Officials Detail The Base’s
Plans For Violence At Richmond Gun Rally
Neo-Nazi Group Planned On
Ambushing Attendees; Denounces Arrest On Telegram
Last week’s arrest of Patrik Jordan Mathews and two other members
of the neo-Nazi group the Base shifted to the courtroom Tuesday, as
federal prosecutors outlined how the accused planned on inciting
violence at a gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia. Amongst other
tactics, the members planned on “ambushing” the police and firing upon
“unsuspecting civilians.” All told, a total of seven members of the
Base have been arrested. On Monday, Counter Extremism Project
researcher Joshua Fisher-Birch disclosed
that the group’s Telegram channel stated that the arrests were
unfair and that the group’s founder, Roman Wolf, also stated that the
Base would continue to exist and struggle “for survival.”
Since
the arrests, CEP’s resource U.S.
White Supremacy Groups and Fisher-Birch have been featured
prominently in news outlets such as The Associated Press, The New York
Times and Reuters. A select portion of the media coverage is provided
here and part of the resource may be read below.
The
Base is a neo-Nazi, white-supremacist group that describes itself
as an “international survivalist and self-defense network” that seeks
to train their members for fighting a race war. The group claims to
have members in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
The Base is influenced by tactics described in the book Siege
by neo-Nazi
James Mason and is an accelerationist group that encourages the
onset on anarchy so it can then “impose order from chaos.” In a
September 2018 episode of the podcast The Roper Report, Wolf claimed
the Base’s goal is to unite white nationalists for the coming race war
that will overthrow the government and reshape society.
The Base has organized training camps around North America to
instruct their members in weaponry and military tactics. While the
name ‘The Base’ is the English translation of al-Qaeda, it is unclear
if the link was intentional. The Base heavily draws inspiration from
the Atomwaffen Division (AWD) and Siege, which also inspired
AWD. The exact relationship between AWD and The Base remains unclear
beyond inspiration. The Base’s membership reportedly includes members
of AWD and the far-right group Eco-Fascist Order.
To read the CEP report U.S. White Supremacy Groups, please
click here.
To read the CEP report James Mason’s Siege: Ties to
Extremists, please click here.
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