Alleged neo-Nazis caught with assault rifle charged ahead of Virginia gun rally

[webfact]

Alleged neo-Nazis caught with assault rifle charged ahead of Virginia gun rally

By Julia Harte

 

Former Canadian military reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews poses in an undated picture provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada August 28, 2019. Picture provided August 28, 2019. RCMP Manitoba/Handout via REUTERS

 

GREENBELT, Md. (Reuters) - Three suspected members of a neo-Nazi group appeared in a Maryland court on Thursday to face federal charges after the FBI arrested them for carrying an assault rifle and planning to incite violence at a gun-rights rally in Virginia.

 

Earlier on Thursday, the FBI arrested the trio: Brian Lemley, 33, a former cavalry scout in the U.S. Army; Patrik Mathews, 27, a combat engineer in the Canadian Army Reserve who authorities said had illegally entered the United States; and William Bilbrough, a teenager who prosecutors called a serious flight risk, saying he expressed a desire to fight with Ukrainian nationalists.

 

Their appearance in the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, 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.

 

He said investigators had seen groups making threats of violence ahead of the gun-rights rally planned at the legislative building for Monday.

 

Federal prosecutors said the three suspects were members of the neo-Nazi group The Base, a small militant organization dedicated to committing violence against minorities and obstructing authorities from learning about their activities. When Lemley and Mathews were arrested, they smashed their cellphones and dumped them into the toilet before submitting to federal agents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom said.

 

Standing calmly before Judge Charles Day, Lemley wore a T-shirt and pyjama pants, while Mathews sported camouflage pants and a bushy blond beard.

 

Three suspected members of a neo-Nazi group were in court on Thursday after the FBI arrested them for possessing a machine gun and planning to incite violence at a gun-rights rally in Virginia on Monday which is expected to draw thousands. Jillian Kitchener has more.

 

Both men answered "yes" when the judge asked if they understood the charges against them, which include transporting a firearm with intent to commit an offence. They answered "no" when asked if they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

 

Bilbrough, redheaded and wearing glasses, listened as prosecutors read the charges against him, including transporting and harbouring aliens. He smiled several times as prosecutors described his alleged activity with the Base.

 

Lemley and Mathews remained in federal custody due to their alleged firearms violations. The judge decided to detain Bilbrough after prosecutors said the 19-year-old defendant might go into hiding or try to flee the country since he had repeatedly expressed a desire to travel to Ukraine to fight with "nationalists" there.

 

Bilbrough's defence attorney denied that his client posed a flight risk, noting that he lived with his grandmother and lacked a passport.

 

The judge set the three defendants' detention hearings for Wednesday.

 

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have been sharply criticized for not focusing enough on the threat of far-right extremism following a spate of attacks on synagogues and a 2017 white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heads of both of those agencies have said in recent months that they were taking the threat more seriously.

 

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.

 

The three men are accused of interstate commerce of weapons, harbouring illegal aliens, an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and aiding and abetting. The FBI also said in the court filing that the men had attempted to manufacture DMT, a powerful psychedelic that is an illegal drug under federal law.

 

While federal authorities can bring criminal terrorism charges against those suspected of working on behalf of foreign extremist groups like al Qaeda, they lack those tools when pursuing affiliates of domestic extremist groups, whose views are protected by the free-speech clause of the U.S. Constitution.

 

The men were in possession of what looked like a fully automatic rifle, according to an FBI agent who watched the men fire the weapon at a gun range.

 

Shortly after firing the weapon on Jan. 2 at a Maryland gun range, Lemley told Mathews, "Oh, oops, it looks like I accidentally made a machine gun," according to the court document.

 

Lemley and Mathews lived together in Delaware, while Bilbrough resided in Maryland. Mathews illegally crossed over the border into the United States in August, the court document said.

 

(Reporting by Julia Harte in Greenbelt, Maryland, Brad Brooks in Austin, Texas, Mark Hosenball and Andy Sullivan in Washington and Gabriella Borter in New York; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-17

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[stevenl]

On the drawing of the men it says 'Garfield', in the text 'Bilbrough'. Reference to his hair colour?

[kotsak]

Guys.. next time be a bit more careful with those gros plan photos.. Not a nice way to start the day.. ????

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The three men are accused of interstate commerce of weapons, harbouring illegal aliens, an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and aiding and abetting.

I thought the governor had declared Virginia a sanctuary state.

[pegman]

Good work by our local paper, the Winnipeg Free Press. It sent a reporter undercover as a recruit to The Base. His work exposed army reservist Matthews as a recruiter for that organization. When the military started an investigation he jumped the border. Same goes for him as with the Biebs, you can keep him.

[DoctorG]

West V has invited the gun-rights V counties if they want to be incorporated into WV.

Said more in jest really as V would never agree to them moving.

[IAMHERE]

So they've been arrested by the FBI for wrong thinking and owning a rifle? The "neo nazi" bit is to inflame the passions of the reader.

Edited January 17, 2020 by IAMHERE

[Bluespunk]

 

51 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

So they've been arrested by the FBI for wrong thinking and owning a rifle? The "neo nazi" bit is to inflame the passions of the reader.

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Federal prosecutors said the three suspects were members of the neo-Nazi group The Base, a small militant organization dedicated to committing violence against minorities

 

[pkspeaker]

So basically they havn't done anything illegal, other than 'transporting weapons' which is something that all gun owners do.. and they are being prosecuted because they are 'neo-nazis'

[simple1]

35 minutes ago, pkspeaker said:

So basically they havn't done anything illegal, other than 'transporting weapons' which is something that all gun owners do.. and they are being prosecuted because they are 'neo-nazis'

From the OP:

 

charges against them, which include transporting a firearm with intent to commit an offence. 

 

The Nazi Party is not a banned group in the US, but threats of violence, as referenced in the OP, is illegal.

[TopDeadSenter]

2 hours ago, pkspeaker said:

So basically they havn't done anything illegal, other than 'transporting weapons' which is something that all gun owners do.. and they are being prosecuted because they are 'neo-nazis'

alleged neo-nazis. who are allegedly guilty of wrong think while transporting weapons. 

 Meanwhile the real armed and violent fascists, the ironically named antifa, are free to continue their activities. Something has gone very wrong in Virginia.

[Bluespunk]

FBI arrests three more members of right wing extremist group 'The Base' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51144177

[URMySunshine]

4 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

alleged neo-nazis. who are allegedly guilty of wrong think while transporting weapons. 

 Meanwhile the real armed and violent fascists, the ironically named antifa, are free to continue their activities. Something has gone very wrong in Virginia.

They are obviously Trump supporters being persecuted by a corrupt <deleted> deep state conspiracy. liebetard is obviously a banned word these days !

Edited January 18, 2020 by URMySunshine

[URMySunshine]

20 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

So they've been arrested by the FBI for wrong thinking and owning a rifle? The "neo nazi" bit is to inflame the passions of the reader.

This is what the nice young men belong to. 21st century nazi apologists who would have thought such as thing could happen. Oh and they are pathetic right wing terrorists pure and simple and anybody who has any problem denouncing them are fellow travellers to. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Base_(hate_group)

Edited January 18, 2020 by URMySunshine