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A suburban Detroiter with militia connections is accused of two felonies after a discovery by Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot investigators.
Maxwell Wyckoff, 22, had an illegally altered gun with a silencer at his Clarkston home on South Main Street, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office says. Michigan State Police detectives seized it during an interview related to last fall's alleged conspiracy by Wolverine Watchmen members.
He was arraigned Monday in a Rochester Hills district court on charges of converting a semiautomatic weapon to a rapid-fire automatic one and possessing a silencer device to muffle gunfire. His next hearings are April 1 and April 8.
Maxwell Wyckoff of Clarkston (Photo: Michigan Attorney General's Office)
"Modifying a firearm to increase the stealth capability and lethality of the weapon is a crime," Nessel says in a statement. "My office will not hesitate to pursue and prosecute any individual who would go to such lengths." Her release adds:
Investigators say Wyckoff attended multiple field training exercises at a location in Munith, Mich. The FBI and Michigan State Police have conducted an extensive investigation into this militia group, which has ties to the [fall 2020] kidnapping plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Fourteen people linked to the Wolverine Watchmen militia group are charged in federal and state courts with crimes related to the alleged kidnap scheme. The Clarkston defendant is a member, Nessel's team says. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
