Noah Edwin Anthony, 23, faces up to 10 years in prison after admitting to possession of an unregistered short-barrel rifle, according to the Eastern District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney’s office. The weapon, a 3D-printed FGC-9 rifle with no serial number, was found in Anthony’s barracks room by Fort Bragg military police, who searched his quarters after finding another firearm and “Nazi-type” memorabilia in his car in March 2022. (Army/Wikimedia)
A former Fort Bragg soldier accused of threatening violence against racial minorities pleaded guilty this week to possessing an illegal firearm, Justice Department officials announced Wednesday.
Noah Edwin Anthony, 23, faces up to 10 years in prison after admitting to possession of an unregistered short-barrel rifle, according to the Eastern District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney’s office. The weapon, a 3D-printed FGC-9 rifle with no serial number, was found in Anthony’s barracks room by Fort Bragg military police, who searched his quarters after finding another firearm and “Nazi-type” memorabilia in his car in March 2022.
Federal prosecutors said they had uncovered evidence on electronic devices that Anthony had possessed that he sought to carry out an operation intending to “physically remove as many [Black and brown people] from Hoke, Cumberland, Robeson and Scotland counties by whatever means need be.” Those counties are in southeastern North Carolina, with Fort Bragg spanning parts of Cumberland and Hoke counties. Robeson and Scotland counties border South Carolina.
Then a specialist, Anthony’s troubles began March 3, 2022, at a gate at Fort Bragg where his car was flagged for a random vehicle inspection, according to court documents. Gate guards discovered a loaded 9mm-like handgun in Anthony’s center console, which prosecutors described as a “ghost gun,” meaning it had no serial number.
Military police then searched the rest of Anthony’s vehicle, in which they found two extended magazines, ammunition, and an “American flag with a swastika, instead of a blue field and stars” alongside other “Nazi-type patches,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
In Anthony’s barracks room, military police found the illegal FGC-9 rifle, which had a barrel less than 16 inches in violation of the National Firearms Act, according to federal prosecutors. Officers also found firearms parts, magazines, white supremacist literature, clothing and patches.
The Army discharged Anthony from the service in February as a result of the March 3, 2022, incident, Maj. Russell Gordon, a spokesman for the Fort Bragg-based 1st Special Forces Command, said Friday. Anthony has been held in federal custody since last year, Gordon said.
At the time of Anthony’s arrest, he had been an intelligence analyst assigned to the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion, 528th Sustainment Brigade, which is part of 1st Special Forces Command. Anthony was not a Green Beret, Gordon said.
The Justice Department said the FBI, the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were continuing to investigate the case.
It was not immediately clear Friday when Anthony would be sentenced.
“These crimes and conduct are incompatible and not tolerated in the Army or Special Operations,” Gordon wrote in an email. “They go against the high values we expect, which the overwhelming majority of our soldiers embody and follow every day in service.”
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Twitter: @CDicksteinDC
