Among other charges, prosecutors state that two of the paramilitaries built a functioning assault rifle, and purchased over 1,500 rounds of ammunition for it
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images In an effort to avoid a second Charlottesville, the Virginia state government and federal law enforcement are taking serious precautions in advance of a gun-rights rally on Martin Luther King Day in Richmond that has attracted the attention of far-right agitators.
The three men — Patrik Jordan Mathews, 27, Brian M. Lemley Jr., 33, and William G. Bilbrough IV, 19 — were charged with multiple federal crimes in Maryland, according to the Justice Department. Among other charges, prosecutors state that Lemley and Mathews built a functioning assault rifle, and purchased over 1,500 rounds of ammunition for it. The three are allegedly connected to the Base, which serves as a social network to link cellular neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups.
According to a 2018 report from Vice News, the operation helps cell groups in “networking, creating propaganda, organizing in-person meet-ups, and discussing potential violence or “direct action” against minority groups, especially Jewish and black Americans.
A prolific recruiter for the Base, Mathews has been the subject of significant media attention over the last six months: After his dismissal from his combat engineering role in the Canadian Army for his white nationalist ties, Mathews went missing, and crossed into the U.S. near the Minnesota border in August. As of December, Mathews was at a paramilitary training camp run by the Base in Georgia.
Because of the undocumented crossing, Lemley and Bilbrough face charges of transporting and harboring aliens, and Mathews with being an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition. According to a DOJ statement released upon their arrest, the Base members discussed “recruitment, creating a white ethno-state, committing acts of violence against minority communities , the organization’s military-style training camps, and ways to make improvised explosive devices.
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