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On February 5, a Tennessee native named Paul Faye was arrested by the FBI on the count of illegally possessing an unregistered firearm or silencer under the National Firearm Act. However, he is accused of more charges by the federal government; for instance, planning attacks on immigrants and law enforcement at the southern border of the USA, as reported by NBC News.
The news outlet also stated that Paul Faye is believed to be part of a far-right militia movement and was taken into custody after a yearlong undercover investigation by the bureau.
While Faye told the FBI officials that “patriots are going to rise up” in the face of immigrant invasion, and he would “stir up the hornet’s nest,” his 30-year-old son Joseph told NBC News via Wednesday’s telephonic interview that his father was “not a terrorist,” and only talked “big game,” which was “all lies.”
Paul Faye is a former businessman
Paul Faye is a 55-year-old Tennessee man. As per public records obtained by NBC News, Faye is a former businessman who worked in carpentry, remodeling, and lawn care. In 2016, he filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy but his case was dismissed. Ahead of his arrest, he was living in a trailer beside his ex-wife’s home.
As per Paul’s Facebook bio, he is a “God Family Country Guy” who believes in “what’s right is right but what’s wrong is wrong.” An active TikToker, Paul Faye invested his time by watching anti-government videos and talking about the USA “being invaded” by immigrants, as per his son’s statements to NBC News.
Notably, the majority of his social media posts were featuring pet raccoons, however, one post dating back to February 2023 had a patch embellished with a spartan helmet, two rifles, and the words, “2nd American Militia” written on it. A comment below the post had Paul describe the patch as his “group patch.”
Exploring the accusations and charges against Paul Faye
As per the newsletter Court Watch, the FBI was looking into far-right militia groups for over a year and Paul Faye was part of their investigation. Currently being held by the FBI for illegally owning a gun, he is also being accused of planning a border attack on migrants, which his son called, “ridiculous,” and dismissed his father as a big talker with no intention to harm anyone.
Regardless, on Monday, he was arrested and is now being questioned by the bureau agents. Last month, Paul allegedly invited the undercover FBI agents into his trailer’s “war room,” which had guns, ammunition, and tactical gear, including bulletproof vests, radios, AR-15s, and Creedmoor rifle and tried to sell them an unregistered silencer of AK-47 for a hundred dollars.
This ended in his arrest on a single charge. If proven guilty, he is facing up to 10 years in federal prison, as per NBC News. Meanwhile, his son claimed that things confiscated during this week's raid belonged to him. He was a hunter and had licenses for all the items.
NBC News further reported that Paul Faye claimed to the FBI that he was involved with militia groups in 2023 and wished to go back to the U.S.-Mexican border and use his alleged sniping skills to launch an attack on illegal immigrants and border security.
“He’s not a sniper. We went hunting and my dad had to shoot at a deer standing still three different times before he hit it. He’s not a sniper,” Joseph Faye said in response.
Reportedly, Paul also told the bureau that he was in contact with militias across other states including Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina, and knew people who made explosives.
He claimed that his house was booby-trapped with butane tanks and alleged that he personally knew a guy who had been charged with murder conspiracy of U.S. government officials.
In the wake of his claims, an assistant U.S. attorney representing the Middle District of Tennessee wrote in his report that the accused was “planning over the course of eighteen months to travel to the border and commit acts of violence against migrants and federal law enforcement.” Not only that but he “actively recruited and encouraged others to engage in similar conduct.”
In this context, Faye’s son called his father a “compulsive liar,” and cited mental health problems. He also alleged that his father was being “instigated” by the FBI to make such bizarre claims.
As per NBC News, before his recent arrest, Paul Faye met undercover FBI agents at least four times, with Joseph present for three of them. One of the first meetings took place in April last year in a Walmart parking lot.
Faye Junior claimed that he suspected that the “feds” were after his father, which the latter dismissed back then.
Joseph Faye alleged that the undercover cops lured his father with fancy restaurant meals and presents, including a “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flag, a Second Amendment patch, and more – all of which were bagged during the raid earlier this week.
According to legal documents obtained by NBC News, Paul Faye was also in “extensive contact” with a member of the 2nd American Militia group called Bryan C. Perry, who was arrested in Missouri in October 2022 on multiple federal charges such as assault, attempted murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. government employees, and more. So far, Perry has pled not guilty to all charges.
The duo met via TikTok, according to Paul’s son, and Perry used his father’s property for target practice. Reportedly, the latter was interested in joining a local survivalist group of which the former was a member.
However, the group never aimed to harm anybody. Joseph Faye claimed that Perry constantly talked about the President and the border and now his father was “guilty by association.”
The son thinks Paul came under the FBI’s radar following Perry’s arrest. As per The Daily Beast, the accused was contacted by the feds via TikTok last spring.
During the investigation, Paul reportedly said over a recorded call that “the government was training to take on its citizens, and more specifically, that the federal government was allowing illegal immigrants to enter the United States to help the government,” according to the court documents obtained by the outlet.
On February 12, a week after his arrest, Paul Faye is set to appear before federal court.
