Three more men have been
convicted in the 2020 plot to
kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Thirteen men were charged
with aiding in the plot to kidnap
the governor, two of whom were
previously convicted in August.
Six of the men faced federal
charges for orchestrating the
plan.
Of the 13 men, seven were
charged at the state level by
Michigan
Attorney
General
Dana Nessel, including Paul
Bellar, Pete Musico and his son-
in-law Joe Morrison. Two men
were acquitted.
Following a probable cause
hearing in March 2021, it was
announced
that
Morrison,
Musico and Bellar would not
face charges for false report or
threat of terrorism but would
still be charged with gang
membership, providing material
support for terrorism and felony
firearm.
After
a
three-week
trial,
Bellar, Musico and Morrison
were found guilty in Jackson
County for providing “material
support” for a terrorist act
as members of the Wolverine
Watchmen. The three men were
also convicted on counts of
gang membership and firearm
violations. The three-week trial
was the first of the state trials
connected to the kidnapping
plot
allegations.
Adam
Fox
and Barry Croft were federally
convicted in August for leading
the plot. In the October trial,
the Michigan attorney general’s
office had to prove Bellar,
Musico and Morrison aided Fox
or Croft in the plan.
The men each face up to 42
years in prison when they are
sentenced Dec. 15. They were
convicted of providing material
support for terrorism, which
carries a sentence of up to 20
years. They also face up to 20
years for gang membership and
an additional two years for a
felony weapons charge.
Whitmer thanked Nessel and
the prosecution for the verdict.
In a press release, Nessel also
praised the verdict.
“Make no mistake, the quick
actions
of
law
enforcement
saved
lives,”
Nessel
said.
“We
are
pleased
the
jury
clearly
understood
that.
These
defendants
believed
violence was an appropriate
way to address an ideological
grievance.
Today’s
verdict
sends a clear message they were
wrong.”
It’s
finally
Halloween,
which means students at the
University of Michigan have
spent the weekend celebrating
a Wolverine victory over the
Spartan football team, watching
Disney’s new “Hocus Pocus”
sequel and telling spooky stories.
As it turns out, some of those
chilling tales may have taken
place across the University of
Michigan campus.
If you’re looking to avoid a
ghostly scare while walking
to class this Halloween, The
Michigan Daily has got your
back. We spoke to members of
the campus community to hear
what buildings and spaces on
campus might be haunted.
While approaching students
on the Diag over the past week,
The Daily learned from about 10
students that the Hatcher stacks
might be the spookiest place on
campus, though the Samuel T.
Dana Building, Stockwell Hall,
Shapiro Undergraduate Library,
the Modern Languages Building
and
various
other
buildings
were also mentioned.
A couple of ghost stories about
the University have stood the
test of time, such as the ghost of
Helen Newberry remaining at
the Helen Newberry Dormitory
Residence Hall, and television
shows, like the show School
Spirits. However, today U-M
students base their decision on
personal experience with eerie
campus spaces.
When asked about the most
haunted
place
on
campus,
Business
sophomore
Daniel
Austin
was
quick
to
name
Stockwell Hall.
“I know it’s Stockwell. I
know there’s a ghost there. I
will find it, in time,” Austin
said. “I thought I heard there
was a ghost, and I used to live
in Stockwell last year. It’s just a
creepy old dorm.”
LSA
sophomore
Isaac
Lieberman
disagreed.
He
is
confident that the “stacks” of
the Hatcher Graduate Library
are the most haunted place on
campus,
citing
unexplained
occurrences
and
a
strange
feeling.
“It has to be the stacks of
Hatcher,” Lieberman said. “I
mean, you never know what’s
around the corner. I could see a
book falling off the shelf, I think
it gets pretty haunted down
there.”
Rackham students Liz Nichols
and Jeff Dutter said the Dana
Building is the most haunted
campus space, explaining the
history of the building as a part
of the medical school, including
a rumor that the basement of the
building used to be a morgue.
“I’m down there like all the
time. It totally looks like a
morgue,” Nichols said. “It’s just
really, like, stark white. (There
are) weird old archways and
everything. I feel like if there’s
some weird energy (on campus),
it’s probably in the basement of
Dana in my opinion.”
Emma
Volkert,
a
Public
Health graduate student, said
she has heard of many strange
stories around Ann Arbor and
the U-M campus, though not all
are entirely supernatural.
“My other creepy Ann Arbor
(story) is (about) Ted Kaczynski,
the Unabomber,” Volkert said.
He won a math award, so if you
go to East Hall, his name is on a
plaque.”
Kaczynski plead guilty and
was convicted of killing three
people and setting off bombs 16
times that injured an additional
22 people between 1978 and
1995.
Before
becoming
the
“Unabomber,” Kaczynski also
attended the university as a
student, earning his master’s
and PhD in mathematics in the
1960s.
Though some students say
there are places on campus that
could be haunted, other students
grapple with the question of
whether they believe ghosts
exist or not in the first place.
Volkert says she is unsure if
ghosts exist because she has not
had any paranormal experiences
personally, while some members
of her family have.
“I’m pretty much open to
anything — hearing out anyone’s
experience — I just haven’t had
one of my own,” Volkert said.
“So I wouldn’t go as far to say
that I’m a ‘believer.’”
Nichols
said
she
doesn’t
necessarily
believe
in
the
Ghostbusters-esque
image
of
a ghost, but does believe there
are spirits from those who have
passed that remain in our world.
“I believe that a spirit can stay
within a certain area and that
if a super bad thing happened
somewhere that energy kind of
stays within that place,” Nichols
said. “But I guess I don’t really
believe in (the idea that) when
people pass away that their form
is this lifeless, floating, haunting
presence. Like, I don’t really
believe in that, but I do believe
in leftover spiritual energy.”
Engineering junior Matthew
Weerakoon says ghosts aren’t
real, in his opinion, and the
depiction of a ghost that can
move objects seems unrealistic
to him.
“I do not believe in ghosts,”
Weerakoon said. “I am a very
scientific
person,
being
an
engineer. But I do believe in
spirituality. I think ghosts are
way too far of a line to believe
in. To possess anything or to
lift objects, like if people think
they saw something levitating,
I always think, ‘No, there’s no
way.’”
Dutter said he believes in
ghosts and said ghosts are an
important part of storytelling.
“Yes, I believe in ghosts,”
Dutter said. “I believe in myth
and folklore, and I feel like
ghosts are a huge part of telling
stories, and I think you can
be pretty loose with the term
‘beliefs.’ So I’m gonna just say
that I believe stories I’ve been
told about ghosts and how
they’ve impacted my childhood
and how they impact me now.”
While there are differing
opinions on which buildings
are
the
most
haunted
and
whether ghosts are real, make
sure to listen out for a ghostly
howl or just that gust of wind
outside your dark windows as
Halloween approaches.
2 — Wednesday, November 9, 2022
News
UMich students discuss possibility of campus
hauntings on Halloween
NEWS
Three men convicted in plot to kidnap
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
From the Modern Languages Building to the stacks of the
Hatcher Grad Library, students chat ghosts, mysterious gusts
Members of Wolverine Watchmen face up to 42 years in
prison for domestic terrorism charges
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