A Fort Bragg soldier who was caught trying to enter the base with illegal weapons, Nazi memorabilia and plans to rid several North Carolina counties of minorities pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered short-barrel rifle on April 25.
Noah Edwin Anthony, 23, was caught trying to enter the military base with the items on March 3, 2022, during a random vehicle inspection, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina.
The gate officer found Anthony in possession of a privately made and loaded “Glock-like” 9mm handgun, often referred to as a “ghost gun” because they have no serial numbers. The military police were alerted, and a further search of Anthony’s vehicle turned up two extended magazines with ammunition, an American flag with a swastika and Nazi-type patches.
Anthony’s statements of his desire “operation… to physically remove as many [Black and Brown people]” from several counties in the state, including Cumberland, Hoke, Robeson and Scotland Counties “by whatever means need be” was found on his electronic devices in his quarters on the military base. Also found were a 3D-printed FGC-9 semi-automatic rifle with no serial number, white supremacist rhetoric, Nazi T-shirts and more Nazi patches.
The ATF Firearms Laboratory confirmed that Anthony’s FGC-9 rifle was a short-barrel rifle less than 16 inches long, which is a violation of the National Firearms Act (NFA). The ATF also confirmed that the weapon had no manufacturer’s identification marks or a serial number. The weapon was also unregistered, which is also a violation of the National Firearms Act.
Black people account for 23 percent to 39 percent of the population in the counties Anthony targeted.
Similar white supremacist language was found after then-18-year-old Payton Gendron shot and killed 10 Black people on May 14, 2022, at Tops Friendly supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
Gendron allegedly wrote a 180-page paper centered on the racist conspiracy theories that extremists are calling “the great replacement.” The conspiracy theory states that non-white immigrants are being brought to America and other Western nations to “replace” white voters for a political agenda. Anti-immigration groups and white supremacists widely believe the conspiracy theory by extremist David Lane.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Lane’s words, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” is a slogan for the white supremacist movement. The slogan is also called “14 Words.”
Lane — who died in prison in 2007 while serving a 190-year sentence for his role in the assassination of Jewish radio host Alan Berg — once said that “America is the murderer of the White Race. … I wouldn’t contaminate my toilet with your red, white and blue rag.”
Lane was a member of the white supremacist terrorist group known as Bruders Schweigen or Silent Brotherhood. The group is also known as The Order. Gendron repeatedly referenced the “great replacement” in his 180-page racist document, and the rhetoric found in Anthony’s quarters at Fort Bragg also echoed white nationalist theories.
African American studies and political science professor at Winthrop University, Adolphus Belk Jr., said that white nationalist movements see minorities as a threat to their existence.
“They are willing to use any means that are available to preserve and defend their position in society,” Belk told NPR last year. “It’s almost like a sort of holy war, a conflict, where they see themselves as taking the action directly to the offending culture and people by eliminating them.”
Anthony pled guilty and is now facing up to 10 years in prison.
