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FBI informants[edit]
Defense attorneys have argued that at least twelve informants and/or undercover agents for the FBI were embedded among the suspected planners;[77] the FBI has acknowledged having at least five.[78] These informants and agents included:
- Dan Chappel (born c. 1987), nicknamed “Big Dan”, an Army veteran who served in the Iraq War. He has stated that he joined the Wolverine Watchmen in 2020 after finding them on Facebook, wanting to keep up his firearms skills, but contacted law enforcement after seeing the group’s radicalization.[79] After becoming an informant, Chappel became the group’s “XO”, or executive officer, the second-highest rank in the group,[80] and then its highest-ranked officer after Morrison departed the group due to marital problems.[80] Chappel taught the group tactical skills he had learned in the U.S. Army,[80] and in summer 2020 spent hours on the phone with Fox planning the kidnapping.[80]
- Steve Robeson, a convicted felon whose previous crimes include theft, insurance fraud, and sex with a minor.[80] He attended five of the group’s meetings.[78] Various defense attorneys have stated that he paid for room and lodging for some of the group’s meetings using government funds, including the June 2020 meeting in Ohio where the kidnap plot was allegedly hatched.[80]
- Jenny Plunk, who knew Robeson before becoming an informant, and who attended many of the same meetings as Robeson.[78] She was entrusted by the FBI with, among other things, keeping Croft within the group’s good graces after some members of the group became frustrated with him.[78]
- Mark Schweers, an FBI Special Agent who went by the name Mark Woods while undercover. He made secret audio recordings of both Fox and Croft.[78]
- Timothy Bates, an FBI Special Agent who went by the name “Red” while undercover. He pretended to have access to bomb-making materials.[81]
