Robert Jay Mathews

Robert Jay Mathews (born January 16, 1953 in Marfa , † December 8, 1984 in Coupeville , Washington ) was an American right-wing extremist and leader of the terrorist group The Order . Mathews was killed after a fierce gun battle with approximately 75 federal agents surrounding his home on Whidbey Island , near Freeland , Washington. A fire broke out and burned him.

Life

Early years

Robert Mathews was born in Marfa , Texas, the youngest of three sons to Johnny and Una Mathews.

His father was mayor of the city of Marfa and president of the Chamber of Commerce. He was also a merchant and headed a Methodist church. His mother led the local boy scout group. The family moved to Phoenix , Arizona . At the age of eleven, he joined the John Birch Society . Matthews was later baptized a Mormon .

He founded the Sons of Liberty, an anti-communist militia consisting essentially of Mormon survivalists. In its heyday this group had 30 members. Mathews was subsequently arrested for tax evasion. When there was conflict within the group between Mormons and non-Mormons, the group broke up and Mathew left them.

In 1974 he moved to Metaline Falls . Mathews and his father bought a piece of land in the country.

Mathews and Debbie McGarrity married in 1976. He raised Scottish Galloway cattle. In 1981 the couple adopted a son. Mathews later had a child with a woman named Zillah Craig.

The Order

Mathews read William Gayley Simpson's book Which Way Western Man? that impressed him very much. Mathews believed the white race was in danger. In 1982 he was a supporter of the ideology of the Northwest Territorial Imperative. This was aimed in the 1980s at the fact that white nationalists should move to the northwestern United States (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Western Montana). In 1983, Mathews spoke at a National Alliance meeting. Mathews was also delighted with The Turner Diaries , written by William Pierce .

In September 1983 he founded the group The Order with eight men. This group consisted of Ken Loff, Dan Bauer, Randy Duey, Denver Parmenter, and Bruce Pierce. David Lane, Richie Kemp and Bill Soderquist joined later. The group recruited additional members, none of which had a criminal record.

The first robbery of a sex shop in Spokane, Washington, brought them $ 369.10. The group then started robbing cars and counterfeiting money.

Mathews raided a bank north of Seattle, Washington . He looted $ 26,000. $ 43,000 was later looted. In July 1984 they looted $ 3.6 million.

Some of the money was donated to the White Patriot Party in North Carolina and other white nationalist groups.

Last days

Shortly before his death, Mathews wrote a long letter in which he justified his actions. He did this to justify the future of his children "

Mathews and other members had apparently been betrayed to the FBI by his colleague Martinez. Martinez had been put under pressure by the FBI on charges of robbery and counterfeiting. The FBI began a large investigation to members of The Order and Mathews entrenched himself near Freeland, Washington on the island of Whidbey Iceland . On December 8, 1984, there was a gun battle with the FBI, during which Mathews was burned to death.

Media preparation

The play God’s Country (1988) by Steven Dietz deals with the murder of Alan Berg, as do the films Betrayed , Talk Radio (both 1988) and the film The Order - Brotherhood of Murder about the group The Order .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Daryl C. McClary: Robert Jay Mathews, founder of the white-supremacist group The Order, is killed during an FBI siege on Whidbey Island on December 8, 1984 ( English ) In: HistoryLink.org: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History . December 6, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
2. ↑ A Call to Arms, Part One of Two ( English ) In: WNTube.net . Retrieved January 13, 2009.
3. ↑ Thomas Martinez, John Guinther: Brotherhood of Murder ( English ). McGraw-Hill, 1988, ISBN 0-07-040699-5 .
4. ^ John R. Cashman: Emergency Response to Chemical and Biological Agents ( English ). CRC Press, 2000, ISBN 1-56670-355-7 , p. 5.
5. ↑ Extremist ex-cons Back on the Street: A fresh batch of extremist ex-cons hits the streets Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Southern Poverty Law Center (Ed.): Intelligence Report . No. 116, Winter 2004. Retrieved October 12, 2012. 
6. ↑ Robert Jay Mathews' Last Letter ( English ) Supreme White Alliance. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 13, 2009.