A former Canadian reservist who is alleged to be a member of a white supremacist group has now been indicted on multiple charges.
Manitoba resident Patrik Mathews was indicted on firearms and alien-related charges Tuesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland.
Mathews, 27, was indicted alongside two Americans, Brian Mark Lemley, Jr., 33 and William Garfield Bilbrough IV, 19, who are also alleged to be part of white supremacist group “The Base.”
All three were arrested in Delaware by Baltimore FBI officers earlier this month.
Mathews was recently denied bail following an appearance in a U.S. court last week.
He had previously disappeared in August from his Manitoba residence after accusations surfaced alleging he was a recruiter for the neo-Nazi group.
The three men were believed to be heading to a gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia, after discussing it as “an opportunity to incite violence,” according to a federal official.
That same rally, which prompted Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia to declare a state of emergency over possible violence, ended peacefully.
Mathews is alleged to have entered the U.S. unlawfully on Aug. 19, 2019, according to an affidavit filed in support of the U.S. criminal complaint.
Lemley and Bilbrough were alleged to have driven from Maryland on Aug. 30 to pick up Mathews.
A separate indictment Monday from the state of Delaware charged Mathews and Lemley with the intent to obstruct justice by destroying their phones, while Maryland’s indictment also charges Lemley and Bilbrough with transporting an alien and conspiring to transport and harbour certain aliens among other charges.
— With files from Kerri Breen and Brittany Greenslade