Virginia gun rally: FBI arrest three alleged neo-nazis as fears of second Charlottesville brew

Governor declares state of emergency after receiving 'credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies of threats of violence'

The Virginia Citizens Defence League has estimated as many as 100,000 demonstrators may descend onto the Capitol grounds in Virginia during its annual Lobby Day demonstrations next week. (REUTERS)

The FBI has arrested three alleged members of a neo-nazi hate group who were reportedly anticipating a possible race war and planning to bring firearms to a major guns rights demonstration next week in Virginia.

The three men — one of whom previously served as a trained combat engineer and explosives expert in the Canadian Army before his links to white supremacy emerged — were arrested in Maryland on Thursday morning.

Patrik Jordan Mathews, the 27-year-old former Canadian reservist and a main recruiter for the neo-nazi group, had reportedly entered the United States illegally ahead of the Virginia Citizens Defence League annual Lobby Day demonstrations set for Monday.

Brian M Lemley Jr, a 33-year-old former cavalry soldier in the US Army, was also one of the three men arrested by officials this week, along with 19-year-old William G Bilbrough. All three suspected members of the hate group known as "The Base" were expected to appear in federal court on Thursday afternoon.

The annual Lobby Day demonstrations have gained national attention by both proponents of the Second Amendment and gun control activists after Virginia’s General Assembly advanced four sweeping gun control bills, setting the stage for a potentially contentious showdown between both sides of the ideological divide.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has since declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned firearms from Capitol grounds, where the demonstrations are set to take place.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Civil Rights Defence League, told The Independent in an interview the group’s lawyers are looking into whether the governor had the legal authority to temporarily ban firearms in a state known for its lax open carry laws.

“First of all, we don’t think it’s legal”, Mr Van Cleave said about the temporary ban. “We don’t think he has the power to do what he’s doing.”

The guns rights group has estimated as many as 100,000 demonstrators could flock to the city on Martin Luther King day for the demonstrations, and has scheduled charter buses throughout the state for its members hoping to attend the event.

In announcing the state of emergency, Mr Northam said in a statement there was credible evidence that “militia groups and hate groups, some from out of state, plan to come to the Capitol to disrupt our democratic process with acts of violence”.

“We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies of threats of violence surrounding the demonstration planned for Monday, January 20”, the governor wrote on Twitter.

He added: “This includes extremist rhetoric similar to what has been seen before major incidents, such as Charlottesville in 2017.”

The arrest of the three suspected neo-Nazis planning to attend Lobby Day was in part the result of an extensive investigation the FBI was conducting into The Base, according to the New York Times.