Feds Arrest Alleged Militia ‘Sniper’ Planning Attack at Southern Border

Gideon Hess
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A Tennessee man allegedly plotting violence at the southern border with militia groups to “stir up the hornet’s nest” with an arsenal of explosives, AR-15s and a sniper rifle was arrested Monday after selling an undercover agent an unregistered AK-47 suppressor for $100, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Paul Faye Sr. said he planned to serve as a sniper in a confrontation with federal Border Patrol agents, and to coordinate with militias from Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, an FBI agent wrote in court documents unsealed Monday and first reported by Seamus Hughes of Court Watch.

The FBI says Faye hoped to inspire a “domino effect” encouraging others to join in confrontations with federal officials. He had spoken to a North Carolina Patriot Party militia group member who had visited Eagle Pass, Texas, the site of a standoff between state and federal authorities over border enforcement that has inspired threats of a potential civil war from right-wingers.

Under Gov. Gregg Abbott (R), Texas has installed razor wire along the Rio Grande and insisted they will continue to do so, even after the Supreme Court ruled federal authorities could remove it in order to gain access to the area.

All but one of the nation’s Republican governors signed a letter supporting Abbott, and 14 of them appeared alongside him Sunday in an Eagle Pass press conference claiming his border actions are justified and necessary. Several members of Congress have also supported Abbott, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)

Some militia groups see the confrontation as an opportunity for violence, according to the complaint.

“I’ll be the first one on the scene, and the last one to leave,” Faye allegedly told an undercover federal agent as the two examined his truck. “The reason why I say that is, if something, just say that we were going down like that, before you even put yourself in danger, I would be on top [of] that roof right there, zeroing out, taking out anybody.”

The complaint states that Faye showed undercover agents the “war room” at his home in Cunningham, Tennessee, featuring an arsenal including ammo, radios, a bullet-proof vest, a Creedmoor rifle, AR-15s, a shotgun, and other firearms.

Faye said a friend named Alpha could make him explosives. “He can go under [the] kitchen sink and come out with napalm,” Faye reportedly said.

He also claimed to have Tannerite to produce Claymore mines, and told agents he had butane tanks set up on his property as “boobytrap explosive devices” to be triggered if police showed up. Faye did not realize he was speaking to a federal agent when he sold a silencer that an ATF expert later determined was unregistered, according to the complaint.

Federal prosecutors charged Faye with possessing, selling, or transferring an unregistered firearm. He has been assigned a public defender.

So far, no major violence has broken out at the border, although the standoff has rallied some people to travel there.

Organizers calling themselves “God’s Army” or “We the People” hyped a peaceful “Take Our Border Back” convoy that was supposed to bring 700,000 concerned citizens from multiple states to border sites at Eagle Pass, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and San Ysidro, California over the weekend.

Instead, groups of 100 or 200 vehicles showed up.

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