By Lily Guiney
Gongwer News Service
The conviction of Joseph Morrison in connection with the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was vacated Tuesday by a three-judge panel in the Court of Appeals, which ruled that under the letter of the law, kidnapping is not considered a violent felony that may be used to establish a terrorism charge.
Morrison, of Jackson County, was one of three members of the “Wolverine Watchmen” militia group who were convicted in state courts in 2022 of gang membership felonies, felony firearm and providing material support for terrorist acts.
Charges against them were brought by Attorney General Dana Nessel in conjunction with federal charges brought against other members of the group more directly involved with the plot, two of whom were convicted in 2022 of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer from her Elk Rapids vacation home and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, which they’d planned to detonate on the nearby Elk River bridge to deter police response.
Morrison’s involvement in the plot began in 2019 when he created the Facebook group that would become the more formal Wolverine Watchmen militia.
Following his trial he sought post-conviction relief, arguing that since the trial court directed jurors to consider the kidnapping plot the underlying justification for the charges of terrorism, the court had misinterpreted the law, and prosecutors had failed to prove the requirements of the charges against him.
It was that argument which saw Morrison’s convictions vacated on Tuesday, nearly four years after they were reached.
In late 2022, the defendant had argued that “to the extent that at least some of the jurors may have agreed with the prosecution that the purported plot to kidnap the governor was the underlying terrorist act, this was contrary to the statutory language and this court’s interpretation of it.”
Morrison also argued that his conviction of felony firearm should be dismissed because it could not stand without an attached underlying felony. Court of Appeals Judges Thomas Cameron, Mark Boonstra and Brock Swartzle agreed with all of his arguments in People v. Morrison (COA Docket No. 364651).
“Given that the trial court specifically instructed the jury to consider kidnapping as a violent felony and that the jury heard considerable testimony about the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, the likelihood that defendant was actually convicted, at least in part, on an invalid basis tainted the jury’s verdict,” Boonstra wrote in the opinion. “Accordingly, we vacate defendant’s conviction of providing material support for an act of terrorism. And because that offense was the underlying felony for the gang-membership felonies and felony-firearm convictions, we vacate those convictions as well.”
Cameron, Boonstra and Swartzle, all appointees of former Gov. Rick Snyder, remanded the case to Jackson County Circuit Court for retrial. The Court of Appeals ruling comes just over a year after a Jackson County judge rejected motions in early 2025 for Morrison and Paul Bellar, another of the three militia members tried there, to have their cases retried or resentenced.
The vacation of conviction came with a remand to trial court, the judges said, due to the likelihood that although there were permissible options of a violent felony underlying the terrorism charge presented to jurors during the trial, the jury simply did not select one of those options to cite. It is feasible that violent felonies could be cited during a potential retrial and thus the judges did not evaluate Morrison’s convictions from other angles.
“We note that the trial court presented the impermissible theory of kidnapping as the violent felony along with other, permissible theories, such as the theories that murder or assault to commit great bodily harm were the violent felony,” the opinion said. “Because the reasonable probability that the jury chose, at least in part, the impermissible theory requires reversal regardless of defendant’s guilt or innocence in relation to the other theories. We remand for a new trial without addressing the sufficiency of the evidence for defendant’s convictions under any other theory.”
Nessel said in a Tuesday statement that she intends to appeal the ruling, which she called “completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous and irresponsible.”
The case revolving around the plot to kidnap Whitmer was not “abstract or peaceful,” Nessel said, and jurors in Morrison’s trial observed as prosecutors “explicitly proved a considered and coordinated plan among these men to kidnap and brutally murder the governor, killing as many members of law enforcement and residents of the community as necessary along the way.”
“Kidnapping is violent and it is a felony. A unanimous Jackson County jury found Joseph Morrison guilty of every count against him after less than two days of deliberations,” she said. “That this panel of judges found a way to excuse from these crimes their foundation in violence irresponsibly and unfathomably diminishes and whitewashes the crimes of Joseph Morrison and his many codefendants.”
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, also issued a statement responding to the ruling, saying it recklessly presents an opportunity for extremists of all political stripes to pursue violence knowing they can face minimal legal repercussions.
“I am extremely worried that today’s decision overturning the conviction of one of the men who plotted to kidnap and kill the governor will send a disturbing and dangerous signal to others who may seek to threaten or attack public officials,” Brinks said. “The rise in extremism and political violence has already had deadly consequences. There must be accountability when people use or threaten violence against anyone, regardless of party or public status, and it is on all of us as leaders to demand it.”
In a post to X, Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Bloomfield Township, expressed frustration with courts whose decision-making he said is “soft on this type of crime” undermining efforts to stop the proliferation of extremist groups and prevent political violence from impeding elections or making it more difficult for public servants to do their jobs.
“The political extremism in this country has gone way too far and we all must work toward a healthier democracy. But it becomes more difficult to achieve when the courts rule that the plot to kidnap the governor, draw and quarter her, and hang her from a tree doesn’t meet the definition of violence,” Moss said in the post. “I was in the Senate Chamber when these men tried to intimidate us with firearms. And last year the bomb squad had to clear my residence after a detailed threat. We cannot normalize these incidents. But this court decision, Trump’s pardon of January 6 rioters, and even a Republican gubernatorial candidate posting a video of him running over the governor with his tractor just yesterday, all take us down a dangerous path.”
Moss was referring to fellow senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, whose campaign released a video advertisement generated by artificial intelligence on Monday which depicted California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Whitmer fleeing as Nesbitt chases them in a tractor, before Newsom pushes Whitmer to the ground so he can run away. The video ends with Nesbitt in the tractor, presumably about to hit the governor with the vehicle.
Some social media observers noted the ad’s themes of political violence in light of both Morrison’s conviction being vacated and charges being brought last week against a Hawaii man who was arrested in Texas after making threats to kill Whitmer and carry out a mass shooting at the Capitol in Lansing.
The arrest and transfer of Ronald Saville, of Honolulu, came after emails he sent to the Department of State Police in May saying he planned to enter the Capitol with an AR-15 and "open fire and kill as many people as possible” and to Whitmer saying the same, but adding “then I'm coming for you.”
Nessel said the current climate of intensified political rhetoric, which has given way to violence resulting in murder on more than one occasion, is all the more reason for her office to appeal the panel’s decision in Morrison’s case.
Gongwer News Service
The conviction of Joseph Morrison in connection with the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was vacated Tuesday by a three-judge panel in the Court of Appeals, which ruled that under the letter of the law, kidnapping is not considered a violent felony that may be used to establish a terrorism charge.
Morrison, of Jackson County, was one of three members of the “Wolverine Watchmen” militia group who were convicted in state courts in 2022 of gang membership felonies, felony firearm and providing material support for terrorist acts.
Charges against them were brought by Attorney General Dana Nessel in conjunction with federal charges brought against other members of the group more directly involved with the plot, two of whom were convicted in 2022 of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer from her Elk Rapids vacation home and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, which they’d planned to detonate on the nearby Elk River bridge to deter police response.
Morrison’s involvement in the plot began in 2019 when he created the Facebook group that would become the more formal Wolverine Watchmen militia.
Following his trial he sought post-conviction relief, arguing that since the trial court directed jurors to consider the kidnapping plot the underlying justification for the charges of terrorism, the court had misinterpreted the law, and prosecutors had failed to prove the requirements of the charges against him.
It was that argument which saw Morrison’s convictions vacated on Tuesday, nearly four years after they were reached.
In late 2022, the defendant had argued that “to the extent that at least some of the jurors may have agreed with the prosecution that the purported plot to kidnap the governor was the underlying terrorist act, this was contrary to the statutory language and this court’s interpretation of it.”
Morrison also argued that his conviction of felony firearm should be dismissed because it could not stand without an attached underlying felony. Court of Appeals Judges Thomas Cameron, Mark Boonstra and Brock Swartzle agreed with all of his arguments in People v. Morrison (COA Docket No. 364651).
“Given that the trial court specifically instructed the jury to consider kidnapping as a violent felony and that the jury heard considerable testimony about the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, the likelihood that defendant was actually convicted, at least in part, on an invalid basis tainted the jury’s verdict,” Boonstra wrote in the opinion. “Accordingly, we vacate defendant’s conviction of providing material support for an act of terrorism. And because that offense was the underlying felony for the gang-membership felonies and felony-firearm convictions, we vacate those convictions as well.”
Cameron, Boonstra and Swartzle, all appointees of former Gov. Rick Snyder, remanded the case to Jackson County Circuit Court for retrial. The Court of Appeals ruling comes just over a year after a Jackson County judge rejected motions in early 2025 for Morrison and Paul Bellar, another of the three militia members tried there, to have their cases retried or resentenced.
The vacation of conviction came with a remand to trial court, the judges said, due to the likelihood that although there were permissible options of a violent felony underlying the terrorism charge presented to jurors during the trial, the jury simply did not select one of those options to cite. It is feasible that violent felonies could be cited during a potential retrial and thus the judges did not evaluate Morrison’s convictions from other angles.
“We note that the trial court presented the impermissible theory of kidnapping as the violent felony along with other, permissible theories, such as the theories that murder or assault to commit great bodily harm were the violent felony,” the opinion said. “Because the reasonable probability that the jury chose, at least in part, the impermissible theory requires reversal regardless of defendant’s guilt or innocence in relation to the other theories. We remand for a new trial without addressing the sufficiency of the evidence for defendant’s convictions under any other theory.”
Nessel said in a Tuesday statement that she intends to appeal the ruling, which she called “completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous and irresponsible.”
The case revolving around the plot to kidnap Whitmer was not “abstract or peaceful,” Nessel said, and jurors in Morrison’s trial observed as prosecutors “explicitly proved a considered and coordinated plan among these men to kidnap and brutally murder the governor, killing as many members of law enforcement and residents of the community as necessary along the way.”
“Kidnapping is violent and it is a felony. A unanimous Jackson County jury found Joseph Morrison guilty of every count against him after less than two days of deliberations,” she said. “That this panel of judges found a way to excuse from these crimes their foundation in violence irresponsibly and unfathomably diminishes and whitewashes the crimes of Joseph Morrison and his many codefendants.”
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, also issued a statement responding to the ruling, saying it recklessly presents an opportunity for extremists of all political stripes to pursue violence knowing they can face minimal legal repercussions.
“I am extremely worried that today’s decision overturning the conviction of one of the men who plotted to kidnap and kill the governor will send a disturbing and dangerous signal to others who may seek to threaten or attack public officials,” Brinks said. “The rise in extremism and political violence has already had deadly consequences. There must be accountability when people use or threaten violence against anyone, regardless of party or public status, and it is on all of us as leaders to demand it.”
In a post to X, Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Bloomfield Township, expressed frustration with courts whose decision-making he said is “soft on this type of crime” undermining efforts to stop the proliferation of extremist groups and prevent political violence from impeding elections or making it more difficult for public servants to do their jobs.
“The political extremism in this country has gone way too far and we all must work toward a healthier democracy. But it becomes more difficult to achieve when the courts rule that the plot to kidnap the governor, draw and quarter her, and hang her from a tree doesn’t meet the definition of violence,” Moss said in the post. “I was in the Senate Chamber when these men tried to intimidate us with firearms. And last year the bomb squad had to clear my residence after a detailed threat. We cannot normalize these incidents. But this court decision, Trump’s pardon of January 6 rioters, and even a Republican gubernatorial candidate posting a video of him running over the governor with his tractor just yesterday, all take us down a dangerous path.”
Moss was referring to fellow senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, whose campaign released a video advertisement generated by artificial intelligence on Monday which depicted California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Whitmer fleeing as Nesbitt chases them in a tractor, before Newsom pushes Whitmer to the ground so he can run away. The video ends with Nesbitt in the tractor, presumably about to hit the governor with the vehicle.
Some social media observers noted the ad’s themes of political violence in light of both Morrison’s conviction being vacated and charges being brought last week against a Hawaii man who was arrested in Texas after making threats to kill Whitmer and carry out a mass shooting at the Capitol in Lansing.
The arrest and transfer of Ronald Saville, of Honolulu, came after emails he sent to the Department of State Police in May saying he planned to enter the Capitol with an AR-15 and "open fire and kill as many people as possible” and to Whitmer saying the same, but adding “then I'm coming for you.”
Nessel said the current climate of intensified political rhetoric, which has given way to violence resulting in murder on more than one occasion, is all the more reason for her office to appeal the panel’s decision in Morrison’s case.
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