Latest news with #JointBaseLewisMcChord
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say
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. One of the defendants told investigators they 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. 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 Pierce County Jail on $500,000 bail. 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. 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 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. Agents found rifles positioned at the upstairs windows, the complaint said. Authorities said agents seized about 35 firearms at the home, including short barrel 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 grenade launchers, Army-issued explosives, body armor, ammunition and ballistic helmets, authorities said. Photos from inside the home showed Nazi paraphernalia, including a red Nazi flag emblazoned with a black swastika.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
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. One of the defendants told investigators they 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. 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 Pierce County Jail on $500,000 bail. 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. 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 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. Agents found rifles positioned at the upstairs windows, the complaint said. Authorities said agents seized about 35 firearms at the home, including short barrel 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 grenade launchers, Army-issued explosives, body armor, ammunition and ballistic helmets, authorities said. Photos from inside the home showed Nazi paraphernalia, including a red Nazi flag emblazoned with a black swastika.
Fox News
30-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
China targets US military members in overseas spy operations, former CIA station chief warns
A former CIA station chief says China has U.S. military service members and government employees in the "crosshairs" of its overseas spy operations. Jian Zhao and Li Tian, both active-duty Army soldiers, were arrested in early March after allegedly selling "Top Secret" information to individuals based in China, according to the Department of Justice. Zhao and Tian were both indicted by federal grand juries in Washington and Oregon. Federal prosecutors allege Tian sold sensitive military information to former soldier Ruoyu Duan, who would allegedly receive money from individuals residing in China. Tian then allegedly received tens of thousands of dollars for selling the sensitive information. Included in the alleged documents Tian sold was a Google Drive link containing classified documents about the Stryker combat vehicle. Tian also allegedly sent additional sensitive data on U.S. weapons systems. Prosecutors said the incidents highlight efforts by China to use "cut-outs," known as people trusted by Chinese intelligence services, to gather sensitive information that could help the Chinese government. Those "cut-outs" then recruit individuals with access to or knowledge of U.S. government information, which includes current and former government officials. According to the court documents, security video showed Tian allegedly brought his personal cellphone into a classified area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington in May 2024, printed a classified document and left with it. He would allegedly return over three hours later with the document. Prosecutors also alleged that Tian took screenshots of sensitive information on several occasions. In a connected case at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Zhao allegedly sold classified information to an unnamed co-conspirator. According to federal prosecutors, Zhao received at least $15,000 for the documents. Zhao allegedly sold 20 military hard drives to an individual in China, some containing a "Secret" label. Zaho allegedly conspired to sell information related to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as well as information related to U.S. military readiness if there was a war with China. "While bribery and corruption have thrived under China's Communist Party, this behavior cannot be tolerated with our service members who are entrusted with sensitive military information, including national defense information," said FBI Director Kash Patel on the charges. Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital he thinks U.S. military service members as well as government employees are being targeted to take part in these spy operations. "I think anybody who serves in the U.S. government is in the crosshairs. And China will do it," Hoffman said. "Sometimes they'll run their recruitment operations posing as someone else. So maybe somebody doesn't want to go spy for China, but they might pretend to be somebody else. Or they might contact you on social media, on LinkedIn or some other site and pose as someone not so nefarious when in fact they are." Hoffman said gaining intel from the U.S. military is one of the Chinese government's "highest requirements." "They want to recruit U.S. military because there's a probability we might go to war with China, and not just U.S. military, but NATO members as well, and throughout Asia. So they've got a massive intelligence apparatus," he said. China isn't just targeting the U.S. military. It's targeting many other aspects of American society as well, including academia. Five former University of Michigan students were charged in October 2024 after they were allegedly caught spying on a National Guard training center for the Chinese government during a training session with the Taiwanese military. The former University of Michigan students were confronted by a Utah National Guard sergeant major in August 2023 near a lake at Camp Grayling in Michigan. Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on U.S. and China relations, told Fox News Digital the Chinese Communist Party "will exercise whatever tactics they feel they need to by hook or crook to get our military secrets," adding China is "shameless." "This is a tactic that China is exercising in the new Cold War that we're locked in with the Chinese Communist Party. And one of the things that is really striking is the low price that a lot of Americans are willing to sell their patriotism for and their allegiance for. Some of these people didn't get that much money to sell some really sensitive military secrets over to the Chinese Communist Party," Sobolik said.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pierce County has state's most vets on disability. Would VA cuts delay benefits?
An estimated 33,000 people or more in Pierce County received Veterans Affairs disability benefits by the end of fiscal year 2023, accounting for 21% of all people in Washington who received the compensation, federal government data shows. The local number of beneficiaries is higher than any county in the state and larger than more populous counties elsewhere, including those that encompass Chicago and Miami, according to the most-recent figures from the Department of Veterans Affairs. There are only 11 counties in the United States that have more beneficiaries, federal data shows, underscoring the significant military presence that exists in Pierce County. Joint Base Lewis-McChord is the region's largest job creator. The VA took 131.5 days on average in April to process a disability claim from veterans seeking compensation for injuries incurred during service, slightly higher than its 125-day goal, according to the department. Democratic lawmakers fear that the wait list could get longer with major staffing cuts planned for the VA amid the Trump administration's efforts to reorganize the department. The administration, which fired 2,400 probationary employees in February, has plans to downsize the department by about 80,000 employees, or about 15% of the workforce, to reach 2019 staffing levels, according to news reports. The administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to allow its plan to proceed with mass layoffs at multiple federal agencies, including the VA, after a lower court temporarily blocked it earlier this month, multiple outlets reported. Sen. Patty Murray's office released a report last month warning of exacerbated staff shortages and highlighting 'catastrophic' harms that it said mass layoffs would bring to veterans, including by decreasing health care and lengthening processing times for disability claims. 'Trump and Musk's senseless mass firings endanger the care and benefits veterans across Washington state, and right here in Pierce County, have earned and deserve,' Murray, D-WA, said in a statement in late April to The News Tribune. 'Trump's actions certainly won't make it easier for veterans to get their benefits. These firings could worsen staffing shortages at VA offices, which can mean fewer people to process veterans' claims, answer the phones, or help schedule doctors' appointments.' The VA did not respond to a message seeking comment on the potential impacts of mass firings on VA services. Earlier this month, the department applauded reforms in the VA enacted by President Donald Trump, including establishing a center for homeless veterans in Los Angeles, and criticized the department under its previous leadership. 'Under President Biden, VA failed to hold its employees properly accountable and actively fought congressional attempts to make it easier to fire poor-performing workers — even as health care wait times and benefits backlogs increased,' the department said in a May 9 news release. In February, VA Secretary Doug Collins vowed in a video message that no veterans benefits would be cut and that the department was growing more efficient. 'In fact, we're actually giving and improving services in our Veterans Benefits Administration. They're actually clearing cases quicker,' Collins said. 'We're doing what we're supposed to be doing.' Robert Sheetz, the veterans program manager for Pierce County, told The News Tribune that it wasn't immediately certain what effect, if any, staffing cuts would have on claim processing times or general services for veterans. 'To be honest with you, the answer is nobody really knows,' Sheetz said in an interview late last month, adding that a clearer picture probably wouldn't arrive until the summer. Whether there will be those ramifications that worry Democrats depends on what positions are eliminated, according to Sheetz. Even if it's not front-line or medical workers, losing people who work in the background, such as raters and evidence collectors, could prove costly, he said. The VA has employees whose jobs — integral to the claims process — are to gather all of a claimant's medical records and associated evidence for their disability and to assign a rating based on the severity of the disability. 'I think everybody's kind of cautiously optimistic,' he said. 'I think everybody's waiting for what that might look like because nobody can answer the question.' On May 13, the county held a monthly workshop where veterans can receive assistance filing a new claim, adjusting an existing one and generally learning about the claims process, including for disability, pension or burial benefits. Trey Reynolds, 59, who lives in Tacoma, was among those who attended the event. As a four-year Army veteran, Reynolds said he wasn't seeking disability compensation but instead looking to secure health benefits he only recently learned he could be eligible for. In Washington, nearly 232,000 people were enrolled in the VA health care system in fiscal year 2023, according to the department. 'I'm thinking if they're cutting all these people,' Reynolds said, 'then that might take the process even longer.' More information on Pierce County's veterans workshops, held the second Tuesday of every month, can be found at On May 31, the Fife-based advocacy group, NineLine Veteran Services, is hosting a resource fair at the Tacoma Dome between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for veterans seeking health care, legal services, career development and more. Call 253-922-7225 for additional details.
