US neo-Nazi soldier plotted to have product attacked by jihadists
A good US soldier with links to neo-Nazis plotted to have Islamic extremists attack his device in Turkey in hopes of sparking a fresh "10-year battle" in the Middle East, the Justice Division charged on Monday.
An indictment unsealed in NY said Ethan Phelan Melzer, 22, was serving in the US Army in Vincenza, Italy, and looking to head to Turkey when he offered an FBI informant he believed had ties to jihadist organizations detailed information about his unit's movements previous month.
In online chatrooms for the neo-Nazi and satanist Purchase of the Nine Angles, or O9A, he precise their organized location and armaments in Turkey, suggesting attackers could easily overcome the force, in line with the indictment.
Melzer clarified he was supporting a good "jihadist" strike on the machine, and that he himself may well die.
"I would've died successfully...Cause if another 10-year war in the centre East would leave a tag," he told the informant.
Melzer was first charged with 6 counts of plotting to murder his fellow soldiers and materials support to terror teams. The indictment said the Louisville, Kentucky indigenous enlisted in the army in 2018 and got joined the violent O9A at least as early as 2019.
He shared information about his unit's moves with fellow O9A fans and a related group known as the "Rapewaffen Division" "for the intended purpose of facilitating an attack in the unit," the Justice Department alleged.
After his arrest, "Melzer declared himself to become a traitor against the United States, and described his own conduct as tantamount to treason," it stated in a statement.
If found guilty he faces up alive in prison. - AFP
