Neo-Nazi group member Patrik Mathews won't get weapons seized in 2019 raid back: Manitoba judge

A Manitoba judge has formally approved the forfeiture of weapons seized from former army reservist Patrik Mathews when his Beausejour home was raided by police four years ago.

Mathews is currently serving a nine-year federal prison sentence in the U.S. for charges related to what the FBI has described as a neo-Nazi plot to instigate a race war in that country. 

Prosecutors had successfully argued for a "terrorism enhancement" in his case, meaning the judge agreed they were promoting a federal crime of terrorism, though Mathews and his co-accused, Brian Lemley Jr., were not charged with terrorism.

RCMP officers executed a search warrant at Mathew's home in Beausejour, about 50 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, on Aug. 19, 2019 — days after he was publicly identified through a Winnipeg Free Press report as a recruiter for The Base, a neo-Nazi group.

He then crossed into the U.S. and was missing for several months, until he was arrested in January 2020. 

Following his arrest, a U.S. court heard evidence Mathews was involved with others in discussions about killing federal officials, derailing trains and poisoning water supplies as part of a violent scheme to exploit tensions and trigger a race war in the United States.

Both Mathews and Lemley pleaded guilty in June 2021 to gun charges linked to what the FBI described as a plot to attack a gun-rights rally in Virginia, which the pair hoped would lead to clashes between police and thousands of heavily armed protesters.

5-year weapons ban

During the 2019 raid of Mathews's Beausejour home, RCMP found and seized nearly a dozen weapons, as well as assorted ammunition. 

Those included six rifles and a Tokarev TT-33 handgun, as well as paintball, pellet and BB guns, court documents show. 

The Manitoba Crown filed an application asking for a court order of forfeiture of the seized weapons, which was granted in a judgment dated Oct. 13 by provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine.

She also granted a five-year weapons ban — the maximum allowed under Canada's Criminal Code when items are seized for public safety reasons, according to a provincial spokesperson.

The Crown had previously attempted to serve Mathews with notice of the forfeiture application in 2019, but he had already fled the country by that point, the decision says.

The decision was rendered ex parte — meaning without Mathews present — after Crown prosecutors notified Mathews he could attend the hearing via teleconference from Wisconsin, where he is currently incarcerated, or have a lawyer represent him. He did not respond, Devine's decision says.

Given the serious nature of Mathews's crimes, Devine wrote she was satisfied that the firearms seized in 2019 shouldn't be returned to him and that it is "not in the interests of anyone that Mathews possess firearms or weapons of any kind."

"The conditions in the world today are even more fractured and violent than they were at the time of the seizure of the firearms," Devine wrote. 

"The risk[s] that Mathews would pose if armed are elevated." 

Weapons ban in the U.S. 

Devine's decision notes that Mathews is set to be deported to Canada once he's served his sentence, since he entered the United States illegally. 

U.S. court documents show Mathews is banned from owning or accessing any weapons in the United States upon release from federal prison. 

U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang also approved the forfeiture of all weapons that were seized by U.S. investigators during a search of a Delaware apartment in January 2020. 

Those include two semi-automatic rifles — one of which was a AR-15 with no serial number — and dozens of rounds of ammunition. 

Once released, Mathews will be required to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will be under their supervision until any deportation proceedings are complete.