A 22-year-old American soldier was charged in New York for helping a neo-Nazi group prepare for an attack on his own unit in Turkey which was aimed at causing "mass loss". Preparations go back to May, but the attack was not finally launched.
Originally from Kentucky and a soldier since June 2019 only, Ethan Melzer was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, with his unit, which was to be deployed in Turkey, according to the indictment placed on file Monday. Sympathetic to the British neo-Nazi movement Order of Nine Angles (O9A), Ethan Melzer transmitted precise information, via an online discussion forum of the O9A, as to the future place of parking of his unit in Turkey.
He has been charged with criminal association and supporting a terrorist group
The soldier also detailed the material means available to the unit and exposed points of weakness in the site's protection system. Questioned by the US military and the FBI in late May, Ethan Melzer said it was "to facilitate an attack on the unit that would have caused massive casualties," according to the indictment.
Currently in detention, the young man has been charged with a criminal association to kill American soldiers and in support of a terrorist group by Manhattan federal prosecutor Audrey Strauss. The charges must be formally served on him by a judge on a date not yet specified.
The O9A is a neo-Nazi and Satanist group whose influence has extended far beyond the United Kingdom, especially in the United States, where it has sympathizers. Antisemitic, he advocates acts of extreme violence and has already openly declared his support for Osama bin Laden as well as for the jihadist ideology. During discussions on the O9A forum, the soldier and his contact also mentioned a jihadist-inspired operation.
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