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
Posted: 16/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
White supremacist in army reserve
Posted: 19/08/2019 6:00 AM
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.
The Free Press has identified Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, 26, as the man responsible for the neo-Nazi propaganda posters that have been posted throughout the city in recent weeks.
Military, RCMP investigating Winnipeg neo-Nazi army reserves leader
Posted: 19/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
The investigations — one conducted by the armed forces and the other by the RCMP — come in the wake of a Free Press report identifying Mathews, 26, as the man behind the recent recruitment drive in Winnipeg for a neo-Nazi paramilitary group called The Base.
RCMP raid Beausejour home of army reservist identified as neo-Nazi recruiter
Posted: 20/08/2019 12:12 PM
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.
Earlier Monday, the Free Press reported Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, 26, an active Winnipeg reserves combat engineer, holds membership in The Base, which represents the most violent, radical fringes of the far-right hate movement.
Military will take 'aggressive actions' with extremist soldiers, defence minister vows
Posted: 20/08/2019 7:00 PM
Hours after a Canadian soldier’s Beausejour home was raided and weapons were seized, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he’s deeply troubled by the master corporal's ties to a neo-Nazi paramilitary group.
While he couldn’t speak to the specific case of Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, citing the ongoing RCMP and military investigations into his extremist activity, Sajjan said under his watch the armed forces will shift to a more proactive approach to remove far-right radicals from its ranks.
Mounties remain silent after raid on neo-Nazi soldier's home
Posted: 21/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews was taken into custody and later released without charge.
Military aware of Winnipeg soldier's neo-Nazi 'utterances' since April, Canada's top general says
Posted: 22/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, told reporters Thursday that the Canadian Forces national counter-intelligence unit has been involved in monitoring Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, a 26-year-old reservist.
Haters find a home: Online platforms transform white-male frustration into violent extremism
Posted: 23/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
Until then, his posts had mostly been about video games, cars and gripes about his parents. Now, he wants to know how to get girls to like him. He asks, and gets responses directing him to online tracts by polemicists who posit opposite-sex relations as a sort of a game, dependent on pulling certain triggers at certain times.
Winnipeg neo-Nazi soldier to be relieved of military duties in coming weeks
Posted: 27/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
The actions come a week after the Free Press identified Mathews as a recruiter for the neo-Nazi paramilitary group known as The Base, which represents the most violent, radical fringes of the far-right hate movement.
Neo-Nazi soldier disappears: Family hasn't seen hate-group recruiter since Saturday
Posted: 28/08/2019 7:00 PM
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.
Mathews, 26, was last seen by his family in Beausejour Saturday evening, five days after the Free Press exposed him as the man behind a recent recruitment drive for a neo-Nazi group in Winnipeg.
Anti-hate activist 'amazed' RCMP let neo-Nazi soldier vanish while they were watching him
Posted: 30/08/2019 2:07 PM
As the search for Canadian Forces reservist Patrik Mathews stretches into its sixth day, the chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network is calling out law enforcement for allowing him to slip away in the first place.
Social activist Bernie Farber says he’s convinced if Mathews — who was identified by the Free Press as a member of a neo-Nazi paramilitary group — had been an Islamist militant, the situation would have been handled much differently by authorities.
Neo-Nazi soldier's truck found abandoned near U.S. border
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: 03/09/2019 6:24 PM
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.
Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews vehicle was discovered about two kilometres north of the Manitoba-Minnesota border in a remote, forested area.
Former army reservist likely crossed on foot into U.S.
Posted: 04/09/2019 12:42 PM
Police in the United States say a missing former army reservist with alleged ties to a neo-Nazi group is likely to have walked across the border from Manitoba and may have weapons.
Patrik Mathews was last seen by family members in Beausejour, northeast of Winnipeg, on Aug. 24.
Border guards saw racist items in neo-Nazi truck, sparking probes: report
Posted: 05/09/2019 7:00 PM
New details have emerged about the circumstances that put former army reservist Patrik Mathews on the radar of Canadian national security agencies.
The 26-year-old former master corporal has been officially released from the Canadian Armed Forces, where he had been trained as a combat engineer, a military spokeswoman said Thursday.
Extremist U.S. neo-Nazi group harbouring missing Winnipeg ex-soldier: report
Posted: 05/12/2019 7:00 PM
Former Canadian Forces Reserves soldier Patrik Mathews is being harboured in the U.S. by members of a violent neo-Nazi paramilitary group and has recently helped train other extremists at a "hate camp," according to a report from VICE.
FBI documents reveal how Winnipeg-area fugitive Patrik Mathews finally caught
Posted: 16/01/2020 12:06 PM
It was a lengthy criminal investigation involving the highest levels of U.S. law enforcement and the most sophisticated counter-terrorism techniques at their disposal.
The target was disgraced Canadian military reservist Patrik Mathews, who vanished from his Beausejour home last summer after being identified by an undercover Free Press investigation as a recruiter for a violent neo-Nazi paramilitary group.
Manitoba fugitive at centre of neo-Nazi murder plot: FBI
Posted: 17/01/2020 7:00 PM
It was a scene out of a thriller novel.
A neo-Nazi on the run from federal police hatches a murder plot with a comrade. Unbeknownst to them, an undercover FBI agent infiltrates the terror cell and is pulled into the conspiracy. Distrust soon festers within the ranks and the ringleader decides to double-cross the wanted man.
Ex-Winnipeg reservist Mathews 'very dangerous person,' U.S. judge says, rejecting bail argument
Posted: 22/01/2020 12:11 PM
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.
The sound of shackles filled the air as the side door to the Maryland courtroom opened shortly before the detention hearing began. Seconds later, Mathews emerged, wearing the orange jumpsuit of a U.S. federal prisoner.
Recognized, relieved
Posted: 23/01/2020 7:00 PM
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.
Manitoba neo-Nazi faces more charges in U.S.
Posted: 28/01/2020 7:00 PM
The charges against Patrik Mathews continue to mount, as the disgraced Canadian reservist and neo-Nazi now faces up to 60 years in U.S. prison after two grand juries this week indicted him on five criminal counts.
Mathews faces four firearm-related charges, and an additional count of obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying his cellphone as the FBI raided his Delaware apartment Jan. 16.
Local neo-Nazi faces more charges Tuesday
Posted: 14/02/2020 3:06 PM
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.
Mathews, 27, 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.
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