Accused Canadian Neo-Nazi Soldier Who Went AWOL Was Smuggled Into U.S.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Aiden Pink December 6, 2019
A disgraced Canadian soldier who went missing after being accused of being a recruiter for a neo-Nazi cell was smuggled into the United States and is being hidden by group members there, Vice reported Thursday.
Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, an explosives expert, went missing in August after an undercover reporter with the Winnipeg Free Press exposed his work on behalf of the neo-Nazi group “The Base,” leading the Canadian military to begin the process of firing him. His abandoned car was found less than 10 miles from the American border.
Mathews has not been charged with any crimes, but the sheriff of the Minnesota county closest to the abandoned car issued a statement warning citizens not to approach him.
Base propaganda claims that they intend to start a “race war” leading to a white-only state. The group was believed to mostly limit their activities to cyberspace, but that appears to be changing. According to Vice, Mathews taught helped train around a dozen members at a combat training camp in Georgia this fall. And last month, the FBI arrested a New Jersey-based member of the group and accused him of recruiting volunteers to vandalize synagogues in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink
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