Matthews, Robert Jay

Robert Matthews was born in Martha , Texas , on January 16, 1953. The youngest of three children born to Johnny and Una Matthews. His father, who has Scottish roots, was the mayor of the city, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and leader of the local Methodist community.

At the age of eleven, Matthews joined the John Birch Society . The family later moved to the city of Phoenix, Arizona. There, Matthews created the Sons of Liberty organization, which was an anti-communist militia with up to 30 fighters. He was soon arrested for tax evasion and sentenced to six months probation. In 1974, he moved to Metal Falls in Washington State, where he and his father bought 60 acres of wood and built a new house. Two years later, Matthews married Debbie McGurrity , with whom they adopted a son. He also had a daughter from another woman.

Matthews began to read a lot at Metal Falls. He was particularly fascinated by the book by William Gailly Simpson, “Which Way Western Man?”, Which talked about the dangers threatening white humanity. Matthews has matured a plan to create a White American Bastion on the northwestern Pacific coast of the United States. In 1983, he presented his plan for the convention of the National Alliance and was greeted by stormy applause from the participants.

In September 1983, at his Metal Falls farm, he and eight other like-minded people created an organization called The Order, also called the Silent Brotherhood. First, the bandits needed to raise funds for terrorist activities. Revenues from the first robbery of a porn store in Spokane , Washington , totaled $ 369. Due to the insignificance of this amount, it was decided to proceed to the robbery of collectors and counterfeiting of money.

Matthews managed to print some 50 dollar bills, but one member, Bruce Carroll Pierce , was arrested as soon as he tried to use them. To make a deposit for him, Matthews at the end of 1983 single-handedly robbed a bank north of Seattle , earning $ 25,000. In March 1984, one group of Order soldiers detonated a bomb in one of Seattle's theaters to divert police attention, while another expropriated $ 500,000 from a collection vehicle. In June 1984, a Jewish radio journalist Alan Berg was killed by the Order in Denver. In July 1984, twelve Matthews fighters robbed another collector car, from which they stole 3,800,000 dollars (which became the largest robbery of a collector car in history). The funds received were used to purchase cars, equipment and weapons and help like-minded people. The Order also acquired land in Idaho and Missouri to create camps for training guerrilla warriors.

However, during the July attack, Matthews lost his gun, using which the FBI was able to reach one of the members of the Order. At about the same time, another member of the Order, Tom Martinez , arrested in Philadelphia for attempting to use counterfeit banknotes, agreed to cooperate with the authorities, and traveled to Portland , Oregon , where he was due to meet with Matthews and his associate Gary Yarborough The FBI ambushed the motel where the bandits were, but Matthews managed to escape, although he was shot in the arm and Yarborough was arrested.

On December 8, 1984, government agents (according to various sources, from 60 to 500) surrounded Matthews in Cupville , Washington , on Widby Island. He refused to surrender and engaged in a skirmish with the besiegers. FBI agents tried to get Matthews to leave the house by firing smoke grenades at him, but Matthews wore a protective mask. Then the besiegers launched several rockets into the house, which caused an explosion of hand grenades and other ammunition stored in the house. However, even after this, Matthews continued to shoot agents from the burning house for a while, until he burned down alive.

• Robert Matthews at NNDB