A former US Army soldier from Kentucky was sentenced to a maximum of 45 years in prison on Friday for planning a murderous terrorist attack on his paratrooper unit.
Ethan Melzer, 24, dedicated himself to a violent extremist group intent on subverting or destroying Western civilization.
His hands shook as the judge said he deserved the maximum for the enduring damage he had caused by sharing US military secrets with fellow supporters of a radical violent group known as the Order of the Nine Angles, or 09A, and other terrorist groups have.
U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods dismissed Melzer’s claim that he was a penitent, reformed man, saying it was more likely he “played a different role” in seeking leniency, just as he “played soldier” so that he could conspire to try and assassinate other paratroopers.
Melzer’s lawyers had demanded that he not be behind bars for more than 15 years. He pleaded guilty last June to attempted murder of soldiers, assisting terrorists and illegally transmitting defense intelligence.
Ethan Melzer, 24, dedicated himself to a violent extremist group intent on subverting or destroying Western civilization
“I still regret everything I’ve done,” Melzer told the judge before the verdict was announced. He said he wishes “I could tell my platoon I’m sorry” and wanted to show he could still be a productive member of society.
Melzer is said to have used the username “Etil Reggad” in his communications with the “anarchist, neo-fascist, neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic” O9A.
According to the federal government, O9A has expressed extremist views, including one that claims Adolf Hitler was “sent by our gods to lead us to greatness” and that the “story of the Jewish ‘Holocaust’ is a lie to protect our race in chains and expressing our desire to see the truth revealed.’
The government also says O9A has also expressed support for the views of al Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden and supported his organization’s terrorist attacks, including the bombing of American embassies in Africa, the attack on the USS Cole and 9/11. 2001, attacks.
Bound at the ankles, Melzer, of Louisville, Kentucky, was later escorted out of the courtroom by Deputy US Marshals.
Without a plea, Melzer could have faced a life sentence.
Assistant US Attorney Matthew Hellman labeled Melzer a traitor and said his actions were “one of the most astonishing treacheries from the ranks of the armed forces… ever prosecuted in federal court.”
Capt. Joshua Kraus, a military intelligence officer, told Judge Melzer he had created a “mental cancer” in his unit as the trust soldiers need to place in their commanders and colleagues was called into question with his May 30, 2020 arrest as his became the train was about to board buses to Italy.
The unit was en route to a military base where they were assigned to guard an isolated and sensitive military installation.
O9A attracted media attention last summer when a US Army private, Ethan Melzer, was accused of planning an attack on his own unit and sharing details of the unit’s movements with the group. A book with the O9A logo was found among Melzer’s belongings (picture)
Melzer is said to have used the username “Etil Reggad” in his communications with the “anarchist, neo-fascist, neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic” O9A
Melzer was a soldier assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, stationed in Vicenza, Italy. The garrison is pictured here
Kraus said information Melzer shared online “with our sworn enemies” can never be recovered and allies doubt they can share sensitive information with the United States.
“Our allies and enemies are very aware of this case,” Kraus said.
Captain Jacob Ferris, the former leader of Melzer’s unit, said the platoon known as “The Cowboys” had a high-flying run when they were chosen from 20 platoons for their delicate mission, only to find that one of their “deceived and betrayed.” ‘ had ‘and left them ‘marked as a train that had a terrorist’.
He said Melzer’s fellow paratroopers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were furious as they reflected “that one of them planned to kill them.”
He said the other soldiers were questioned by investigators who wanted to know if they saw any evidence that Melzer had broken his oath to the United States, and they faced what they might have missed.
Kraus said information Melzer shared online “with our sworn enemies” can never be recovered and allies doubt they can share sensitive information with the United States
Captain Jacob Ferris, the former leader of Melzer’s unit, said the platoon known as “The Cowboys” had a high-flying run when they were chosen from 20 platoons for their delicate mission, only to find that one of their “deceived and betrayed.” ‘ had ‘her and left her’ flagged as a train that had a terrorist’
One, Ferris said, told him, “I feel like out of 35 people, one of us should have seen the signs.”
Attorney Jonathan Marvinny, representing Melzer, pleaded for leniency, saying his client had fallen under the spell of a “ridiculous cult” and urging the judge to disregard prosecutors who “represent him as a monster”.
Authorities said Melzer joined the military to infiltrate its ranks on behalf of a group with neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic and Satanic beliefs. They said the group orders members to undermine the military from within by infiltrating it to receive training, commit acts of violence and identify like-minded people.
Prosecutors said in court filings that Melzer planned to join co-conspirators he met online to stage a “jihadist attack” that would cause a “mass casualties” event that would provoke the United States to target a Initiating war abroad and causing “mass bloodshed” and terrible damage to the country he swore to protect.’
Order of Nine Angles: Nazi occult group dreaming of establishing a “Satanic Empire” through heinous violence
Behind his absurd fantasies of dominating the solar system lurks a terrifying Nazi-Satanist group that has followers around the world.
The Order of the Nine Angles, thought to have started in Britain in the 1970s, idolizes Hitler and the Third Reich.
The Mass of Heresy, written in the group’s Black Book, is said before an altar draped in a swastika banner topped with a framed photograph of Adolf Hitler and Mein Kampf.
The followers chant: “We believe that Adolf Hitler was sent by our gods to lead us to greatness. We believe in racial inequality and in the right of the Aryans to live by the laws of the people.’
Their rituals include eating cannabis cakes, drinking wine, sexual acts by a priestess and sacrificing animals, according to British advocacy group Hope Not Hate.
The Order’s Black Book is considered so dangerous that its three volumes are kept in a special section of the British Library.
The book calls for the vernal equinox to be celebrated by sacrificing a human and suggests that this could be “a Nazarene, like an meddling investigative journalist.”
The group believes the world is controlled by a Zionist occupation government, an anti-Semitic term used by neo-Nazis in the 1980s to describe Jewish control of the state.
The order aims to undermine society by calling on its followers to commit acts of indiscriminate violence, rape and “culling” victims.
There are believed to be “nexions” (cells) all over the world due to fears that online trolls seek the most extreme positions possible.
O9A’s goal is to recruit a “certain type of rebellious young people” who are willing to take action and incite others to violence.
The Order seeks to shroud itself in mystery, making its goals opaque and terrifying to outsiders.
Hope Not Hate described it in a 2019 report as “undoubtedly the most extreme Nazi Satanist group in the world”.