COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- A federal judge in Maryland has ruled that a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist who's linked to a violent white supremacist group will remain in custody.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan said Wednesday that Patrik Mathews is a “very dangerous person” who “espouses very dangerous beliefs.”
Sullivan ordered Mathews detained pending a Jan. 30 preliminary hearing.
Mathews and two other men were arrested last Thursday on federal felony charges in Maryland and Delaware.
Authorities said they were believed to be headed to a pro-gun rally in Virginia’s capital.
A hidden camera captured the men expressing hope that violence at a gun-rights rally could start a civil war. A federal prosecutor disclosed the existence of the video in a court filing Tuesday.
The prosecutor said Mathews also videotaped himself advocating for killing people, poisoning water supplies, and derailing trains.
"You’ve got tons of guys who ... should be radicalized enough to know that all you gotta do is start making things go wrong and if Virginia can spiral out to [expletive] full-blown civil war,” Mathews is heard saying on the tape, according to the AP.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom urged the judge in Maryland to keep Mathews and two other members of The Base detained in federal custody.
Mathews was also recorded talking to other group members about ways to incite violence in Richmond during the rally.
“We could essentially like be literally hunting people,” Mathews said, according to prosecutors. “You could provide overwatch while I get close to do what needs to be done to certain things.”
Mathews has been charged with transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony and being an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He is also accused of illegally crossing into the US from Canada in August.
The threat of violence from white supremacists and other extremists prompted Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to declare a state of emergency days prior to Monday's rally. The declaration banned participants and others from bringing guns onto capitol grounds.
More than 20,000 people attended Monday's rally at the Virginia State Capitol. Most of those in attendance stayed outside the fenced-in capitol grounds and carried firearms.
There were no acts of physical violence, nor injuries reported during the rally.
