Militia members indicted in plan to 'start a war' at southern border, kill migrants

Two militia members were indicted by a federal grand jury after being accused of planning to “start a war” at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The two men, Bryan Perry from Clarksville, Tennessee and Jonathan O’Dell of Warsaw, Missouri, planned to go to Texas and shoot at undocumented migrants attempting to cross the border, according to the 44-count indictment returned on May 30. 

The two men began to plot their war in 2022 by recruiting others to join their militia.

They held a recruitment event at one of their residences, where they asked others to join and collected firearms and other supplies to get “ready to go to war against this government.” They also tried to promote their scheme on TikTok.

“Our group is gonna go protect this country,” Perry said in one of the videos. 

Perry and O’Dell also planned to kill any Border Patrol or FBI agent who attempted to stop their operation, according to the indictment. According to a video posted on Sept. 12, 2022, on TikTok by Perry, Border Patrol agents were committing treason for allowing migrants to cross into the U.S., adding that the penalty for such treason was death. 

When the FBI acted to arrest the two men, the two men fired at the agency vehicle, reported Fox News. According to prosecutors, Perry fired 11 rounds. Eventually, FBI agents were able to secure their arrest without returning fire. 

“Federal agents approached the property in vehicles with red and blue lights activated,” the Department of Justice wrote in a press release. “As the FBI approached, an agent utilized a loudspeaker on one of the vehicles, stating that they were with the FBI and that they had a search warrant for the residence. The FBI agent began to repeat the announcement, again stating that they were with the FBI when gunshots were fired from a front window at the lead FBI vehicle. Several rounds hit the lead FBI vehicle.”

At least 23 magazines with ammunition, six guns, body armor, explosive mixtures, and other weapons were found in the possession of the two men. 

Perry, 37, and O’Dell, 33, are currently being held in federal custody without bound. They are being charged with seven counts of attempted murder of FBI agents, seven counts of assaulting FBI agents with a deadly weapon, three counts of assaulting FBI agents, 14 counts of using a firearm in a crime, and one count of damaging federal property.