Federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused two navy veterans of assaulting a soldier and stealing gear from an Army special operations compound in Washington state, a brazen break-in that ended with a cache of weapons and Nazi paraphernalia found in one among their properties.
State and federal police arrested Charles Ethan Fields and Levi Austin Frakes after executing a warrant Monday for alleged assault, theft and theft of presidency property, in line with the grievance shared with Army.com by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the Western District of Washington.
Prosecutors say Fields and Frakes entered Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Sunday night by means of the principle gate and made their strategy to a facility utilized by Charlie Firm, seventy fifth Ranger Regiment. Wearing Ranger health coaching apparel and sporting masks, the pair allegedly stole navy gear after bludgeoning a soldier with a hammer and fleeing the scene.
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Earlier than being attacked, the soldier, who was not recognized in court docket paperwork, confronted the veterans, who had been within the means of stealing tens of hundreds of {dollars} value of ballistic helmets, rifle plates and communications gear.
Because the soldier was questioning the pair, ordering them to take away their masks, one among them attacked him, putting him within the head and torso with a hammer. The soldier fought off the attacker, taking the hammer, however “surrendered” as the opposite assailant was brandishing a knife, in line with court docket data.
The soldier was handled on the base hospital after a “great amount of blood loss,” photos within the grievance present.
The pair allegedly stole $14,000 value of drugs, however dropped a lot of it on the scene when fleeing. Legislation enforcement found blood on their rucksacks and boots, in line with the grievance.
The Military Legal Investigation Division requested a search warrant after discovering the rucksacks stuffed with the gear that they left behind, in addition to the hat that bore Fields’ final identify. Throughout the search of one of many properties, the CID seized 35 weapons, together with rifles, pistols, short-barreled rifles, an MG32 machine gun and suppressors — a few of which appeared to have been produced utilizing a 3D printer — together with night time imaginative and prescient gear, physique armor, flashbang grenades, smoke canisters and blasting caps.
Pictures from the grievance additionally present Nazi and white supremacist paraphernalia in one of many residences, together with flags with a swastika and “SS” lightning bolts, murals and literature “in each bed room and close to a number of stockpiles of weapons and navy gear.”
Investigators stated that one of many veterans admitted in an interview to stealing navy property from the Ranger compound for “about two years” to later promote or commerce.
Fields and Frakes registered an organization in Washington billed as a “protection manufacturing and coaching” service that featured imagery related to Nazi ideology in its emblem, in line with the web site and public enterprise data. The corporate didn’t return a request for remark.
In social media, they listed a number of navy items as “shoppers,” together with the seventy fifth Ranger Regiment, U.S. Military Special Forces, 1st Marine Division and the Coast Guard. Army.com contacted the items on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Ranger Regiment acknowledged the inquiry, however referred the publication to Military Particular Operations Command.
A spokesperson for the Coast Guard stated that it “has by no means contracted with or been a shopper of” their firm. The opposite items didn’t reply by deadline.
Fields served a brief stint as an infantryman within the active-duty Military from 2017 to 2021, deploying twice to Afghanistan and leaving the service with the rank of sergeant, service data present. The grievance notes each suspects beforehand served within the navy, citing Pentagon data, and that the soldier who tried to confront them realized Fields had been assigned to the Ranger battalion he tried to steal from someday round 2021.
Army.com contacted the Marine Corps relating to Frakes’ service, as a social media web page reveals that he served within the department for 4 years. A spokesperson couldn’t present his service document, however famous that “there’s a Marine veteran with that identify.”
The 2 males had been booked into Thurston County Jail, and a choose set bail for every at $500,000 on Tuesday throughout a preliminary look, in line with the grievance. Army.com contacted the county public protection workplace that has taken on their circumstances, in line with its director, Patrick O’Connor, however their attorneys had not been assigned as of Wednesday pending prices.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Workplace didn’t reply to the publication on Wednesday, however the elected sheriff, Derek Sanders, stated on social media that an FBI SWAT workforce executed the warrant.
“The suspects recognized on this case had been actively concerned in Nazi white nationalist efforts,” he stated. The county lists each veterans as being charged with illegal possession of a short-barreled rifle and explosives.
The navy has confronted persistent challenges in securing its weapons and gear, together with a notable incident in November when 31 M17 pistols went lacking from Fort Benning, Georgia; solely three have been recovered. A 2021 investigation by The Related Press revealed that no less than 1,900 firearms disappeared from navy stockpiles in the course of the 2010s, with some later turning up at crime scenes. The losses have been blamed on a spread of safety lapses, together with gaps in surveillance and poor recordkeeping.
Of the assault on the troopers, Luke Baumgartner, a analysis fellow with George Washington College’s Program on Extremism, stated that “they weren’t afraid to make use of violence in an effort to achieve entry to the gear that they had been on the lookout for.”
“Veterans who find yourself turning into concerned in these extremist actions usually look backward towards their navy service as a supply of inspiration,” he stated, citing circumstances similar to Timothy McVeigh, an Military veteran who killed 168 individuals within the Oklahoma Metropolis bombing and in addition stole navy gear from a National Guard armory.
“They’re simply following of their footsteps; they’re persevering with this sample that we have seen earlier than,” he stated.
The grievance stated that the pair had been scanned into the principle gate of JBLM round 8 p.m. Sunday and that they’d allegedly used bolt cutters to interrupt a lock into the Ranger compound. Investigators tied Frakes’ car to at least one seen on surveillance cameras on base. It was unclear how they’d apparently quick access to the gate and the way the unit accounted for its gear if thefts had been occurring for 2 years.
“That tells me that there’s a lack of correct accountability for delicate gadgets and navy property happening inside that unit,” Baumgartner, an Military veteran, added.
The Pentagon has solely deserted addressing far-right extremism within the navy neighborhood beneath the Trump administration. Whereas there is no such thing as a proof service members or veterans usually tend to be radicalized, consultants have stated they’re drive multipliers to extremist organizations given their inherent credibility and tactical information.
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