Latest news with #CharlesEthanFields
New York Times
3 days ago
- New York Times
2 Veterans Found With Stolen Military Guns and Nazi Material, Officials Say
Two masked men dressed in fitness clothing worn by Army Rangers made their way onto a military base some 50 miles south of Seattle on Sunday night. The authorities said the men were intent on stealing thousands of dollars in combat equipment from an Army Ranger regiment there. However, the robbery quickly went awry. A soldier walked in and began asking questions as the two men were surrounded by piles of equipment. The soldier was bludgeoned with a hammer and one of the attackers brandished a knife. As the robbers fled, they dropped a bloody rucksack full of stolen combat gear. Handwritten on the rucksack was the name 'Fields,' which investigators discovered matched the last name of a man whose identification had been scanned when he drove that day onto the military installation, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His name led the authorities to a home elsewhere in Washington State, where they said they discovered a startling scene: rooms and rooms of Nazi and white supremacy paraphernalia and a stockpile of stolen weapons. That, according to a criminal complaint filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, tells the story of the investigation that led to the two men, identified by the authorities as Charles Ethan Fields and Levi Austin Frakes, being charged with assault, robbery and theft of government property 'by force and by violence and by intimidation.' The 11-page complaint and a Facebook post by the sheriff of Thurston County, Wash., so far amounts to the only public information about the activities of the two men, who were both identified in the complaint as veterans, leaving more questions than the authorities will currently answer. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
NBC News
5 days ago
- NBC News
2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say
SEATTLE — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included dozens of guns, explosives and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday night at their home in Lacey, near Olympia, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Federal court records did not list an attorney for either man. One of the defendants told investigators the pair had been stealing equipment from the base for the past two years to sell or trade, and agents found about $24,000 in cash at the home, wrote Special Agent Christopher J. Raguse of the Army Criminal Investigation Division. Washington state business license records show that Frakes and Fields have a company called Sovereign Solutions, which featured an "SS" logo with the letters separated by a lightning bolt. Its website advertises "Quality Training and Equipment for the Modern Warfighter," including marksmanship classes, as well as a T-shirt with the company logo and the words "Professional War Crime Committer." The federal complaint charges them with robbery, assault and theft of government property. They also face investigation on state charges of unlawful possession of incendiary devices, short-barreled rifles and a machine gun. Each was being held at the Thurston County Jail on $500,000 bail. Agents found rifles staged at the upstairs windows, a probable cause affidavit filed in Thurston County Superior Court said. The federal complaint said agents "observed numerous Nazi/white supremacy memorabilia, murals, and literature in every bedroom and near several stockpiles of weapons and military equipment." Photos from inside the home included in court documents showed a wall decorated with a red Nazi flag emblazoned with a black swastika and a black SS flag — the letters shaped like lightning bolts — referencing the Schutzstaffel, the Nazi paramilitary led by Heinrich Himmler. According to the complaint, a soldier entered a building at the Army Ranger compound at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Sunday night and found two men, partially masked, with a cluster of U.S. Army property around them. The soldier questioned them about what they were doing and told them to pull down their masks, which they did. A fight ensued, and one of the men brandished a hammer and struck the soldier in the head. The soldier continued to fight despite losing a large amount of blood and managed to get control of the hammer — at which point, one of the men pulled a knife. The soldier then let them go, the complaint said. They had attempted to steal about $14,000 worth of body armor, ballistic helmets and communications equipment Sunday, most of which they left behind when they dropped their rucksacks as they fled, the complaint said. During the fight, one of the men dropped his hat. It said "Fields" on the inside. Using base entry logs and surveillance video, investigators determined that Fields and Frakes had entered Lewis-McChord together about an hour before the attack, investigators said. Additionally, the wounded soldier, who required hospital treatment, told investigators that he asked around his unit about the name Fields after finding it on the hat. The soldier learned that Fields had been assigned to the Ranger Battalion around 2021, and he was able to identify him as one of the attackers based on photos shown to him by others in his unit, the complaint said. The men had access to the base because they were veterans, the probable cause statement filed in state court said. Court documents did not include details of Frakes' military service. Public information officers for Department of Defense, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Army CID did not immediately provide further information about the men's service history in response to requests from The Associated Press. The FBI executed a search warrant at a home shared by the defendants on Monday and arrested them. Authorities said agents seized about 35 firearms at the home, including short-barreled rifles and an MG42 machine gun — a type typically supported with a bipod and which was used by German troops during World War II. Other seized gear included 3D-printed silencers and Army-issued gear that included explosives such as smoke grenade and blasting caps, ballistic plates and helmets, and night-vision devices, authorities said.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
2 Veterans Tied to 'Nazi White Nationalist Efforts' Allegedly Stole Gear from Army Base, Beat Soldier with Hammer
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused two military veterans of assaulting a soldier and stealing equipment from an Army special operations compound in Washington state, a brazen break-in that ended with a cache of weapons and Nazi paraphernalia discovered in one of their homes. State and federal police arrested Charles Ethan Fields and Levi Austin Frakes after executing a warrant Monday for alleged assault, robbery and theft of government property, according to the complaint shared with by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Washington. Prosecutors say Fields and Frakes entered Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Sunday evening through the main gate and made their way to a facility used by Charlie Company, 75th Ranger Regiment. Dressed in Ranger fitness training attire and wearing masks, the pair allegedly stole military gear after bludgeoning a soldier with a hammer and fleeing the scene. Read Next: Army Hits Annual Recruiting Goal Months Ahead of Schedule Before being attacked, the soldier, who was not identified in court documents, confronted the veterans, who were in the process of stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of ballistic helmets, rifle plates and communications equipment. As the soldier was questioning the pair, ordering them to remove their masks, one of them attacked him, striking him in the head and torso with a hammer. The soldier fought off the attacker, taking the hammer, but "surrendered" as the other assailant was brandishing a knife, according to court records. The soldier was treated at the base hospital after a "large amount of blood loss," images in the complaint show. The pair allegedly stole $14,000 worth of gear, but dropped much of it at the scene when fleeing. Law enforcement discovered blood on their rucksacks and boots, according to the complaint. The Army Criminal Investigation Division requested a search warrant after discovering the rucksacks filled with the equipment that they left behind, as well as the hat that bore Fields' last name. During the search of one of the homes, the CID seized 35 weapons, including rifles, pistols, short-barreled rifles, an MG32 machine gun and suppressors -- some of which appeared to have been produced using a 3D printer -- along with night vision equipment, body armor, flashbang grenades, smoke canisters and blasting caps. Images from the complaint also show Nazi and white supremacist paraphernalia in one of the residences, including flags with a swastika and "SS" lightning bolts, murals and literature "in every bedroom and near several stockpiles of weapons and military equipment." Investigators said that one of the veterans admitted in an interview to stealing military property from the Ranger compound for "about two years" to later sell or trade. Fields and Frakes registered a company in Washington billed as a "defense manufacturing and training" service that featured imagery associated with Nazi ideology in its logo, according to the website and public business records. The company did not return a request for comment. In social media, they listed several military units as "clients," including the 75th Ranger Regiment, U.S. Army Special Forces, 1st Marine Division and the Coast Guard. contacted the units on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Ranger Regiment acknowledged the inquiry, but referred the publication to Army Special Operations Command. A spokesperson for the Coast Guard said that it "has never contracted with or been a client of" their company. The other units did not respond by deadline. Fields served a short stint as an infantryman in the active-duty Army from 2017 to 2021, deploying twice to Afghanistan and leaving the service with the rank of sergeant, service records show. The complaint notes both suspects previously served in the military, citing Pentagon records, and that the soldier who tried to confront them learned Fields had been assigned to the Ranger battalion he tried to steal from sometime around 2021. contacted the Marine Corps regarding Frakes' service, as a social media page shows that he served in the branch for four years. A spokesperson could not provide his service record, but noted that "there is a Marine veteran with that name." The two men were booked into Thurston County Jail, and a judge set bail for each at $500,000 on Tuesday during a preliminary appearance, according to the complaint. contacted the county public defense office that has taken on their cases, according to its director, Patrick O'Connor, but their attorneys had not been assigned as of Wednesday pending charges. The Thurston County Sheriff's Office did not respond to the publication on Wednesday, but the elected sheriff, Derek Sanders, said on social media that an FBI SWAT team executed the warrant. "The suspects identified in this case were actively involved in Nazi white nationalist efforts," he said. The county lists both veterans as being charged with unlawful possession of a short-barreled rifle and explosives. The military has faced persistent challenges in securing its weapons and equipment, including a notable incident in November when 31 M17 pistols went missing from Fort Benning, Georgia; only three have been recovered. A 2021 investigation by The Associated Press revealed that at least 1,900 firearms disappeared from military stockpiles during the 2010s, with some later turning up at crime scenes. The losses have been blamed on a range of security lapses, including gaps in surveillance and poor recordkeeping. Of the attack on the soldiers, Luke Baumgartner, a research fellow with George Washington University's Program on Extremism, said that "they were not afraid to use violence in order to gain access to the equipment that they were looking for." "Veterans who end up becoming involved in these extremist movements often look backward toward their military service as a source of inspiration," he said, citing cases such as Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran who killed 168 people in the Oklahoma City bombing and also stole military equipment from a National Guard armory. "They're just following in their footsteps; they're continuing this pattern that we've seen before," he said. The complaint said that the pair were scanned into the main gate of JBLM around 8 p.m. Sunday and that they had allegedly used bolt cutters to break a lock into the Ranger compound. Investigators tied Frakes' vehicle to one seen on surveillance cameras on base. It was unclear how they had apparently easy access to the gate and how the unit accounted for its equipment if thefts had been occurring for two years. "That tells me that there is a lack of proper accountability for sensitive items and military property going on within that unit," Baumgartner, an Army veteran, added. The Pentagon has entirely abandoned addressing far-right extremism in the military community under the Trump administration. While there is no evidence service members or veterans are more likely to be radicalized, experts have said they are force multipliers to extremist organizations given their inherent credibility and tactical knowledge. Related: What the Pentagon Has, Hasn't and Could Do to Stop Veterans and Troops from Joining Extremist Groups
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Disturbing Nazi haul is found inside unsuspecting suburban home
Investigators seized a disturbing cache of Nazi paraphernalia, machine guns, grenade launchers and armor during the raid of a quiet suburban home in Washington state. Charles Ethan Fields, 26, and Levi Austin Frakes, 27, were arrested Tuesday night after an FBI special weapons and tactics team swarmed on their residence in Lacey, near the state capitol of Olympia. Officers raided the duo's home in connection to their investigation into a 'violent robbery and theft of military weaponry/armor' at a nearby military base. Agents seized 35 firearms at the home, including short barrel rifles, handguns, and a MG42 machine gun, a type typically supported with a bipod and was used by German troops during World War II. They also seized various explosives, body armor, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and other equipment, some of which was restricted Army-issued munitions, according a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily Mail. The weapons were stored in the phone alongside Nazi flags and paraphernalia and the pair were 'actively involved in Nazi White Nationalist efforts', Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders said. The federal complaint filed Wednesday in US District Court charges Fields and Frakes with robbery, assault and theft of government property. Fields and Frakes, who are former military members, also face investigation on state charges of unlawful possession of incendiary devices, short-barreled rifles and a machine gun. Fields and Frakes entered Joint Base Lewis-McCord Sunday evening, partially masked and were wearing Army Rangers fitness attire, the complaint states. An Army Ranger found the pair inside the Central Operations Facility with a cluster of military property around them, prosecutors claim. The soldier confronted the duo and a fight ensued with one of the suspects allegedly brandishing a hammer and using it to assault the officer. The suspect struck the soldier in his head and torso, causing 'bodily harm' and a 'large amount of blood loss', according to the complaint. The soldier fought back and managed to gain control of the hammer, but one of the suspects pulled out a knife. The victim surrendered and the pair fled the compound with a cache of government property worth estimated $14,000, prosecutors allege. Surveillance cameras captured the duo as they fled. The pair allegedly dropped two backpacks and a hat with the name 'Fields' written inside as they tried to escape. In addition to the slew of weapons, police found white supremacy memorabilia, murals, and literature in every bedroom of the home Investigators found a bolt cutter, latex gloves and disposable face masks at the scene. Officials believe the duo 'likely used the bolt cutter to gain access into the facility', the complaint states. Using base entry logs and surveillance video, investigators determined that Fields and Frakes had entered Lewis-McChord together about an hour before the attack, investigators said. Additionally, the wounded soldier, who required hospital treatment, told investigators that he asked around his unit about the name Fields after finding it on the hat. The soldier learned that Fields had been assigned to the Ranger Battalion around 2021, and he was able to identify him as one of the attackers based on photos shown to him by others in his unit, the complaint said. The complaint did not include details of Frakes' military service. The FBI executed a search warrant at a home shared by the defendants on Monday and arrested them. In addition to the slew of weapons, police found white supremacy memorabilia, murals, and literature in every bedroom of the home. They also seized personal electronic devices, clothing believed to be worn during the assault, and approximately $24,000 in cash. One of the defendants told investigators they had been stealing equipment from the base for the past two years to sell or trade, the complaint states. Fields and Frakes are each being held at the Pierce County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Toronto Star
6 days ago
- General
- Toronto Star
2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say
SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday night at their home in Lacey, near Olympia, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Federal court records did not list an attorney for either man.
