Three former U.S. Marines were arrested and charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly conspiring to “manufacture, possess, and distribute various weapons, ammunition, and suppressors,” according to Radio.com.
Court documents described how the men formed a ‘white supremacy death squad’ and engaged in manufacturing and smuggling illegal weapons in a quest to, as described by one of the members on a message board that no longer exists, “knock down the system.” The forum, called “Iron March,” was a gathering spot for extremists to organize and recruit. The message board was closed down in 2017.
Several months ago the group of men began conducting surveillance on BLM rallies and collecting open-source information on the movement in Boise, Idaho, where they live. They also got together for live fire-range training, and manufacturing and selling their own weapons, according to the federal indictment.
The men charged are Liam Montgomery Collins, 21, Paul James Kryscuk, 35, and Jordan Duncan, 25. A fourth man named Justin Wade Hermanson is also named in the indictment. Hermanson, Duncan and Collins all served in the Marine Corps. (RELATED: Trump Reverses On Right-Wing Proud Boys Group, Tells Them To ‘Stand Down.’)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently reported in their Homeland Threat Assessment report (HTA) that white supremacist groups pose a “persistent” threat to Americans, along with other forms of violent domestic terrorism. The report singles out white supremacist groups as being responsible for the largest number of attacks and deaths in 2018 and 2019 among extremist groups.
The DHS is still analyzing 2020 data, but claim there is a clear pattern of extremists utilizing concerns about social justice issues to incite violence.