Homegrown hate Ryan Thorpe's story on infiltrating a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, and the Free Press' follow-up coverage Posted: Last Modified: Updates

In August 2019, a Free Press reporter posed as a white nationalist to gain inside access to a neo-Nazi paramilitary group attempting to gain a foothold in Winnipeg and across the country.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2019 (2634 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In August 2019, a Free Press reporter posed as a white nationalist to gain inside access to a neo-Nazi paramilitary group attempting to gain a foothold in Winnipeg and across the country.

Read Ryan Thorpe’s story, and the Free Press’ follow-up coverage.

 

 

Inside a neo-Nazi group attempting to gain a foothold in Winnipeg and across the country

Inside a neo-Nazi group attempting to gain a foothold in Winnipeg and across the country

Posted:

He stands about 5-10, with hair that’s shaggy on top and clipped close at the sides. He pulls at his bushy beard when he's deep in thought. His arms are often crossed when he talks.If you walked past him on the sidewalk, you wouldn’t look twice.He wants to recruit young white men for a race war. He thinks one is coming and can’t wait for it to get here. His group idolizes serial killers and mass shooters, referring to the likes of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof as “the saints.”His name is Patrick and he plans to establish a white supremacist terror cell in Manitoba.

Read full story

 

 

White supremacist in army reserve

Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews

Posted:

The man who is recruiting in Winnipeg for a neo-Nazi paramilitary group holds a leadership position in the Canadian Army Reserve and is a trained explosives expert.

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Military, RCMP investigating Winnipeg neo-Nazi army reserves leader

Winnipeg Free Press files The man who is recruiting in Winnipeg for a neo-Nazi paramilitary group holds a leadership position in the Canadian Army Reserve and is a trained explosives expert.

Posted:

At least two investigations are underway into the extremist activity of Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, an active combat engineer in the Canadian Army Reserves in Winnipeg who holds membership in a violent neo-Nazi hate group.

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RCMP raid Beausejour home of army reservist identified as neo-Nazi recruiter

Patrik Mathews would not comment when approached by a reporter outside the home Tuesday morning. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Posted:

RCMP officers raided the Beausejour home of a Canadian Army Reserves leader identified as a recruiter for a violent neo-Nazi paramilitary organization on Monday night, neighbours say.

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Mounties remain silent after raid on neo-Nazi soldier's home

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Patrik Mathews

Posted:

Manitoba RCMP refuse to say why they carried out a raid Monday and seized weapons at the Beausejour home of a Canadian reserve soldier who has been recruiting for an extremist neo-Nazi organization.

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Military aware of Winnipeg soldier's neo-Nazi 'utterances' since April, Canada's top general says

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance speaks during a change of command ceremony in Ottawa on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Posted:

Canada’s top general has disclosed the military has been tracking a Manitoba solider for months, after a Free Press exclusive report uncovered his links to a neo-Nazi group.

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Haters find a home: Online platforms transform white-male frustration into violent extremism

Tribune Media TNS The Federal Trade Commission noted that there was a 24 percent increase last year in identity theft reports that involved credit card fraud on new accounts. You can file a complaint at www.ftc.gov. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Posted:

When it starts, the boy is just 16 years old, crossing the awkward and unsteady bridge that links adulthood to youth, and he is lonely. One day, he opens up the social media site Reddit, and finds in its multitude of communities a place to ask the question that has been eating up his mind.

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Winnipeg neo-Nazi soldier to be relieved of military duties in coming weeks

Seven masked members of The Base shoot shotguns and semi-automatic rifles during a recent paramilitary

Posted:

The Canadian Armed Forces has stripped Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews of his uniforms, relieved him from his duties, and will formally release him from the military in the coming weeks, the Free Press has learned.

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Neo-Nazi soldier disappears: Family hasn't seen hate-group recruiter since Saturday

CP Patrik Mathews was reported missing by his family.

Posted:

The same day the RCMP announced it is searching for army reservist Patrik Mathews, who was reported missing by his family Monday, the Free Press learned an account belonging to him appears to have recently resurfaced on a social media platform popular with far-right extremists.

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Neo-Nazi soldier's truck found abandoned near U.S. border

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES RCMP officers raided the Beausejour home of Patrik Mathews in August. His truck, pictured here shortly after raid, was fond abandoned near the U.S. border.

Posted:

A truck owned by a Canadian Forces reservist has been found abandoned near the U.S.-Canada border, two weeks after he was exposed as a recruiter for a neo-Nazi paramilitary group.

Read full story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manitoba fugitive at centre of neo-Nazi murder plot: FBI

WILLIAM J. HENNESSY JR. - court sketch of Patrik Mathews

Posted:

It was a scene out of a thriller novel.

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Ex-Winnipeg reservist Mathews 'very dangerous person,' U.S. judge says, rejecting bail argument

The investigation by Winnipeg Free Press reporter Ryan Thorpe in August revealed Mathews

Posted:

GREENBELT, Md. — Patrik Mathews was portrayed as a terrorist, intent on murder and destruction in seeking to spark a neo-Nazi revolution, as a U.S. judge rejected the former Canadian soldier's bid for release Wednesday.

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Recognized, relieved

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Patrik Mathews outside his home in Beausejour in 2019.

Posted:

Greenbelt, Md. — As Patrik Mathews was led into U.S. federal court in Greenbelt, Md., Wednesday morning, his head was on a swivel. He seemed to scan the faces — lawyers, journalists, law enforcement — that lined the dark wooden benches in the courtroom.

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Local neo-Nazi faces more charges Tuesday

Patrik Mathews is set for a hearing in Greenbelt, Md. Tuesday, where he’ll face the firearm and obstruction of justice charges two grand juries indicted him on late last month. (William J. Hennessy Jr. / Free Press files)

Posted:

Patrik Mathews is scheduled to appear back in U.S. federal court next week to be arraigned on the latest criminal charges laid against the neo-Nazi recruiter and disgraced Canadian reservist.

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Patrik Mathews' attorney seeks to suppress post-arrest interview

Patrik Mathews was at the centre of a Free Press investigation that exposed him as a recruiter for a neo-Nazi paramilitary organization called the Base. (RCMP handout)

Posted:

En route to the Baltimore field office after his Jan. 16 arrest in Delaware, Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents bought Patrik Mathews a Chick-fil-A sandwich and a cup of coffee.

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Manitoba neo-Nazi pleads guilty to U.S. charges

WILLIAM J. HENNESSY JR. — court sketch of Patrik Mathews

Posted:

GREENBELT, Md. — Patrik Mathews walked into a U.S. federal courtroom Thursday cloaked in the presumption of innocence. When he left, he was a felon — four times over.

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Patrik Mathews wanted bloodshed, instead, he got the jumpsuit of a convicted felon

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Patrik Mathews outside his home in Beausejour in 2019.

Posted:

GREENBELT, MARYLAND — The guilty plea was recorded, the agreed statement of facts read into the record, and Patrik Jordan Mathews — dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit — shuffled out of a federal courtroom on June 10 towards a bleak future behind bars.

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Patrik Mathews abruptly gave away beloved cats, concerned friends called RCMP, search warrant reveals

RCMP said they searched Twitter for #Winnipeg and found this photo of someone dressed in military clothing pointing a firearm, with the heading The Base. A police affidavit says the identity of the person and location is unknown, the photo appears to be dated AUG 4, 2019. (Manitoba Court of Queen

Posted:

Friends, former friends and co-workers of Patrik Mathews thought he was all talk until they read an article in the Winnipeg Free Press that identified him as a white supremacist who was actively recruiting for The Base, a secretive neo-Nazi paramilitary group, according to recently unsealed search warrant documents obtained by CBC News.

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Patrik Mathews crossed border with white-supremacist posters, list of mass shootings: RCMP

Patrik Mathews told border security officers the list in his notebook charting mass shootings was old research. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Posted:

When Canadian border agents searched a rental vehicle driven by a then-unknown Patrik Mathews in the summer of 2019, they made a disturbing discovery: homemade posters warning of “White Genocide” and a detailed list of mass shootings.

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Manitoba reservist could get lengthy sentence

This undated photo provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police shows Patrik Mathews. Prosecutors in the United States are recommending that Mathews, a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist from Manitoba who is alleged to have worked with a white supremacist group to kick-start a civil war, be sentenced to 25 years behind bars. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-RCMP, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Posted:

Prosecutors in the United States who argue a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist intended to start a civil war by killing on a large scale are recommending he be sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Read full story

 

 

Patrik Mathews awaits sentencing after brazen 'race war' plot derailed

Patrik Mathews is charged with “transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

Posted:

As their neighbours celebrated the birth of the Messiah on Christmas Day 2019, Patrik Mathews — a disgraced Canadian army reservist on the run from U.S. law enforcement — and Brian Lemley Jr., an American combat veteran, were plotting the resurrection of a “saint.”

Read full story

 

 

Neo-Nazi's views repugnant, but he deserves 'second chance,' U.S. defence lawyer argues

Court sketch of Patrik Mathews in Greenbelt, Maryland Thursday January, 16, 2020.

Posted:

Patrik Mathews’ defence attorney is asking a U.S. federal judge to sentence the neo-Nazi and disgraced Canadian reservist to a 33-month prison sentence, even as he concedes his client held beliefs "many would find repugnant."

Read full story

 

 

U.S. judge adding 'terrorism enhancement' to Manitoba neo-Nazi's prison term

Court sketch of Patrik Mathews.

Posted:

GREENBELT, Md. — Terrorism sentencing enhancements will be applied in the case of Patrik Mathews — a neo-Nazi and disgraced Canadian reservist — and his co-conspirator, Brian Lemley Jr., a federal judge ruled in a Maryland courtroom Monday.

Read full story

 

Reporter Ryan Thorpe re-examines the 2.5-year journey of Patrik Mathews — from neo-Nazi to prison inmate

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Free Press reporter Ryan Thorpe poses for a portrait in front of the Minto Armoury, where Patrik Mathews was at one point stationed.

Posted:

For three years, the high priests of the QAnon conspiracy-theory movement and other far-right crackpots and bigots had preached about a storm on the horizon.

Read full story

History

Updated on Thursday, January 23, 2020 5:43 PM CST: Coverage added.

Updated on Monday, February 10, 2020 6:39 PM CST: Coverage added.

Updated on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 12:36 PM CST: Coverage added

Updated on Friday, October 15, 2021 8:17 PM CDT: Coverage updated.

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