Men charged with gun crimes had neo-Nazi ties, trained in Idaho, targeted Boise BLM - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Men charged with gun crimes had neo-Nazi ties, trained in Idaho, targeted Boise BLM

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BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – Federal prosecutors in North Carolina allege that before three Idaho men conspired to ship illegally altered guns across state lines, they conspired online on a white supremacist, neo-Nazi forum and later recorded a propaganda video during live-fire gun training outside of Boise.

Three men who moved to the Boise area in the past year — 21-year-old Liam Collins, 35-year-old Paul Kryscuk and 25-year-old Jordan Duncan — were charged with various gun crimes in October.

In a superseding indictment, a North Carolina grand jury indicted Collins and Kryscuk on additional charges relating to the transportation of firearms without a license. Prosecutors say Collins and Duncan are former Marines who were previously assigned to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Authorities allege that Collins sent $1,500 to Kryscuk to buy a 9-mm handgun and suppressor, and in return, Kryscuk bought necessary items from other vendors to manufacture the firearms and suppressors, according to a news release sent Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Suppressors are highly regulated attachments meant to muffle the sound of a gun when it’s fired. Buying a suppressor legally requires a lengthy screening process that can take more than a year.

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Kryscuk allegedly shipped the guns from Idaho to North Carolina for another defendant, Justin Wade Hermanson, a member of the same Marine unit where Collins was last assigned. Authorities allege that Hermanson communicated to other Marines there about the illegal gun sales and that Kryscuk was building fully automatic rifles.

Federal court documents outline how the group was years in the making and started through posts on a neo-Nazi forum that was the focus of a military investigation in 2019.

Starting as early as 2016, Collins allegedly began posting on a now-defunct neo-Nazi web forum called Iron March. In addition to the gun crimes, prosecutors allege that he began recruiting members for a group he described as “a modern-day SS” in the United States. The SS was a cold-blooded paramilitary group for the Nazi Party.

Collins spoke with Kryscuk over the site about the potential group, writing about the need for “laying the framework for a guerilla organization and a takeover of local government and industry,” according to the superseding indictment. He added that they needed to buy property in remote areas that were “already predominantly white and right-leaning, networking with locals, training, farming, and stockpiling.”

In August 2017, Collins reported that he had a group of ex-military members who had joined his cause. In December 2018, Duncan was stationed at Camp Lejeune and was photographed with Collins and Kryscuk.

In January 2019, an unnamed person allegedly paid Kryscuk — who was living in New York at the time — to make him a 9-mm pistol. In May 2019, Kryscuk constructed an assault rifle for the same person, authorities say.

Kryscuk moved to Boise in February 2020, and later told the group about the possibility of converting solvent traps to suppressors. In April, Hermanson allegedly paid Kryscuk for a pistol and suppressor, which Kryscuk made and shipped to North Carolina.

In July, Kryscuk, Duncan — who was living at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, at the time — and two others met in Boise for live-fire weapons training outside of the city. Duncan drove to Idaho and was seen unloading heavy boxes at Kryscuk’s home, according to federal officials.

During the training, prosecutors say the group made a video while shooting short barrel rifles and assault-style rifles. At the end of the video, the four are seen giving a “Heil Hitler” sign and are wearing skull masks associated with the Atomwaffen Division, a terrorist neo-Nazi organization that is connected to multiple murders in the United States. The last frame of the video featured the phrase “come home white man.”

In July, Kryscuk told Duncan over an Instagram message to “follow BLM (Black Lives Matter) Boise” in order to watch the group on social media. Two days later, Kryscuk was present at a BLM rally at the Boise State University campus, first in his parked vehicle and then driving around the rally for about 20 minutes, according to the indictment.

Kryscuk was nearby for another rally on Aug. 18. The rally was changed last-minute to a park to avoid counterprotesters, and Kryscuk was seen in the area of the park for five or six minutes.

In October, Kryscuk and Duncan discussed shooting protesters in Boise, according to the superseding indictment, and also discussed “the end of democracy.”

Duncan and Collins just moved to Boise in September and October of this year. The two, as well as Kryscuk, were arrested in late October.

If convicted, Kryscuk and Collins face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison on their charges. Hermanson is facing a maximum of 10 years. Duncan could get up to five years if convicted.

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