A Canadian army reservist who was kicked out of the military after he went AWOL to allegedly recruit members into a neo-Nazi paramilitary group in preparation for an upcoming ‘race war’ has been arrested by the FBI along with two others.
Patrik Jordan Mathews, 27, was a combat engineer and explosives expert in the Canadian military before authorities said he became the ringleader of an alleged hate group that planned to attend a gun-rights rally in Virginia on Monday.
Mathews; Brian Mark Lemley Jr, 33; and William Garfield Bilbrough, 19 were detained and charged by federal authorities, who alleged they were part of the extremist group ‘The Base.’
Patrik Jordan Mathews
Federal investigators said Lemley once served as a Cavalry Scout in the United States Army.
The federal government says The Base is an organization whose members wish to take up arms in order to create a ‘white ethno-state’ while ‘committing acts of violence against minority communities’ including African Americans and Jews.
In the court filing, the FBI said it had monitored encrypted chats among the group’s members.
Mathews was kicked out of the Canadian military after it was learned he was recruiting members into ‘The Base’
The Base is alleged to have set up military-style camps in North America where they teach recruits how to build and detonate improvised explosive devices.
Authorities allege Mathews crossed into the United States from Canada illegally.
He is alleged to have entered the country near the border separating Minnesota and Manitoba.
Canadian investigators learned of Mathews’ membership in The Base while he was still in the army reserves, according to Winnipeg Free Press.
Mathews was removed from the military’s ranks in late August not long after he went missing.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Maryland federal court, Lemley and Bilbrough drove from Maryland to Michigan to pick up Mathews on August 30.
The three men then settled in the northeast Maryland-northwest Delaware region.
Authorities allege that last month Lemley and Mathew were constructing an assault rifle with parts ordered by Lemley.
It is also alleged that the three men were trying to ‘manufacture a controlled substance’ – DMT – at an apartment in Newark, Delaware, shared by Lemley and Mathews.
DMT – or N-dimethyltryptamine – is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug that produces similar effects to that of other psychedelic substances like magic mushrooms and LSD.
Earlier this month, authorities allege that Lemley and Mathews bought approximately 1,650 rounds of 5.56mm and 6.5mm ammunition.
The two men are also alleged to have traveled to a Maryland gun range where they fired their assault rifle.
Authorities say that the two men went back to Lemley’s old home in Maryland to retrieve plate carriers, which is used to carry ammunition on the body.
The arrests came the day after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency banning any weapons around the grounds of the state capitol in Richmond, saying investigators had seen groups making threats of violence.
Several thousand gun rights supporters are planning a large rally in Richmond, Virginia’s capital, on Monday in response to the newly Democratic-controlled state legislature’s push to stiffen gun laws.
Virginia, where Democrats took control of the legislature by promising stronger gun laws, has become the latest focal point for the contentious American debate around the right to bear arms.
Many gun-rights groups contend the U.S. Constitution guarantees their ability to possess any firearm.
Those opposed say gun laws would help lessen the number of people killed by guns each year.
They are accused of interstate commerce of weapons and, in the case of Lemley and Bilbrough, harboring illegal aliens.
Gun-rights groups asked a judge on Thursday to block Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from banning guns on Capitol grounds during the massive pro-gun rally scheduled for Monday.
Northam yesterday announced a state of emergency and banned all weapons from the rally, citing threats that armed militia groups were planning to attend.
Virginia senators were also debating a package of gun-control bills.
The Democratic-led Senate advanced legislation limiting handgun purchases to once a month, universal background checks on gun purchases, and allowing localities to ban guns in public buildings, parks and other areas.
Democrats said the measures were needed to improve public safety. Republicans decried the legislation as an assault on the Second Amendment.