ABSTRACT
The Order, an offshoot of Aryan Nations, was a small, semiautonomous, insurgent, “revolutionary” terrorist cell; it could also be labeled a politically, ideologically, and theologically charged criminal gang. The group consisted of approximately twenty-four hardcore members, including Robert Jay Mathews, Bruce Carroll Pierce, David “Eden” Lane, Tom Martinez, Richard Scutari, Ardie McBrearty, Andy Barnhill, Dan Bauer, Denver Parmenter,
Rader, Ken Loff, James Dye, Jackie Lee Norton, Mark Jones, Charles Ostrout, David Tate, and Bill Soderquist. Ideologically, they were racist, anti-Semitic, and antigovernment, and they adhered to a mix of Christian Identity theology and Odinism (or Wonanism). Their primary functions and objectives were the incitement of a race war and white revolution through terrorist acts and assassinations and the raising of funds through armed robbery and counterfeiting for the establishment of an independent white republic. The Order has been defined and categorized in several ways-as part of the Christian Identity, Christian Patriot, and militia movements and as survivalists, white supremacists, nationalists, separatists, revolutionaries, and neo-Nazis. The difficulty in defining the group can be traced to the diverse influences, associations, ideologies, and beliefs that were brought together in The Order’s development.
