(Reuters) – The fourth day of federal jury deliberations in the trial against the four defendants charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan governor began on Thursday. It is a case which highlights the political rift around the government’s response to COVID-19.

The prosecution claimed that Barry Croft Jr., Barry Caserta and Daniel Harris intended to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a former Democrat, from her northern Michigan vacation home. They wanted to abolish what they saw as draconian controls imposed by him to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Prosecutors said that defendants hoped the kidnapping would ignite a second American civil War ahead of 2020’s presidential election. The pandemic had intensified the nation’s political and cultural polarization.

In a case that lasted almost a month in length, the defense lawyers argued that FBI informants pressured clients into talking about their plot. Their attorneys claimed that the men did not make any concrete plans and they were victims to overreach and entrapment by the prosecution.

Each of the four suspects are facing charges for conspiring to kidnap Governor. Fox, Croft, and Harris were all charged in the kidnapping plot with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. The men can spend their entire lives behind bars if they are convicted.

The jury requested Robert Jonker, U.S. district judge, to define a weapon earlier in the deliberations. This was in reference to the second count. Jonker also was asked for the transcripts of trial testimony. According to the Detroit Free Press, Jonker declined the request saying that transcripts of testimony from the trial were not available yet and jurors should rely only on their memories.

Jonker, who was referring to the waiting of the jury verdict on Wednesday, said, “I have been a judge 15 years”

The incident has brought to light the rise in militant right-wing groups in recent years, since 2016’s election of Donald Trump. This case also shows how the Pandemic and the government’s efforts to contain it has become an issue of wedge in American politics. It pushes some people to the extremes.

Ty Garbin (originally charged) and Kalen Franks (originally charged), both reached plea agreements and were star witnesses in the prosecution’s case. Garbin currently serves a six year sentence while Franks is awaiting sentencing.

Four men are currently on trial along with Garbin, Franks and others. Seventeen of the seven are being charged in state court.

After seeing discussions online that featured posts about violent overthrows of state governments, the FBI stated it began tracking the movement. They wanted to lift the ban on social and commercial activities that was imposed after the coronavirus epidemic.

They were also charged with wanting to incite a second American civil War. However, defense lawyers have stated that clients are often addicted to drugs and more inclined to talk than to do.

Harris, Caserta, and an undercover witness who gave evidence at the trial, were all members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia group, according to prosecutors. Croft was a member the “Three Percenters”, a far-right group. Fox also was a member.