US far-right podcaster is accused after machine guns were found in the basement Pennsylvania

The federal prosecutor’s office has charged the “alt-right” podcaster, who defended strong anti-government views, in assembling an arsenal of weapons, including machine guns, in the closed basement of a house in Bethlehem. Pennsylvania.

They are too charged his father, the Daily Beast reported.

The couple, 67-year-old Joseph Raymond Berger and 32-year-old Joseph Paul Berger, were arrested last week and charged with several crimes related to firearms, including possession of assault rifles, possession of unregistered firearms and possession of unregistered wilderness.

Both men pleaded not guilty.

According to the detention report submitted by the prosecutor’s officethe cache included eight AK-style rifles, two C308 .308 Winchester rifles, two MP5K submachine guns and one RPK machine gun.

Prosecutors said they were opposed to the bail petition that the younger man, a Navy veteran, “regularly holds anti-government and anti-law enforcement views.”

“Certainly, the defendant’s opinions are not the basis for these accusations, but they are strong evidence of his anti-state spirit,” they said. “Based on these considerations, it is unlikely that the defendant will respect or comply with the conditions of release established by this court, thereby creating a danger to society and a risk of absconding.”

Their lawyer, Eric Winter, argued in response that Joseph Berger had never incited real-life violence, had no criminal record, and his views were a political expression.

The government cited an episode of the Alt-Right Armory podcast in which host Berger said that “a white man with a rifle can be very dangerous to the system if he has the right motivation.”

Prosecutors also claimed that Berger “approves of the values ​​of police killer Eric Freyn and fantasizes about the cost that can be borne by a group of people like Freyn,” referring to the 2014 murder. Pennsylvania soldier in ambush. Freyn was later arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

The accused, according to prosecutors, called on listeners to attack “not only the police but also” lawmakers, lobbyists and left-wing billionaires “for the explosives murder.

Berger is nicknamed “GlockDoctor1488” – 1488 is a popular coded signal among neo-Nazis, with “14” referring to the slogan “We must ensure the existence of our people and a future for white children” and “88” for “Heil Hitler”.

In 2019 Berger reportedly disrupted the event at the Philadelphia Public Library, where former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliff, a Democrat, spoke. At the event, Berger reportedly shouted, “Fuck you, you, anti-white piece of shit! You will not replace us! ”

The indictment alleges that the Bergers illegally possessed 13 fully automatic machine guns and 12 silencers. They were arrested after customs and border guards intercepted three illegally imported fire silencers and addressed them to their homes.

Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the house and found 12 silencers / silencers of firearms and 13 fully automatic machine guns in the basement, according to court documents. Agents also found on the table a 3D printer with components needed to create so-called ghost guns – pistols without serial number identification.

The weapon, according to the indictment, was originally purchased as a semi-automatic firearm and then converted into unregistered, fully automatic machine guns that could fire hundreds of shots per minute.

“The convicts allegedly possessed a stockpile of unregistered fully automatic machine guns and silencers in violation of the National Firearms Act,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbiter Williams. “These weapons are extremely dangerous, so there are laws governing their storage.”

“According to the indictment, possession of such illegal firearms threatens the safety of the general public, especially when in the hands of others,” added Matthew Variska, special agent in charge of the ATF field division in Philadelphia.

If convicted, they face the maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $ 270,000 and a special sentence of $ 300.