was struggling to find unanimity on all 10 charges. The judge told the panel to keep working on the fifth day of deliberations, but jurors emerged again after lunch to say they still were deadlocked on some counts.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid took some serious offense at the fact that there were zero convictions:
Unreal…so in America in the year of our Lord 2022, you can plot to kidnap a Democratic woman governor to stage a show trial and hurt her or worse, because you don’t like COVID restrictions and walk, as long as you’re a white, right wing extremist. Holy jury nullification, Batman https://t.co/vKIWIJCSfI
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) April 8, 2022
Reid probably won’t bother to consider that there might have been a little more to the story that the jury took into consideration.
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I’m sorry, what evidence did they disregard? https://t.co/omQ50IwTpy
— (((Aaron Walker))) (@AaronWorthing) April 9, 2022
The Left’s reaction to this story somewhat mirrors the Rittenhouse verdict in that there was a set narrative and when reality didn’t quite match up, the result was anger.
Joy is ok with police entrapment if you’re white.
Because Joy is a racist. https://t.co/W2CImii8yZ
— Jon (@faroutmadman) April 9, 2022
I’m shocked, because it looks like MSNBC pundits haven’t looked at the facts in this case. Not only was it quite clearly entrapment, there was other government tomfoolery involved. This is our jury system working. https://t.co/msu5uTr7ih
— Jeremy / anti-partisan (@Moderateleft) April 8, 2022
Then again, this is the same MSNBC host who said that Florida under Ron DeSantis “is basically Gilead with palm trees and bikinis,” so an alternate reality take is never unexpected.
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