Michigan Republican gives ‘special tribute’ to two men acquitted in plot to kidnap governor

Last Friday, in a bizarre move that mostly flew under the national radar, Michigan state Rep. Rachelle Smit, a Republican Of Course, honored twin brothers with a legislative tribute celebrating their "courage" for "keeping alive our cherished liberties." Normally, this is the sort of thing that might be done to honor a particularly heroic first responder or a passerby who risked their life to pull a drowning child out of a half-frozen lake, but Smit's award was unusual.

That’s because the two brothers she was honoring, along with their lawyers, were two men who were recently acquitted at trial for their involvement in a militia-devised plot to kidnap or kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. From The Detroit News:

The twins along with Eric Molitor were found not guilty of providing support for a terrorist act and a weapons charge. They were the last of 14 men to face charges in state or federal courts, where nine suspects were convicted or accepted plea deals, while a total of five men were acquitted.

The Nulls and Molitor were accused of supporting leaders of the plan by participating in military-style drills and traveling to see Whitmer’s vacation home in northern Michigan. The key players, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were convicted of a kidnapping conspiracy last year in federal court.

Smit wasn't willing to clarify to The Detroit News why she felt, as the tribute wording went, "The People of Michigan owe a debt of gratitude" to the pair, leaving the rest of us to speculate as to why allegedly scoping out the governor's vacation home as part of a plan to seize or kill the governor counts as behavior for which her constituents owe a "debt of gratitude." But the message is obvious: Smit's handing out awards to people who were connected to the plot but freed by Michigan juries unwilling to convict them.