The Order, also known as the
Brüder Schweigen or
Silent Brotherhood, was an organization active in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1983 and 1984. The Order described themselves as a
white nationalistWhite nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people, in opposition to multiculturalism, along with a separate all-white nation-state. The contemporary White Nationalist Movement in the United States is a reaction to the decline in...
revolutionaryA revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavour...
group, and are probably best known for the 1984 murder of radio talk show host
Alan BergAlan Berg was an American attorney and radio talk show host in Denver, Colorado. Berg was known for taking a largely liberal stand on issues and was, at times, abrasive and combative to callers and guests who held opposing views.Berg, who was Jewish, was shot and killed in the driveway of his...
.
The Order was founded by
Robert Jay MathewsRobert Jay Mathews was the leader of an American white nationalist group The Order.Mathews was burned to death during an intense gunfight with approximately seventy-five federal law enforcement agents who surrounded his house on Whidbey Island, south of Coupeville, Washington, on December 8, 1984...
in late September 1983 at Mathews' farm near
Metaline FallsMetaline Falls is a town in Pend Oreille County, Washington, United States. The population was 223 at the 2000 census.-History:Metaline Falls was officially incorporated on May 13, 1911.The 1997 film The Postman was filmed in part in the area....
,
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
. A fundamental goal of The Order was revolution against the government of the United States, which was seen by members of The Order and other white supremacist groups as being controlled by a cabal of prominent
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s.
The Order, also known as the
Brüder Schweigen or
Silent Brotherhood, was an organization active in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1983 and 1984. The Order described themselves as a
white nationalistWhite nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people, in opposition to multiculturalism, along with a separate all-white nation-state. The contemporary White Nationalist Movement in the United States is a reaction to the decline in...
revolutionaryA revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavour...
group, and are probably best known for the 1984 murder of radio talk show host
Alan BergAlan Berg was an American attorney and radio talk show host in Denver, Colorado. Berg was known for taking a largely liberal stand on issues and was, at times, abrasive and combative to callers and guests who held opposing views.Berg, who was Jewish, was shot and killed in the driveway of his...
.
History
The Order was founded by
Robert Jay MathewsRobert Jay Mathews was the leader of an American white nationalist group The Order.Mathews was burned to death during an intense gunfight with approximately seventy-five federal law enforcement agents who surrounded his house on Whidbey Island, south of Coupeville, Washington, on December 8, 1984...
in late September 1983 at Mathews' farm near
Metaline FallsMetaline Falls is a town in Pend Oreille County, Washington, United States. The population was 223 at the 2000 census.-History:Metaline Falls was officially incorporated on May 13, 1911.The 1997 film The Postman was filmed in part in the area....
,
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
. A fundamental goal of The Order was revolution against the government of the United States, which was seen by members of The Order and other white supremacist groups as being controlled by a cabal of prominent
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s. The group was partly modeled on, and was named after, a fictional group in
William Luther PierceWilliam Luther Pierce III , was the leader of the white separatist National Alliance organization, and a principal ideologue of the white nationalist movement. First educated as a physicist, he later worked with George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party...
's novel
The Turner DiariesThe Turner Diaries is a novel written in 1978 by William Luther Pierce under the pseudonym "Andrew Macdonald"...
. The Order's goals included the establishment of a homeland (now the
Northwest Territorial ImperativeThe Northwest Territorial Imperative was an idea popularized within white supremacist and white separatist groups in the United States in the 1980s, in which adherents to these groups were encouraged to relocate to a five-state region of the Northwestern United States, including Washington, Oregon,...
) where
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s and non-
whiteWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
s would be barred. They often referred to the
United States federal governmentThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
as
ZOG, an acronym for Zionist Occupied Government. Members of the order included Randy Evans, Gary Yarborough, Bruce Pierce, Denver Parmenter, Frank Silva, Richard Scutari, David Lane, Randy Duey, and David Tate.
To fund their goals, the Order committed a series of violent crimes. First the robbery of a
sex shopA sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products such as sex toys, pornography, erotic lingerie, erotic books, and safe sex products such as condoms and dental dams. The euphemisms "Adult Video Store" and "Adult Book Store" are commonly used to refer to sex shops that sell or rent pornographic...
, which netted them less than USD $400. Afterwards, the Order's attacks were more effective, committing several lucrative
bank robberiesBank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is, "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence...
, as well as bombing a theater and a
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
. The Order ran a large counterfeiting operation, and executed a series of armored car robberies, including one near
UkiahUkiah is the county seat and largest city of Mendocino County, California. With its accessible location , Ukiah serves as the city center for Mendocino County and much of neighboring Lake County...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
that netted $3.8 million.
The Order drew up a hit list of enemies, and on June 18, 1984 radio talk show host
Alan BergAlan Berg was an American attorney and radio talk show host in Denver, Colorado. Berg was known for taking a largely liberal stand on issues and was, at times, abrasive and combative to callers and guests who held opposing views.Berg, who was Jewish, was shot and killed in the driveway of his...
was murdered in front of his home by Bruce Pierce, assisted by other members of The Order. Berg was number two on The Order's list. Berg's murder and the subsequent trial formed the basis of
Steven DietzSteven Dietz is an American playwright whose work is largely performed regionally, i.e. outside of New York City. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Dietz graduated in 1980 with a B.A...
's 1988 play
God's Country, and also loosely inspired
Eric BogosianEric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist.-Personal life:Bogosian, an Armenian American, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. After graduating from Oberlin College, Bogosian moved to...
's play
Talk RadioTalk Radio is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize-nominated play written by Eric Bogosian, based on a concept by Bogosian and Tad Savinar. It centers around Barry Champlain, a Cleveland-area shock jock, on the eve of his radio show's national syndication....
(later adapted into
a filmTalk Radio is a 1988 film, starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley, Alec Baldwin, John Pankow, Michael Wincott, Robert Trebor, Tony Frank, Anna Levine, Rockets Redglare, Park Overall and Earl Hindman...
by
Oliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural...
) and the film
BetrayedBetrayed is a 1988 motion picture drama directed by Costa Gavras, written by Joe Eszterhas and starring Tom Berenger and Debra Winger.-Plot:Set in the American Midwest, the film begins with the murder of a Jewish radio host in Chicago...
. A fictional version of the story was also the subject of the movie
Brotherhood of Murder.
In December 1984, authorities were able to track Mathews down to a house on
Whidbey IslandWhidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is located about north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington...
where he refused to surrender. During a shootout, the house was ignited by incendiary flares, became engulfed in flames and Mathews was killed. Mathews is held in high esteem by some within the white nationalist subculture.
Convictions
Ten members of The Order were tried and convicted under
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ActThe Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was enacted by section 901 of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970...
(RICO) statutes. In a separate trial, three other members of The Order were tried and convicted of violating the
civil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression....
of
Alan BergAlan Berg was an American attorney and radio talk show host in Denver, Colorado. Berg was known for taking a largely liberal stand on issues and was, at times, abrasive and combative to callers and guests who held opposing views.Berg, who was Jewish, was shot and killed in the driveway of his...
. No one has been charged in the murder of Berg. David Lane, the getaway driver for Berg's assailants, was sentenced to 190 consecutive years on the charges of racketeering,
conspiracyIn the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
, and violating Berg's civil rights. He died in prison in 2007. Lane is regarded by many
white supremacistsWhite supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance of whites....
as a hero, political prisoner and martyr. His
Fourteen WordsThe Fourteen Words is a phrase used by white nationalists. It refers to both the 14-word slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.", and the 14-word slogan: "Because the beauty of the White Aryan woman must not perish from the earth." Both 14-word slogans...
slogan, "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children", has become a prominent motto of many white nationalists. In another trial, 14 men were charged with
seditionSedition is a term of law which refers to overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority...
, conspiracy and civil rights violations. Thirteen of them were acquitted, and the judge dismissed the charges against the fourteenth man for lack of evidence. Over 75 men and women were tried and convicted of various charges connected to The Order.
Further reading
- Kevin Flynn
Kevin Daniel Flynn is a politician in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Re-elected on October 10, 2007, he is currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Oakville for the Ontario Liberal Party....
and Gary Gerhardt. The Silent Brotherhood ISBN 0-451-16786-4.
- Thomas Martinez and John Guinther. The Brotherhood of Murder ISBN 978-1583485804.
- Morris Dees
Morris Seligman Dees, Jr. is the co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center and former direct mail marketeer for book publishing. Along with his law partner, Joseph J...
. Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat. Harper Perennial (April 23, 1997) ISBN 0060927895
External links