A Tennessee man who planned to travel to the southern border with an arsenal of weapons and explosives to “stir up the hornet’s nest” was arrested Monday, federal officials say.
Paul Faye, who told undercover agents that the U.S. was “being invaded” by illegal immigrants, has been charged with selling an unregistered firearm suppressor, according to a criminal complaint federal prosecutors filed this week in Nashville, Tennessee.
Faye faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. He will appear in federal court Monday for a detention hearing.
Faye’s public defender could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Faye had been on the FBI’s radar for a year, and late last year, he told an undercover FBI agent that he was coordinating with militia groups from Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee and planning to travel to the border, the document says. He said he planned to meet up with a person who could make explosives to take to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the court document.
His aim was to “stir up the hornet’s nest” and garner significant media coverage, the complaint said.
“What I hope happens. Is called a domino effect. I want, I want the news to find out about it,” Faye said, according to the criminal complaint.
Faye also allegedly conveyed to the FBI employee that one of his roles within the group traveling to the border was to serve as a sniper.
He said “his talent was ‘sending rounds down range,'” the complaint says.
During a meeting with three undercover employees on April 1, Faye “discussed his belief that the government was training to take on its citizens, and more specifically, that the federal government was allowing illegal immigrants to enter the United States to help the government,” the complaint says.
The next month, on a recorded phone call with an undercover employee, Faye warned, “The patriots are going to rise up because we are being invaded. We are being invaded,” according to the criminal complaint.
On Jan. 11, Faye allegedly sold an undercover FBI employee an AK-47 rifle suppressor for $100 that was not registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record, the complaint says.
That day, two undercover agents met with Faye at his home, where he showed them his “war room,” according to the criminal complaint.
The room was full of “numerous firearms, a large amount of ammunition, radios, and a bulletproof vest,” the complaint says. He invited the undercover agents to hold numerous weapons, including a Creedmoor rifle, multiple AR-15 rifles and a shotgun, the complaint says.
