As four men federally charged in the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer prepare to face a jury, there have been some shake ups in the witness pool just days before the trial commences.
1. ‘Our Numbers Grow Every Year’
On a misty November morning just after sunrise, I pulled up to a shooting range in central Texas with a borrowed AR-15 and a few hundred rounds of dubious-quality Russian ammunition that I’d ordered over the internet. I followed a pickup down a gravel road and over two cattle guards to the far end of the property. Then I parked in a field ringed by trees whose bark was scarred by stray bullets.
A handful of men had already arrived, and they were loading ammunition into their magazines as the morning birds chittered overhead. After a while, a decorated US Army veteran named Eric Dorenbush gathered us into a circle and gave a short safety briefing don’t point your barrel at anything you’re not willing to destroy, act as if every gun is loaded then asked us not to share any images or videos on social media. We didn’t want information falling into the hands of terrorists or other bad actors, he explained. Plus there could be social repercus