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show me what you got. This

0:36

is Camellion, Season 7. The

0:38

Michigan Plot. A production of

0:40

Campside Media. The

0:45

bench. Oh,

0:55

I can't read the camera. Hello.

0:59

Hello. How are you doing? Good,

1:01

how are you? Good, thank you for asking. What can

1:03

I give for you today? I'll do a number one

1:05

as a single with a large sprite. It's

1:08

October 7, 2020 in the

1:10

drive-thru of a Wendy's somewhere in the

1:12

outskirts of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The

1:14

guy you're hearing ordering the number one? He's

1:17

a 34-year-old Iraq War veteran

1:19

named Dan Chappell. On number

1:21

one, large. You got

1:23

it. What's up there? Number three. Let's do

1:26

spicy. Spicy. This

1:30

second guy you're hearing ordering the spicy

1:32

number three is Adam Fox. A

1:34

burly 37-year-old with dark brown hair and a

1:36

bushy beard. Actually, just do regular. I'm sorry,

1:39

do regular. Can we do

1:41

regular instead of spicy? Okay. Adam

1:44

Fox works part-time as a clerk in

1:46

a vacuum cleaner store, where he also

1:49

lives in the basement. For

1:51

the past few months, Adam and Dan have

1:54

been almost inseparable. Dan has been

1:56

training Adam on things he learned in the Army,

1:58

like how to take cover in a firefight. firefight and how

2:00

to shoot and reload on the move.

2:04

Adam's the kind of guy who can't decide

2:06

what to order at Wendy's but with Dan's

2:08

help he's come a long way. Hey you

2:10

gotta come with different kinds of sauces right?

2:12

Just tell him no. He'll

2:15

get out you get in. Today

2:23

Dan and Adam are picking up

2:25

a few of their friends members

2:27

of a ragtag militia group called

2:29

the Wolverine Watchmen. Once

2:33

they're all together on the highway Adam

2:35

shows the guys his latest purchase. A

2:40

taser. Like

2:44

most groups of friends these guys like to do

2:46

a lot of the same things like

2:49

smoking weed shooting guns and

2:51

talking trash. Word of advice

2:53

here? You cannot like

2:56

a cigarette with

2:58

a taser. I think you can. Adam

3:00

do you have to do it? Adam's

3:02

going to say add em. Dan

3:09

the army veteran is driving them all

3:11

to Ypsilanti a town just west of

3:14

Detroit. The plan is

3:16

to meet up with Dan's buddy who has some

3:18

gear he's giving away. Extra

3:20

body armor holsters and other accessories.

3:23

It's a treasure trove for a group of

3:25

cash-strapped gun nuts and

3:27

while Dan drives one of those nuts

3:29

repeatedly cocks and uncocks a nine millimeter

3:32

pistol and puts it to Dan's head.

3:39

After they get the gear they'll head

3:42

over to one of their favorite places

3:44

on earth Buffalo Wild Wings to eat

3:46

chicken and drink beer. Dan

3:49

pulls the car off the interstate in Ypsilanti

3:51

and turns into an empty parking lot next

3:53

to a warehouse where he said his buddy

3:55

was going to meet them. We got a

3:57

pistol we can block this. up

4:00

for us. As

4:03

the guys hop out and look around, Dan goes

4:05

to pull something out of the back. Flashbang

4:18

grenades explode around them as FBI

4:20

agents in military style tactical gear

4:22

sprint out guns drawn. After

4:31

the chaos, there's a tense silence where the men are lying on

4:36

the ground, completely still.

4:42

Only the yips of police dogs

4:44

can be heard. When Dan's truck

4:47

is secure, the agents move

4:49

in for the arrest. There

4:56

was no free gear, and there

5:00

would be no chicken wings. The men would spend the

5:04

night in interrogation rooms and jail

5:06

cells. The charges against

5:09

them would shock the nation. According

5:12

to prosecutors, these guys were part

5:14

of a sprawling multi-state conspiracy. A

5:17

plot to kidnap, and maybe even

5:19

kill, the sitting governor of Michigan,

5:21

Gretchen Whitmer. Good

5:26

afternoon. Earlier today, Attorney

5:28

General Dana Nessel was joined by officials

5:30

from the Department of Justice and

5:33

the FBI to announce state and

5:35

federal charges against 13 members of

5:38

two militia groups who were preparing

5:40

to kidnap and possibly kill me. Even

5:44

in a tumultuous year marked by a

5:46

global pandemic, violence in the streets and

5:48

a wild election season, news

5:50

of the alleged plot to kidnap Governor

5:52

Whitmer was stunning. At

5:55

a press conference, Whitmer was relieved. I

6:01

also want to thank Attorney General Nestle and

6:04

the U.S. attorneys for pursuing criminal

6:06

charges that hopefully will lead

6:08

to convictions, bringing these sick

6:10

and depraved men to justice. Fourteen

6:13

men from three states would ultimately be

6:16

arrested. Prosecutors would

6:18

call the plot a deeply disturbing

6:20

anti-government conspiracy. Our efforts

6:23

uncovered elaborate plans to endanger

6:25

the lives of law enforcement

6:27

officers, government officials

6:30

and the broader public. The

6:32

Whitmer case was one of the

6:34

FBI's most important domestic terror investigations

6:36

in a generation. And

6:38

when the story broke, it divided the

6:40

country along political lines. To

6:43

people on the left, the plot was another

6:45

example of the rise of right-wing violence during

6:47

the presidency of Donald Trump. After

6:49

the president tweeted out, liberate Michigan, extremists

6:51

took that as a kind of call

6:54

to arms. After people

6:56

on the right, the investigation was evidence

6:58

that the federal government was being weaponized

7:01

against so-called patriots. So it

7:03

seemed like a terrorism plot was

7:05

in fact a setup to make

7:07

a group of ordinary people in

7:09

Michigan look like terrifying right-wing extremists.

7:15

The truth is neither side was

7:17

right. My

7:21

name is Ken Bensinger. And I'm

7:23

Jessica Garrison. Back

7:25

in 2021, Ken and I were reporters for

7:27

BuzzFeed News, and we decided to take a

7:30

closer look at this notorious plot to kidnap

7:32

the governor. What we found

7:34

was far more complicated than the story the

7:36

government wanted the public to believe. In

7:39

its seven-month investigation of the

7:42

Wolverine Watchmen and their associates, the

7:44

FBI secretly recorded hundreds of hours

7:46

of audio. But at

7:48

trial, only tiny snippets of that audio

7:50

was ever heard by a jury. The

7:53

rest of those tapes have never been heard by

7:55

the public. Until now.

8:00

Recording. Special Agent

8:02

Henry Kimballa, it's Wednesday,

8:04

October 7th. Testing,

8:07

testing. We're going to take

8:09

you on an unprecedented journey

8:11

inside one of the most important

8:13

FBI domestic terror investigations in

8:15

a generation. We'll follow

8:17

what prosecutors called a calculated plot

8:20

to kidnap Governor Whitmer from

8:22

its inception. This is about pointing rifles

8:24

at FACA police officers and FACA politicians

8:26

and squeezing the FACA trigger. And

8:29

we'll look for answers to the burning questions

8:31

that remain about this case. Were

8:33

these men really the masterminds of

8:36

a credible domestic terror plot? We

8:38

had to just thump her in the fucking head.

8:40

We could take you for a little ride. Or

8:43

just a group of hyped-up stoners who talked

8:45

too much. Boop. You

8:48

got boops. Was there really

8:50

a plot to capture the governor? Well,

8:52

just a plot to capture the

8:54

watchmen. From

8:58

Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment,

9:01

this is Chameleon, Season 7, The

9:04

Michigan Plot. Episode

9:13

1, The Man in the

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10:21

Las Vegas, we've all heard the warning

10:23

of, the house always wins. But

10:26

there are ways to beat the house. As

10:31

I grab all the chips, I just turn around

10:33

and book it. From

10:37

Waveland and Pegalo Pictures comes

10:39

the story of a man who robbed the house and

10:42

lived in it. This

10:44

is the High Roller Hype. Wherever

10:47

you get your podcast. Okay,

10:53

show me what you got in here. What

10:55

are we looking at first of all? So this is what's

10:57

called a to-go bag or

10:59

a 72-hour kit. Basically

11:02

what it has is anything

11:04

to survive. My

11:06

producer Ryan and I are visiting with

11:09

Amanda Keller in her apartment in Kalamazoo,

11:11

Michigan. She's taking us

11:13

through her bug-out bag. A

11:15

backpack stuffed to the gills with survival

11:17

gear. And what's that right there? This

11:21

is my gas mask. A wound

11:23

dressing. So if somebody gets

11:25

shot, we can put the tourniquet

11:27

on. The bug-out bag

11:30

has been a staple of militias

11:32

and preppers for decades. A ready-to-go

11:34

rucksack that they believe can help

11:36

them survive and thrive in the

11:38

event of an apocalyptic calamity. And

11:41

then we've got seeds because if

11:43

she hits the fan and you have to start over new.

11:46

Seeds. Flex cuffs.

11:48

You know, what if we're invaded and

11:51

we capture an enemy? You

11:53

put the flex cuffs on. Who would be

11:55

invading? United Nations. China.

12:00

Paracord, very important.

12:03

Amanda is one in a long

12:05

tradition of Michiganders preparing for

12:07

something. Famine, adverse

12:10

weather events, nuclear or

12:12

civil war. This

12:14

generalized paranoia is a big part

12:16

of how Amanda met a guy,

12:18

fell in love, and briefly

12:20

became a target of a massive

12:22

terrorism probe. I

12:25

need your help because you're just

12:27

as knowledgeable as I am and

12:29

you gotta think I was in

12:31

shock for a long

12:33

time after this happened. I've

12:36

lost a lot of the memory but if somebody's

12:38

like you were there at this I'm like, okay,

12:41

yep. For Amanda, it

12:43

all started back in 2019. The

12:46

political climate was explosive, police

12:48

shootings were rampant, and violence

12:51

had spilled out into the streets in

12:53

places like Memphis and Portland. I

12:58

seen our country going up

13:00

in flames. I

13:02

started seeing our country burning and

13:05

what these different groups were doing

13:08

and nobody was stopping them. I was

13:10

like, what's going on in our country? I

13:14

decided I needed

13:16

to learn how to protect

13:18

me and my family. I

13:20

need to start getting ready

13:23

for anything. I

13:26

got on Facebook and

13:29

I just typed in Michigan militia

13:31

and this page

13:33

popped up and I joined

13:35

Michigan Home Guard. The

13:39

Home Guard was one of Michigan's many citizen

13:42

militia organizations. A

13:44

group of men and women who hung

13:46

out in the woods, worked on survival

13:48

skills and, of course, shot guns.

13:52

And that's where I met Adam. He

13:55

got out of the truck and I just seen

13:57

this tall muscular.

14:00

cute little guy. This

14:04

was Adam Fox, a home

14:06

guard member with a thick Abraham Lincoln

14:08

style beard and a body built by

14:10

long hours in the gym. Do

14:12

you remember what you liked about him? His ass.

14:16

No hesitation? No. It

14:19

was around I look like two

14:22

perfect bubbles. I

14:25

felt like a schoolgirl. I just was

14:27

like that is like it was so

14:29

perfect. They were on

14:31

opposite teams for that day's training so

14:33

they didn't talk much but

14:35

later Adam slid into

14:38

Amanda's DM. So how did

14:40

your relationship kind of progress from there?

14:43

Booty call right away. I don't

14:47

think this is going the way you wanted to.

14:49

No, this is great. It's the truth, right?

14:51

Yes. Adam told

14:53

Amanda to come over to where he was living.

14:56

The place was in a gritty little strip mall

14:58

on the south side of Grand Rapids. It

15:01

wasn't an apartment complex or a house.

15:04

It was a vacuum cleaner store

15:06

called the Vax Shack. When

15:09

Amanda walked in, Adam lifted a

15:11

plywood trapdoor on the floor and

15:13

led her down into a

15:16

dank unfinished basement. Down

15:20

the stairs it's creepy. It's

15:22

very creepy. It smells like

15:24

old building. The

15:27

basement was littered with vacuum bags,

15:29

hoses and other spare parts. There

15:32

was no bathroom. He had

15:34

a little area roped off with sheets

15:37

and whatnot for his sleeping

15:39

area. It wasn't

15:42

really off-putting in the beginning. It was more

15:44

like, oh I feel sorry for this guy. What

15:47

he told me was he just

15:49

got kicked out of his grandfather's

15:51

house. His grandpa hated

15:53

him and wanted him out and

15:56

he was just going through a rough patch and he would

15:58

get back on his seat. I

16:01

didn't know he's been going through

16:03

a rough patch for 35

16:05

years and never ever once got on his

16:07

feet. My

16:09

son was at school and honestly I went

16:11

up there for a quickie. After

16:17

that, Amanda and Adam were

16:19

inseparable. We would

16:21

go out to eat, go

16:24

to the gym, we would go

16:26

on hikes together, walk the dogs.

16:31

We were just a

16:33

really normal couple. Over

16:40

time, Amanda learned more about who Adam

16:42

was. He'd had

16:44

a rough childhood. His father had hardly ever been

16:46

around. He had trouble making and

16:48

keeping friends and even more trouble holding down

16:51

a steady job. Adam's

16:53

main outlets for stress were pumping iron

16:55

at the gym and smoking a ton

16:57

of weed. He's very opinionated.

17:01

He always thinks that he's right. He

17:04

gets very animated when he gets

17:07

passionate about something, which

17:09

people find intimidating. Adam's

17:12

a very hard person to get along with.

17:16

Adam was a hothead. At

17:18

a Michigan Home Guard meeting, when another

17:20

member told Amanda to shut up, he

17:22

reacted. They were just going at it

17:24

like men do, talking shit. But

17:27

Adam took it too far. Adam

17:30

kind of went overboard. The

17:33

argument almost escalated into a

17:35

fistfight. It was so bad

17:38

that the Home Guard leadership took action. He

17:41

got us kicked out. He

17:43

can't control his temper. And I'm

17:45

his girlfriend, so I gotta get kicked out too.

17:49

This was not the first place Adam had

17:51

been kicked out of. He was a lifelong

17:53

outcast. But this particular

17:55

blow came at a really bad time, because

17:58

not long after the COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic

18:00

struck. An

18:03

unprecedented act. Today

18:05

the entire city of Wuhan is

18:07

on lockdown. We were all scared.

18:10

Nobody knew what was going on. And

18:13

China's throwing video of

18:15

all these people dropping like flies

18:17

in the street. In Wuhan,

18:19

behind the scenes footage shows extreme measures

18:21

being taken to contain the virus. I

18:24

was scared. I was really

18:26

scared. By March 10th,

18:29

2020, Michigan had its first cases.

18:31

And two days later, Gretchen Whitmer became

18:34

one of the first governors in America

18:36

to close schools. In

18:38

an abundance of caution, I

18:40

am ordering the closure of

18:43

all K-12 school buildings in

18:45

Michigan for three weeks. The

18:48

move was intensely polarizing. Some

18:50

in Michigan saw Whitmer as a hero, making

18:52

it difficult choice to keep people safe. Others

18:55

saw the closure as an overreaction, an

18:58

abuse of power. Meanwhile, those

19:00

first few COVID cases quickly

19:02

skyrocketed. Michigan saw a major

19:05

spike in cases too. Officials have confirmed

19:07

334 cases in our state. On

19:10

March 23rd, with hospital ICUs filling

19:12

up with COVID patients, Governor

19:15

Whitmer made another difficult decision. She

19:17

issued a three-week stay-at-home order for

19:19

the entire state. Without aggressive

19:22

additional measures, more people

19:24

will get sick, more people

19:26

will die, and our economy will suffer

19:28

longer. Michigan

19:31

was on lockdown. Like

19:33

everyone else, Adam and Amanda hunkered

19:36

down. And as Amanda scrolled

19:38

on her phone, looking for information,

19:40

her view on the pandemic started to

19:43

change. Honestly, a lot

19:45

of the news that I get is

19:47

from TikTok. I don't like TV.

19:49

I don't like the news. I don't like none

19:51

of that stuff. There's

19:54

statistics. There's scare tactics.

19:57

We immediately knew this was bullshit, and this

19:59

is all about The control. Nobody.

20:01

Was dropping like flies. We.

20:04

Realized none of it was true. For.

20:06

the virus would be a woman

20:09

was about obviously the virus to.

20:12

Oh has average for tinfoil hat on I got it's

20:14

here and not a hat. Amanda

20:17

says she was okay staying at home. Adam

20:20

was not. He missed his

20:22

gem. Said. Says a lot

20:24

out of him. He tried

20:26

so hard to work out here. But.

20:29

Psychologically, it was And in love.

20:33

Adam. Fell into a dark place, He

20:36

smoked weed and spent hours on

20:38

Facebook. Talking to people in the Melissa

20:40

community to sell that the government had betrayed

20:43

them. He and Amanda

20:45

started to align themselves with the movement. That

20:47

was growing online called Badillo. Boogaloo!

20:50

Started as kind of a joke. People

20:53

send these Other meme is about fighting

20:55

in a second American Civil War z

20:57

called the Boogaloo. they got that name.

20:59

From a sequel to a

21:01

movie about breakdancing called Break

21:04

Into Electric Boogaloo. That

21:06

the joke started becoming a lot less

21:08

funny during the pandemic when heavily armed

21:10

men and Hawaiian shirts began showing up

21:12

to rallies. Summoned. A

21:14

burglar movement were hoping for that second

21:16

Civil war. Others wanted to

21:19

start the war themselves. To

21:21

reset society at the business end as a

21:23

gut. And as

21:26

adam Sox scrolled online, Day.

21:28

After lock down day. He's.

21:35

T. V Now these fucking bill's

21:37

gone through these states senate and

21:39

said about fucking taken. Our firearms

21:41

are a are fifteen and whatnot.

21:44

Fuck your bills mans is com

21:46

Try to go. in

21:48

this video facts to suit to say

21:51

spoke he's brandishing and a are cyst

21:53

he's who else is ready for the

21:55

move move i'm ready to move a

21:58

fog new all me from circulation We

22:00

just gonna let them keep passing laws, keep

22:02

fucking violating our God-given rights. This

22:04

is gonna fire the first shot. Y'all ready? Nah,

22:07

I am. I'm fucking fed up with this shit.

22:10

It's boo-boo time in 2020. Get ready. I

22:15

think we were all on

22:17

edge, wondering, oh

22:19

my gosh, is this the

22:21

time? We've seen

22:23

that the government was doing. We've

22:25

seen it was unconstitutional. And

22:28

we wanted our rights back. On

22:40

April 30th, 2020, a

22:42

crowd of people gathered outside the

22:44

Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing to

22:46

protest Governor Whitmer's stay-at-home orders. There

22:51

are dozens of citizen militia groups in

22:53

Michigan. The groups have a long history in

22:55

the state. And that day,

22:57

gun-toting militia members roamed outside the

23:00

Capitol as activists gave speeches in

23:02

the drizzling rain. After

23:11

a while, a decision was made. The

23:14

protest would move inside the building.

23:18

As the crowd surged forward toward the door of

23:20

the Capitol, Adam Fox was there, taking a selfie

23:22

video for Facebook. He's nagging up on

23:25

the door right now. We made it into Capitol. He's

23:28

wearing the unofficial bugle in uniform,

23:30

a flowered Hawaiian shirt underneath a

23:33

body armor vest. He's carrying a

23:35

semi-automatic rifle. Amanda is next to him. He's

23:38

wearing a black-and-white rifle. He's

23:40

wearing a black-and-white rifle. He's

23:42

wearing a black-and-white rifle. Amanda is next to

23:45

him. We're here.

23:48

We stacked up on the door right now. We're going in

23:50

all of us. Adam

23:53

and Amanda are two of the first people to enter

23:55

the Capitol Building. They get

23:57

all the way up to the Senate chamber before they are

23:59

set. stopped by state police. A

24:02

crowd of protesters storms in

24:04

behind them. Open the door!

24:07

We chanted, let us in. Let

24:09

us in! Let us in!

24:11

Fuck the government. I

24:13

think I yelled out a few times. Fuck the

24:16

government! Let

24:19

us in! The world is a lemur!

24:21

The internet is a lemur! The internet

24:24

is a private! But

24:26

there was just people mad. And

24:28

rightly so. Standing

24:31

a few feet away from Adam and Amanda

24:33

are a couple of scruffy-looking guys in

24:35

green fatigue. Adam

24:39

and Amanda don't know them, but they will

24:42

soon. They're members of a

24:44

recently formed militia group, the

24:46

Wolverine Watchmen. This is my

24:48

building! You work for me! While

24:54

Adam towers over the crowd, screaming in

24:56

the faces of state troopers, upstairs, militiamen

24:58

push their way into the gallery overlooking

25:01

the Senate chamber. They

25:03

livestream themselves, looming over the

25:05

senators below, brandishing their good.

25:08

They don't want the people hearing what the fuck

25:10

they're up to. People should be

25:12

fucking pissed by now. Get the fuck

25:15

off your ass and tell these fuckers to

25:17

shove it off their fucking ass. Demonstrators,

25:28

some with assault rifles, marched in

25:30

Michigan's earth. Capital building

25:32

was overrun by protesters. In

25:36

the days after the protest, images of those

25:38

armed militants occupying the halls of

25:41

state government spread across the country

25:43

and around the world. Hundreds of

25:45

protesters, some armed, gathered at Michigan's

25:47

state capitol. Men

25:50

with rifles yelling at us, tweeted

25:52

one state senator. And through condemnation

25:54

from Governor Whitmer herself. and

26:00

automatic rifles do not represent

26:02

who we are as Michiganders. The

26:05

day ended without violence, but

26:07

the armed protest became a political

26:09

flashpoint. To many on the

26:11

right, the crowd in the Capitol were patriots and

26:14

heroes. To those on the left, the

26:16

protest was political intimidation. But

26:19

one thing is certain. The

26:21

protest set off alarm bells in the

26:24

sections of government responsible for keeping an

26:26

eye on violent extremism. The

26:29

FBI was watching. Hello,

26:38

I'm Elizabeth Day, the creator and host of

26:40

How to Fail. It's the podcast that celebrates

26:42

the things in life that haven't gone right.

26:45

And what, if anything, we've learned from those

26:47

mistakes to help us succeed better. Each

26:49

week, my guests share three failures,

26:52

sparking intimate, thought-provoking, and funny conversations.

26:54

You'll hear from a diverse range

26:56

of voices sharing what they've

26:58

learned through their failures. Join me Wednesdays

27:00

for a new episode each week. This

27:03

is an Elizabeth Day in Sony Music

27:05

Entertainment original podcast. Listen now wherever you

27:07

get your podcasts. Adam

27:12

Fox and his girlfriend, Amanda Keller, participated

27:14

in a protest at the Michigan Capitol

27:17

in Lansing that shocked the country. But

27:19

ultimately, the protest fell short of its

27:22

goal. Governor Gretchen Whitmer

27:24

extended the COVID stay-at-home order in Michigan

27:26

for 28 more days. I

27:29

was hoping we would get our rights back, but she

27:31

just took them out from under us. What

27:33

the hell do rallies do? Nothing

27:37

changes. Nothing.

27:43

Adam was still angry, but he

27:45

no longer felt isolated and powerless. Being

27:48

among like-minded people at the rally galvanized

27:50

him. On Facebook, Adam

27:52

had been keeping tabs on a guy in

27:55

the militia movement with a dedicated following. A

27:58

long-haul trucker from Delaware. named

28:00

Barry Croft. When

28:04

your fucking stupid ass ends up hanging

28:06

from a fucking tree because you lick

28:08

the fucking boots that we can't stand

28:10

as Americans, you don't have new tears

28:12

for you. Matter of fact, new fuck's

28:14

given. Fuck you in your

28:16

throat sideways. God bless the Constitution of

28:18

the Republic. In his Facebook

28:21

videos and in his daily life, Croft

28:23

was known for wearing a tricorn hat,

28:25

just like our founding fathers. And

28:27

like most of the guys in this story, he

28:29

smoked an obscene amount of weed. This,

28:32

combined with his long gray beard,

28:34

gave him the overall look of

28:36

a stoned crazy pirate. Croft

28:40

had already been banned from Facebook a

28:42

few times for his violent and profane

28:44

rants, rants that had only

28:46

gotten angrier during the pandemic. There is

28:49

not one motherfucker serving in this bullshit

28:51

government that I don't want to take,

28:53

stick to a motherfucking tree and dangle

28:55

until they ask fucking tongue hang

28:57

out in their mouth. And you know why? Because

29:00

they've allowed this to happen to

29:02

my people. My people suffer because

29:04

of them. Croft

29:11

was affiliated with the Three Percenters,

29:13

an anti-government movement that takes its

29:15

name from the debunked belief that

29:18

just 3% of the American population

29:20

fought the British in the Revolutionary

29:22

War. And starting in

29:24

May, Croft was spreading the word on

29:26

Facebook. The Three Percenters were

29:28

planning a national malicious summit in

29:30

Ohio. I don't think y'all

29:32

understand the Patriot movement has evolved. We

29:34

understand exactly the enemy that confronts us,

29:37

and we ain't playing with it no

29:39

more. Croft had started to reach

29:41

out to his Facebook friends, inviting them to

29:43

the summit, and in mid-May he

29:45

messaged Adam Fox. It

29:47

will be a significant meet, Croft wrote.

29:50

Adam replied, can't wait. Adam

29:53

is just, he's a follower.

29:56

He just wanted to be accepted. That's

29:59

all he wanted. He just wanted to

30:01

be accepted. He just wanted to feel.

30:04

A part is something. And

30:07

so you guys with. Yeah.

30:11

I saw this is. On

30:16

June Six, Twenty Twenty Ottoman Amanda

30:18

made a four hour drive from

30:20

Grand Rapids to the Druid Hotel

30:22

in Dublin just outside of Columbus,

30:25

Ohio. Outside they were greeted by

30:27

a heavy set man in his

30:29

early fifties named Steve Robeson. Roby,

30:31

as people called him was a

30:33

biker with a long blond goats.

30:36

He he was the kind of

30:38

guy who seem to know everybody.

30:40

Roby letter Wisconsin chapter of the

30:42

Three Percenters, and he had organized

30:44

this summit rather. Than us out

30:46

there and he brought us and the

30:49

he offered to pay for the hotel

30:51

room. At this point in

30:53

the Covert Nineteen pandemic, most public

30:55

places look like ghost towns, but

30:57

the Druid was abuzz with activity.

31:00

It was very sketchy because for

31:02

a pandemic there is a lot

31:04

of people in the hotel. Pc.

31:08

He's He's He's. Roby

31:14

got Adam animated checked in and then they

31:16

all headed to one of the hotels conference

31:19

rooms for the meeting. After

31:22

out. There.

31:24

Was one long desk and then there's. Tears

31:26

all around I were him, I grabbed it

31:28

just sort of we're gonna have we're We're

31:31

going to get your order for armed robbery,

31:33

lead the meeting or and started with a

31:35

roll call. The school rather do says we

31:37

every knows where each other our. Chris

31:41

Roberts very people come from all

31:43

over the country. a roofer from

31:45

West Virginia, a stay at home,

31:47

dad from Indiana. A. Navy

31:49

read from Virginia and front

31:51

butler from gym. And then

31:53

there was Adam and Amanda

31:55

around Fox Business. We're

32:00

supposed. To be one person from

32:02

every state so that once

32:04

everybody was done that one

32:06

percentage go back and spread

32:08

their states news. Everyone

32:11

was concerned about the Kobe lockdowns with

32:13

the actions their governors had taken during

32:15

the pandemic. With. The overall state

32:17

of the nation. Concerned. Is a

32:20

mild way to put it. They. Were

32:22

pissed. The. Point was to

32:24

put patriots from around the country on com

32:26

and sweating. To. Come up with a plan

32:28

to deal with what they saw as the rise of

32:30

tyranny. But. Before they started one of

32:32

the made of the room issued a warning. That.

32:35

Someone might be listening to what they

32:38

say. We. Have to

32:40

behave in this room as

32:42

though we have either police

32:44

Year in Less or Files

32:47

are Me. Do

32:49

not be foolish at any time. With.

32:51

That Roby invited ideas from people in

32:53

the room. We were all

32:56

has sauce. We were all talking shit.

32:58

So. He

33:01

knows what we have to take action.

33:03

thera level of action very cross took

33:05

the floor and is try corn hat

33:07

and said that he had reached the

33:10

point where he was ready to commit

33:12

violence for the cause from ago. Have

33:14

people from ago her people real fucker

33:16

man and I apologize I'm sorry I'm

33:18

a grandmother Fox houses down blue shirt

33:20

off on the do some of the

33:22

most mans be disgusting things issue of

33:25

about. The history

33:27

of your life. I like there.

33:29

He said a lot as extreme. Things.

33:31

A lot. Barry was

33:34

Siri extreme The five to fly through

33:36

a motherfucker burn. It is all mother

33:38

fucking family to the ground knowing that

33:40

I have one myself and story or

33:42

but I'm gonna do it. Roby

33:45

like hearing that kind of passes but

33:47

kept pushing them to come up with

33:49

a real plan. When. Miss Again,

33:51

There's occupied the capitol building

33:53

on April thirtieth that send

33:56

a message recipients of toes

33:58

But the message wasn't. Strong

34:00

enough you can just grab brick

34:02

and mortar. Robbie told them without

34:04

a fucking human to go with

34:06

it. You've done nothing but grab

34:08

brick and mortar. Now.

34:10

It was Adam Foxes turn to

34:12

speak a bit of all or

34:15

same families. A palm pilot as

34:17

asked this is hard to hear.

34:19

He says we need to hit

34:21

him all the same time and

34:23

we need to take hostages. Take

34:25

tyrants as hostages. There you have

34:28

value. Human life has a value.

34:30

Now we're not just taking brick

34:32

and mortar buildings. now we have

34:34

something of value. Vets in them.

34:36

Are they going out on the

34:38

sacred? More boring? nowhere to. Half

34:40

of his value. In

34:45

the end, the meeting amounted to little more than

34:47

hot air. Nothing approaching a real

34:49

plan came out of the meeting. And.

34:51

Robeson was clearly frustrated.

34:54

He. Proposed another mold I stayed

34:56

get together and Wisconsin the next

34:58

month. Where. They would have to really

35:00

come together on what they were going to do.

35:03

Despite his ex aspiration, Roby seemed impressed

35:05

with Adam Fox, so much so that

35:07

he pulled him aside to tell him

35:10

he was putting him in charge of

35:12

the Michigan Patriot. Three presenters. Adam.

35:14

Would be the commanding officer. Very.

35:16

Croft was impressed with Adam to

35:19

I just remember. Barry saying

35:21

that. There. Was a day

35:23

of the guys and miss again that he

35:25

wanted Adam to. Hook. Up with. The

35:28

Wolverine Watchman. We. Knew who they

35:30

were because they were very. Voice Stress

35:32

at April Thirtieth. Were

35:41

like oh, system. L.

36:00

Ron that it's June Fourteenth. Twenty Twenty.

36:02

A little over a week after Adam

36:04

Fox attended a summit at a hotel

36:06

in Dublin, Ohio, Out on

36:08

a property and the back roads have

36:11

a rural community Communists in south central

36:13

Michigan a militia group called the Wolverine

36:15

Watchman are gathered to do with they

36:18

call and stx a field training exercise.

36:21

On Iraq War veteran named Dan Chapel.

36:23

the guy you heard of the Wendy's

36:25

drive through at the top of the

36:27

episode is teaching the watchman the proper

36:30

way to shoot from a vehicles cities

36:32

with pistols or it. When you're you

36:34

know it right across figure above me

36:36

to frame but and rather. There's

36:41

a stocky man in his early thirties with

36:44

a bald head and a close cropped beard.

36:46

It is daily life. He drives the

36:49

mail truck for a private contractor to

36:51

the postal service, but over the past

36:53

three months stands in training with a

36:55

wolverine Watch. Been on weekends running them

36:57

through drills and teaching them techniques he

36:59

learned during his years in the army.

37:01

how to army crawl out of prepared

37:03

ambush and how to handle a firearm

37:06

I think. Of a right.

37:10

Here he's working with the founder, The

37:13

Watchman, an ex marine in his mid

37:15

twenties named Joe Morrison. Are you go

37:17

first? Or.

37:22

Then. Is a guy the young men in

37:24

the Watchman look up to interest. So.

37:27

It's not really surprised when between

37:29

drills Joe pull stand aside to

37:31

talk. He says that someone reached

37:33

out to him on line. A

37:35

guy who went to this national

37:37

Melissa summoned in Ohio. A

37:39

guy named Adam Fox. That

37:44

own. Does he know about

37:46

a half of Adam? Adam?

37:50

Seen a lot of he knows

37:53

I gotta go and involves tonight.

37:57

show says that adam wants to arrange a meeting

37:59

with the watch to share what he learned at

38:01

the summit in Ohio. But

38:03

Joe is skeptical. He's

38:06

seen Adam's Facebook videos, calling for

38:08

a violent revolution against the government.

38:11

He wants to get Adam on the phone so Dan can

38:13

get a read on him. I

38:15

wonder if I can call him. Can I ask

38:17

him a call for a call right now? Yeah. Hey,

38:20

buddy. You got a few minutes to talk? He

38:23

puts Adam on speaker fast. Hey,

38:25

Joe, I would like to straighten you guys.

38:27

How you guys about bored? Yeah, 100%. That'd

38:30

be cool with that. With all the shooting and

38:32

other background noise from the training, it's hard for

38:34

the watchman to hear what Adam is saying. To

38:37

make matters worse, the call keeps cutting in and

38:39

out. Yeah, I can hear you. Sorry, I live

38:41

out on the stick, so my receptionist says... Dan,

38:44

the army vet, seems to really want to get

38:46

in touch with Adam. He says he'll friend him

38:48

on Facebook. Hey, man, I'm going to add you

38:50

on my... Well, a couple of our

38:52

guys are probably going to add you on Facebook, so... Dan

38:58

wastes little time. As soon

39:00

as the training ends, he heads to a quieter

39:02

spot to call Adam back. What's

39:07

up, man? Hey, what's going on,

39:09

brother? Not well. I'm right

39:11

on. I can hear

39:13

you a little bit better now. Adam

39:17

complains that everyone in the Patriot community is just

39:19

talk. He says he's not like

39:21

them. He's working on

39:23

writing up papers to charge Governor Whitmer

39:25

with violating the Constitution. Yeah. Well,

39:28

have you used the Constitution before? I got

39:30

a guy right now drawing off paperwork to

39:32

fuck women with Jim. I wish it had

39:34

actually charged women with her charges that she

39:36

violated the Constitution. And then,

39:39

Adam reveals his big fantasy to Dan.

39:41

What are we looking to go

39:44

forward with? This is

39:47

going to be really fucking cool. I'm like,

39:49

I'm watching Congress series about this, but I don't know.

39:52

They have the Governor all the time. They are our

39:54

table. I'll be up all night and we'll just make

39:56

a little thing of stuff. We got to enjoy our

39:58

cuzco. Go ahead, right? If

40:02

you couldn't hear that, Adam says he

40:04

wants to storm the Michigan Capitol and

40:06

hog-tie Governor Whitmer so they can

40:08

pose with her like cops do after a big

40:10

drug bust. If

40:13

you've been listening closely to this audio,

40:15

you might hear some sounds in the

40:17

background. Someone else in

40:19

the room is shuffling papers and taking

40:21

notes. Because

40:25

as he talks with Adam, Dan is

40:28

not alone. There

40:30

are two people in the room with him

40:33

recording everything Adam Fox is saying. Two

40:36

special agents with the

40:38

FBI. On

40:44

the next episode of Chameleon, the Michigan

40:47

plot, we go back to the extremely

40:49

humble beginnings of the Wolverine Watchmen. They

40:51

actually ended up shooting like two trees

40:53

down. So how

40:55

did you shoot a tree down? They were lighting it up.

40:58

Until Dan shows up and everything

41:00

changes. Dan was very, very, you

41:03

need to learn how to clear houses,

41:05

you need to learn how to, I

41:08

wouldn't even say really start a firefight, but

41:10

know how to be in the middle of one. I'm

41:13

not even going to lie, he was so sketchy. Chameleon

41:22

is a production of Campside Media

41:24

in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment.

41:26

The Michigan plot is hosted by

41:28

me, Jessica Garrison. And

41:30

me, Ken Bensinger. The

41:33

show is produced by Ryan Swiker. Callie

41:35

Hitchcock and Henry Lavoie are associate

41:37

producers. Story editing

41:40

by Michael Canyon Meyer. Josh

41:42

Dean is our executive producer. Fact

41:45

checking by Annika Robbins. And

41:47

research by Julie Denesche. Sound

41:50

design and mix by Ewan Lai Tramewin.

41:53

Voice coaching by Karen Givin. Music

41:56

by Blue Dot Sessions, Epidemic

41:58

Sound, and APM. A

42:01

special thanks to Campsite Operations Team

42:03

Dog Slay when Ashley Warren and

42:05

Destiny Dingell Camp Side Media is

42:07

executive. Producers are Josh Team, Vanessa,

42:10

Grigori, Addis, Adam Half and Match

42:12

Share. If you're enjoying the show,

42:14

spread the word and leave us

42:16

a review an Apple Podcasts It

42:19

helps other people find the show

42:21

and thanks for listening. To

42:30

us in an empire, blood disease or

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a million and and himself had to

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a lover and is it to do appear

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to be blood. Is

42:48

a flood. Of same Hazlitt fit

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as. It

42:52

means I that blood from a

42:54

vampire and when you say yes.

42:59

As assistant at a sister. the rents here says the

43:01

physics of it. It's

43:04

just something to sell for three dollars.