Fox & Croft were 2 of the defendants federal prosecutors successfully #convicted after a pair of trials in 2022—initially, a jury acquitted Brandon Caserta & Daniel Harris, whom the govt also alleged plotted to #kidnap #GretchenWhitmer, & were hung on Fox & Croft. But at a second trial later that year, jurors in west #Michigan returned #guilty verdicts for the latter 2.

14 men were charged in the plan to #kidnap & #murder #GretchenWhitmer, a #Democrat, & 9 were #convicted. The ringleader of the group, Barry Croft Jr., was given the longest sentence at >19 years.

In 2020, Whitmer placed some blame for the kidnapping plot on #Trump's rhetoric, saying that he "refused to condemn white supremacists & hate groups like these 2 #Michigan #militia groups,” referring to Trump's comments at the 2020 debate against Biden [& his social media posts attacking her]

#Trump, the first #convicted #felon elected president, has erased #ethical boundaries & dismantled the instruments of accountability that constrained his predecessors. There will be no official investigations because Trump has made sure of it. He has fired government inspectors general & #ethics watchdogs, installed partisan loyalists to run the DOJ, FBI & regulatory agencies & dominated a Republican-controlled Congress unwilling to hold hearings.

Following the #Jan6 attack, there was a wave of #civil cases & #criminal prosecutions that splintered the [domestic terrorist] orgs & sent many members to prison before sweeping #clemency from #Trump. Among them were group leaders named alongside >30 others in the city’s suit, including #ProudBoys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio & #OathKeepers founder Stewart Rhodes, both of whom juries #convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy for their part in trying to block the peaceful transition of power.

The program authorizes #ICE to designate certain state & local officers to question & arrest people they *suspect* of violating federal #immigration laws during their regular patrols.

…In #Arizona’s #MaricopaCounty, Sheriff #JoeArpaio was #convicted in 2017 of #criminal contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to stop detaining residents because he suspected them of being in the US illegally. #Trump gave Arpaio a #pardon during his first term.

oh it's far worse than just a #deportation scheme

#NayibBukele (President of #ElSalvador):

"We have offered the #UnitedStates of #America #USA the opportunity to outsource part of its #prison system.

We are willing to take in only #convicted #criminals (including convicted #US #citizens) into our mega-prison (#CECOT) in exchange for a fee.

The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable."

In total, #Trump pardoned 23 anti-#abortion activists, including those #convicted of blockading a reproductive health clinic & intimidating staff & patients.

#Felon47 #ReproductiveRights #CivilRights #WomensRights #RightToHealthcare #Healthcare #AbortionIsHealthcare #intimidation #pillory #privacy #MaleSupremacy #evangelism #law #USpol
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0yzg9pj97o

The 7 were each #convicted of a #felony #conspiracy against rights & a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (#FACE) Act offense, the #DOJ said. 2 defendants, Idoni & Edl, were also convicted of 2nd FACE Act offenses arising out of a blockade of a clinic in Saginaw in 2021.
Under the FACE Act, 1st-time offenders can be fined or imprisoned for up to 1 yr & subsequent offenders can be fined or imprisoned for up to 3 yrs, or both. #Conspiracy against rights is punishable by up to 10 yrs in #prison.

The 8 people in the #Michigan case who received #Trump #pardons are Calvin & Eva Zastrow, Chester Ghallagher, Heather Idoni, Caroline Davis, Joel Curry, Justin Phillips & Eva Edl.

A federal jury #convicted 7 of the defendants in Aug in connection w/their blockade of an #AbortionClinic in Sterling Heights on Aug 27, 2020.

An 8th defendant, Davis, took a plea deal & was sentenced to a year of probation in Sept.