美国国家公共电台 NPR--2 men are found guilty of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer in 2020

2 men are found guilty of conspiring¹ to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer in 2020

Transcript²

A federal jury in Michigan convicted the men of conspiring to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — in what the FBI called a domestic terrorism case. Prosecutors⁴ say they wanted to overthrow⁵ the government.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

A federal judge in Grand Rapids, Mich., has found two men guilty of conspiring to kidnap the state's governor. The plot goes back to the spring of 2020 and the anger over COVID-19 restrictions⁶. Prosecutors say Adam Fox and Barry Croft weren't just interested in protesting the restrictions. They wanted to abduct⁷ the governor to send a signal to other politicians and touch off a civil war. Dustin Dwyer of Michigan Radio reports.

DUSTIN DWYER, BYLINE⁸: This was the second trial for Adam Fox and Barry Croft. The first one ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. Two other men were found not guilty. And that's why Christopher Gibbons, the attorney for Adam Fox, said he went into this trial feeling optimistic that his client would be cleared. Tuesday, when the jury delivered a verdict of guilty on all counts, he and Fox didn't see it coming.

CHRISTOPHER GIBBONS: Nobody did. You know, the jury was very difficult to read throughout the entire process. They kept their game faces on. So, you know, here we are.

DWYER: Prosecutors say the men were intent on overthrowing⁹ the government and capturing the governor of Michigan to spark a civil war. But Gibbons and other defense¹⁰ attorneys say their clients were angry and high. They were talking crazy, which isn't illegal. It was the FBI's undercover agents and informants, they argued, who engineered the plot and entrapped¹¹ their clients. And that argument worked the first time around, at least well enough to get a mistrial. But Mark Chutkow, a former federal prosecutor³ who followed the trial, said the government focused its case the second time.

MARK CHUTKOW: I think the government did a fabulous¹² job. They really used their time well between the trials to construct a stronger rebuttal against the defendant's entrapment¹³ defense.

DWYER: And Chutkow says the guilty verdict at this second trial sends a signal at a crucial time that you can disagree with the government, but planning violence is unacceptable.

CHUTKOW: It has to be of some comfort to the government that a jury is going to stand behind them and say that this is not right and we have to stop it.

DWYER: Tuesday after the verdict, Governor Whitmer issued a statement thanking law enforcement and prosecutors for their work in the case and said the verdict proves, quote, "violence and violent threats have no place in our politics." Croft and Fox now face a possible sentence of life in prison. For NPR News, I'm Dustin Dwyer in Grand Rapids.

1 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

7 abduct   

vt.诱拐，拐带，绑架

参考例句：

• The police caught the man who tried to abduct the boy for ransom.警察抓住了那个企图拐走这男孩以便勒索赎金的家伙。
• The news that we see those use network abduct children sometimes filled with apprehension.我们有时看到那些利用网络诱拐儿童的新闻都心惊肉跳。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 overthrowing   

v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止

参考例句：

• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship. 他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes. 我一向喜欢戳穿人家的诡计。 来自辞典例句

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 entrapped   

v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was entrapped into undertaking the work. 他受骗而担任那工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt he had been entrapped into marrying her. 他觉得和她结婚是上了当。 来自辞典例句

12 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

13 entrapment   

n.（非法）诱捕，诱人犯罪；诱使犯罪

参考例句：

• The most common structural targets associated with oil entrapment are anticlines and faults. 与储油圈闭有关的最一般的构造目标是背斜和断层。 来自辞典例句
• The purely mechanical effect of glandular trichome exudates is the entrapment and immobilization of small arthropods. 具腺毛状体分泌物的纯机械作用是诱捕和粘住小的昆虫。 来自辞典例句