Robert Jay Mathews
Encyclopedia
Robert Jay Mathews was the leader of an American white nationalist group The Order
.
Mathews was burned to death during the intense gunfight with approximately seventy-five of the federal
law enforcement agents who surrounded his house on Whidbey Island
, near Freeland, Washington
.
Mathews' life was fictionalized in the 1999 television film Brotherhood of Murder.
, Texas
, January 16, 1953, the youngest of three boys born to Johnny and Una Mathews. His father, of Scottish descent
, was mayor of the town, and the Chamber of Commerce
's President, as well as a businessman and leader for the local Methodist
church. His mother was the town's den mother.
The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona
. Though he was an average student in grade school, history and politics interested him. At age eleven, he joined the John Birch Society
. Matthews was baptized into the Mormon
faith as a high schooler.
He formed the "Sons of Liberty," an anti-communist
militia
mostly made up of Mormon survivalists
. At its peak, it had approximately thirty members. After filling out his employer's W-4 Form claiming ten dependents (reportedly as an act of tax resistance
), he was arrested for tax fraud, tried, and placed on probation
for six months. After a falling out between the Mormon and non-Mormon members, the Sons of Liberty became moribund and Mathews withdrew.
After the probation ended in 1974, he decided to move to Metaline Falls, Washington
. Mathews and his father purchased sixty wooded acres for their new home.
Mathews and Debbie McGarrity were married in 1976. He raised Scottish Galloway cattle. The couple adopted a son in 1981. Mathews later had a daughter with a woman named Zillah Craig.
's book Which Way Western Man? profoundly affected him. Mathews believed that the White race was in danger, and in 1982 he made an effort to attract White families to the Pacific Northwest
, or the "White American Bastion
." He visited the Aryan Nations
compound many times and began to have friends and followers.
In 1983, Mathews made a speech at a National Alliance convention, which was a report on his efforts to recruit on behalf of the National Alliance, especially among "the yeoman farmers and independent truckers," around the "White American Bastion," and a call to action to the convention's only standing ovation. Mathews took to heart the 1978 novel The Turner Diaries
written by the National Alliance founder William Pierce
.
In late September of that year, at a barracks
he constructed on his property in Metaline, Mathews founded, along with eight other men, the group that would be known as The Order
, which he thought of as the "Silent Brotherhood." They included his friend and neighbor, Ken Loff, and Aryan Nations men: Dan Bauer, Randy Duey, Denver Parmenter, and Bruce Pierce. David Lane
, Richie Kemp and Bill Soderquist, recent recruits, rounded out the group. None had ever committed a violent crime, or had served prison time.
The first order of business, according to Mathews' plan, was to obtain money to support white separatism. They robbed an adult bookstore
in Spokane
, which netted $369.10. They agreed that was too risky, and turned to robbing armored cars and counterfeiting. They printed up some phony $50 notes and 28-year-old Pierce was quickly arrested after passing a few.
To raise Pierce's bail, Mathews, acting alone, robbed a bank
just north of Seattle
. He stole around $26,000. Some of The Order's members, along with a new recruit, Gary Yarborough, carried out more robberies and burglaries, which netted them over $43,000. A subsequent robbery yielded several hundred thousand dollars. Another recruit, Tom Martinez, was caught and charged for passing more counterfeit currency. Then in July, 1984, they deployed approximately a dozen men in a successful effort to rob a Brink's
truck of $3,600,000.
The robbers distributed some of the stolen money to the North Carolina
-based White Patriot Party
and other white nationalist
organizations.
Mathews and the other members of the Order were eventually given up by Martinez, who was under pressure after the counterfeiting arrest. After he revealed information regarding Mathews' activities to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, agents moved to capture Mathews and his associates. By the time they could set up the operation, all of Mathews' accomplices and friends had decided to move again to other safe house
s. The government's agents surrounded Mathews in a house near Freeland, Washington
on Whidbey Island
on December 8, 1984. Mathews refused to come out after an intense exchange of gunfire. The FBI then fired dozens of smoke grenade
s into the house in an attempt to force Mathews out, but were thwarted by his use of a gas mask
. They then fired several M-79
Starburst flares inside the house, setting off a box of hand grenades and a stockpile of ammunition. Mathews continued to fire at agents as the house burned, but then suddenly stopped. After the wreckage had cooled enough to be searched, agents found the burned remains of 31 year old Mathews' body next to a charred bathtub, pistol still in hand.
Eventually over 75 people were convicted of crimes connected to The Order in eight trials on charges that included racketeering, conspiracy, counterfeiting, transporting stolen money, armored car robbery, and violation of civil rights. Later, ten people connected to the case, including Butler, Lane, and Pierce, were tried for sedition
, but were acquitted by the jury.
The Order (group)
The Order, also known as the Brüder Schweigen or Silent Brotherhood, was an organization active in the United States between 1983 and 1984...
.
Mathews was burned to death during the intense gunfight with approximately seventy-five of the federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
law enforcement agents who surrounded his house on Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is located about north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington...
, near Freeland, Washington
Freeland, Washington
Freeland is a town and census-designated place in Island County, Washington, United States. At the time of the 2010 census the population was 2,035. The town received its name based on its origins as a socialist commune in the early 1900s—. Literally, in the eyes of its founders, the land of...
.
Mathews' life was fictionalized in the 1999 television film Brotherhood of Murder.
Early years
Robert Mathews was born in MarfaMarfa, Texas
Marfa is a town in the high desert of far West Texas in the Southwestern United States. Located between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park, it is also the county seat of Presidio County. The population was 1,981 at the 2010 census....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, January 16, 1953, the youngest of three boys born to Johnny and Una Mathews. His father, of Scottish descent
Scottish American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage...
, was mayor of the town, and the Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
's President, as well as a businessman and leader for the local Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
church. His mother was the town's den mother.
The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. Though he was an average student in grade school, history and politics interested him. At age eleven, he joined the John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
. Matthews was baptized into the Mormon
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
faith as a high schooler.
He formed the "Sons of Liberty," an anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
mostly made up of Mormon survivalists
Survivalism
Survivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
. At its peak, it had approximately thirty members. After filling out his employer's W-4 Form claiming ten dependents (reportedly as an act of tax resistance
Tax resistance
Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax or to government policy.Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience and direct action...
), he was arrested for tax fraud, tried, and placed on probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
for six months. After a falling out between the Mormon and non-Mormon members, the Sons of Liberty became moribund and Mathews withdrew.
After the probation ended in 1974, he decided to move to Metaline Falls, Washington
Metaline Falls, Washington
Metaline Falls is a town in Pend Oreille County, Washington, United States. The population was 238 at the 2010 census.-History:Metaline Falls was discovered by natives 12,000 years ago. Eventually by fur traders came in 1810. The town was founded in 1900, with most of its residents then employed...
. Mathews and his father purchased sixty wooded acres for their new home.
Mathews and Debbie McGarrity were married in 1976. He raised Scottish Galloway cattle. The couple adopted a son in 1981. Mathews later had a daughter with a woman named Zillah Craig.
The Order
Mathews read history and politics. William Gayley SimpsonWilliam Gayley Simpson
-Early life:The oldest of three children, he was born July 23rd, 1892, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Lafayette College and graduated in 1912 with Phi Beta Kappa standing and as valedictorian of his class, proceeding to attend Union Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1915,...
's book Which Way Western Man? profoundly affected him. Mathews believed that the White race was in danger, and in 1982 he made an effort to attract White families to the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
, or the "White American Bastion
Northwest Territorial Imperative
The Northwest Territorial Imperative is an idea popularized since the 1980s within white nationalist and white separatist groups in the United States. According to it, adherents of these groups are encouraged to relocate to a five-state region of the Northwestern United States — viz., Washington,...
." He visited the Aryan Nations
Aryan Nations
Aryan Nations is a white supremacist religious organization originally based in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Richard Girnt Butler founded the group in the 1970s, as an arm of the Christian Identity organization Church of Jesus Christ–Christian...
compound many times and began to have friends and followers.
In 1983, Mathews made a speech at a National Alliance convention, which was a report on his efforts to recruit on behalf of the National Alliance, especially among "the yeoman farmers and independent truckers," around the "White American Bastion," and a call to action to the convention's only standing ovation. Mathews took to heart the 1978 novel The Turner Diaries
The Turner Diaries
The Turner Diaries is a novel written in 1978 by William Luther Pierce under the pseudonym "Andrew Macdonald"...
written by the National Alliance founder William Pierce
William Luther Pierce
William Luther Pierce III was the leader of the white separatist National Alliance organization, and one of the most important ideologists of the white nationalist movement. Pierce originally worked as an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University, before he became involved in...
.
In late September of that year, at a barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
he constructed on his property in Metaline, Mathews founded, along with eight other men, the group that would be known as The Order
The Order (group)
The Order, also known as the Brüder Schweigen or Silent Brotherhood, was an organization active in the United States between 1983 and 1984...
, which he thought of as the "Silent Brotherhood." They included his friend and neighbor, Ken Loff, and Aryan Nations men: Dan Bauer, Randy Duey, Denver Parmenter, and Bruce Pierce. David Lane
David Lane (Neo-Nazi)
David Eden Lane was an American white nationalist leader and convicted felon. A founding member of The Order, he died while serving a 190-year prison sentence in the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana....
, Richie Kemp and Bill Soderquist, recent recruits, rounded out the group. None had ever committed a violent crime, or had served prison time.
The first order of business, according to Mathews' plan, was to obtain money to support white separatism. They robbed an adult bookstore
Sex shop
A sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, clothing, pornography, and other related products...
in Spokane
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
, which netted $369.10. They agreed that was too risky, and turned to robbing armored cars and counterfeiting. They printed up some phony $50 notes and 28-year-old Pierce was quickly arrested after passing a few.
To raise Pierce's bail, Mathews, acting alone, robbed a bank
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
just north of Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. He stole around $26,000. Some of The Order's members, along with a new recruit, Gary Yarborough, carried out more robberies and burglaries, which netted them over $43,000. A subsequent robbery yielded several hundred thousand dollars. Another recruit, Tom Martinez, was caught and charged for passing more counterfeit currency. Then in July, 1984, they deployed approximately a dozen men in a successful effort to rob a Brink's
The Brink's Company
The Brink's Company is a security and protection company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Its core business is Brink’s, Incorporated; it spun off its Brink’s Home Security operations into a separate company in 2008. In 2005, the company reported a total of 54,000 employees and...
truck of $3,600,000.
The robbers distributed some of the stolen money to the North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
-based White Patriot Party
White Patriot Party
The White Patriot Party was an American anti-Semitic white supremacist paramilitary political party associated with Christian Identity and the Ku Klux Klan. Using paramilitary tactics, the group developed from the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan chapter; it was founded in 1980 by Frazier...
and other white nationalist
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
organizations.
Final days
Prior to his death, Mathews wrote a long letter explaining his life, and justifying his actions.Mathews and the other members of the Order were eventually given up by Martinez, who was under pressure after the counterfeiting arrest. After he revealed information regarding Mathews' activities to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, agents moved to capture Mathews and his associates. By the time they could set up the operation, all of Mathews' accomplices and friends had decided to move again to other safe house
Safe house
In the jargon of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, a safe house is a secure location, suitable for hiding witnesses, agents or other persons perceived as being in danger...
s. The government's agents surrounded Mathews in a house near Freeland, Washington
Freeland, Washington
Freeland is a town and census-designated place in Island County, Washington, United States. At the time of the 2010 census the population was 2,035. The town received its name based on its origins as a socialist commune in the early 1900s—. Literally, in the eyes of its founders, the land of...
on Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is located about north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington...
on December 8, 1984. Mathews refused to come out after an intense exchange of gunfire. The FBI then fired dozens of smoke grenade
Smoke grenade
Smoke grenades are canister-type grenades used as ground-to-ground or ground-to-air signaling devices, target or landing zone marking devices, or as screening devices for unit movements. Smoke grenades are normally considered non-lethal, although incorrect use may cause death...
s into the house in an attempt to force Mathews out, but were thwarted by his use of a gas mask
Gas mask
A gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
. They then fired several M-79
M79 grenade launcher
The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40x46mm grenade which used what the US Army called the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the Vietnam War...
Starburst flares inside the house, setting off a box of hand grenades and a stockpile of ammunition. Mathews continued to fire at agents as the house burned, but then suddenly stopped. After the wreckage had cooled enough to be searched, agents found the burned remains of 31 year old Mathews' body next to a charred bathtub, pistol still in hand.
Eventually over 75 people were convicted of crimes connected to The Order in eight trials on charges that included racketeering, conspiracy, counterfeiting, transporting stolen money, armored car robbery, and violation of civil rights. Later, ten people connected to the case, including Butler, Lane, and Pierce, were tried for sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
, but were acquitted by the jury.
Legacy in white power music
- In 1995, the neo-NaziNeo-NazismNeo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
band RaHoWa released their album Cult of the Holy War on Resistance RecordsResistance RecordsResistance Records is a record label owned by Resistance LLC, a society closely connected to the National Alliance. It produces and sells music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website...
, which included the song "Man Against Time" that praised Robert Mathews and his actions. - The Neo-Nazi band SkrewdriverSkrewdriverSkrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
wrote a song about Mathews titled "Gone With the Breeze" which in 2004, the white nationalistWhite nationalismWhite nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
neo-Nazi music group Prussian BluePrussian Blue (duo)Prussian Blue was a white nationalist pop pre-teen duo formed in early 2003 by the mother of Lynx Vaughan Gaede and Lamb Lennon Gaede, sororal twin girls born on June 30, 1992, in Bakersfield, California...
covered on their album Fragment of the FutureFragment of the FutureFragment of the Future is the debut LP from the White Nationalist duo, Prussian Blue.-Track listing:# "The Road to Valhalla" 3:54# "Victory Day" 4:14# "Weiss Weiss Weiss" 1:19...
. - The song "Hail the Order" by the band Nordic Thunder is also about Bob Mathews
- The song "In the The Your Memory Robert Matthews" by the band White Diamond Death is also about Bob Mathews
External links
- Robert Mathews at the NNDBNNDBThe Notable Names Database , produced by Soylent Communications, the same entity that produces Rotten, Daily Rotten, Dr. Sputnik's Society Pages and Penny Postcards, is an online database of biographical details of over 36,000 people of note...
- Brotherhood of Murder - a Hollywood film about The Order, as told from Tom Martinez's view.