Two men who co-founded a paramilitary group have been found guilty of attempting to kill federal agents ahead of a trip to Texas where they intended to shoot people attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. I received it.
Prosecutors say Jonathan S. Odell, 34, of Warsaw, Missouri, and Brian C. Perry, 39, of Clarksville, Tennessee, also tried to stop federal agents from targeting immigrants. He reportedly planned to shoot and kill a federal employee.
After deliberating for more than two hours, jurors in the U.S. District Court for Missouri each found him guilty of more than 30 felonies, Teresa Moore, chief U.S. attorney for western Missouri, announced Friday.
Both men face at least 10 years in prison, and potentially life in prison.
Prosecutors say the two men formed a Second Amendment militia and attempted to recruit others to join the militia during the summer and fall of 2022. In September 2022, O'Dell's home became a base for the two to gather firearms, ammunition, paramilitary equipment and other supplies, according to government evidence.
According to prosecutors, Perry posted a TikTok video in September in which he said the militia was “going to protect this country,” and another video in early October in which he said the militia was “going out to hunt.” posted. Prosecutors said the pair viewed U.S. Border Patrol agents as traitors who allowed the migrants into Texas.
The day before he was scheduled to leave for Texas, an FBI team in an armored vehicle served a search warrant on O'Dell's home, and prosecutors said Perry fired 11 shots from a rifle at them. Odell and his girlfriend surrendered, but Perry engaged the operatives after leaving the house.
Charges against the pair also include use of a firearm in a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, and damage to federal property. Online records show Perry was unable to legally own a gun because he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated robbery in Tennessee in 2004 and served nearly four years in prison.
Perry also pleaded guilty to three charges, including escaping from federal custody. He escaped from trial custody at a county jail in Rolla, Missouri, in September 2023, but two days later was arrested on a highway outside Kansas City, about 160 miles (258 kilometers) northwest. He was arrested for reckless driving. Tracking.
Mr. O'Dell's lawyer, Jonathan Truesdale, declined to comment. Perry's attorney, Thomas Kirsch, said his client plans to appeal the sentence. Kirsch said Perry was disappointed in the verdict but grateful for the jury's dedication and the opportunity to exercise his “fundamental right” to a jury trial.
