Nashville, Tennessee – A man from Cunningham, Tennessee has been taken into custody for allegedly planning a violent attack against federal agents at the U.S.-Mexico border with the assistance of multiple militia groups.
Paul Faye has been charged with possessing, selling, or transferring an unregistered firearm following a nearly yearlong undercover investigation in Nashville. According to a criminal complaint filed in Nashville, Faye expressed his desire to “stir up the hornet’s nest” at the border and intended to coordinate the attack with militia groups from Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He hoped that news of the violence would set off a “domino effect” in which others would travel to the border to support his effort, according to conversations cited in the complaint.
Faye believed that the U.S. was “training to take on its citizens” and that the government hoped to use migrants crossing the border as part of its scheme, the complaint said. “The patriots are going to rise up because we are being invaded,” he allegedly told an individual who was acting undercover for the government.
Detailing his plot, Faye said that he would serve as a sniper whose talent was “sending rounds down range,” and that he knew someone who could make explosives, according to the complaint. During an in-person meeting at his home last month, he allegedly showed off his “war room,” which contained numerous firearms, a large amount of ammunition, radios, and a bulletproof vest. He then sold an unregistered silencer to the undercover agent for $100, leading to his arrest this week, authorities said.
A public defender listed as representing Faye did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Authorities said that they were first tipped off to Faye following the arrest of another Tennessee man, Bryan Perry. Perry, of Clarksville, faces dozens of charges after being similarly accused of plotting to travel to the border to shoot Border Patrol agents, as well as migrants crossing into the U.S.
A search of Perry’s cellphone found that he had communicated with Faye, who expressed a desire to travel with Perry and another person to the border and commit acts of violence, authorities said. Perry and Jonathan O’Dell, a Missouri man who was arrested with him following a shootout with federal authorities, are being held without bond.