Jury pool warned of rough talk in trial tied to Whitmer plot

By ED WHITE
Associated Press

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — Jury selection is underway in a third trial connected to a 2020 anti-government plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Questions about guns, secretly recorded conversations and even the Jan. 6 Capitol riot dominated the court hearing Monday in Jackson, Michigan. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar are charged with three crimes, including providing material support for a terrorist act. All were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a paramilitary group that trained in the Jackson area. They’re accused of assisting others who were convicted in federal court of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home. Lawyers and the judge are asking questions to weed out biases in the jury pool. Jury selection will resume Tuesday. The trial could last two weeks or more.