Two men who co-founded a militia group were convicted by a federal trial jury for their roles in a conspiracy to murder U.S. Border Patrol agents, as well as for shooting at FBI agents at the time of their arrests.
Jonathan S. O'Dell and Bryan C. Perry were found guilty of more than 30 felony counts each by a jury at the U.S. District Court in the Jefferson City, Missouri, according to Border Report. Court records showed that the men were planning a trip to the Texas-Mexico border to shoot migrants trying to cross into the U.S., as well as at any federal agents who tried to stop them.
O'Dell and Perry formed the so-called "2nd American Militia" and started recruiting people in the summer and fall of 2022. Later that year, O'Dell's home became the staging site as the group started collecting firearms, ammunition and paramilitary gear among other supplies, according to court evidence.
Prosecutors said Perry used his TikTok social media account to post videos in which he would say their militia group was going to "go protect this country," as they viewed U.S. Border Patrol agents as traitors for allowing undocumented immigrants cross into the U.S.
In one of the videos, Perry said that the penalty for Border Patrol agents committing treason was death. And on Oct. 3, he uploaded another video in which he stated "we are going out huntin'," implying that they were leaving for the U.S.-Mexico border on October 8, 2022.
But a day before they planned to leave for Texas, an FBI team served a search warrant on O'Dell's house. According to prosecutors, O'Dell and his girlfriends surrendered while Perry fought with agents, going as far as firing 11 rifle shots at them.
O'Dell, a Missouri native, and Perry, of Clarksville, Tennessee, are facing more than 30 felony counts each, including using a firearm in a violent crime, illegal gun possession and damaging of federal property. They were arrested in late 2022 and were indicted last year by a grand jury.
FBI agents that searched O'Dell's residence found six firearms, 23 magazines filled with ammunition, 1,770 rounds of various other ammunition, 11 spent casings, two sets of body armor, two gas masks, two ballistic helmets and multiple containers with an explosive mixture, among other things.
A sentencing date for either man has not yet been set, but according to federal statutes, both O'Dell and Perry each are subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without the option of parole, with the possibility of it being extended to life in federal prison without parole.
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