Terrorism suspect makes reference to extremist conspiracies
A man facing terrorism charges for using an armored vehicle to block traffic near Hoover Dam has written jailhouse letters that appear affiliated with an extremist, antigovernment conspiracy movement.
Matthew P. Wright, 30, of Henderson, Nevada, wrote the letters to President Trump, members of Nevada鈥檚 congressional delegation and assorted federal agencies, including the FBI and CIA, according to media reports.
Calling himself a 鈥渉umble Patriot,鈥� copies of the letters show Wright put a fingerprint over his signature 鈥� a trademark frequently used by antigovernment聽sovereign citizens.
Above his signature, he wrote, 鈥淔or where we go one, we go all,鈥� a phrase commonly used on various Internet message boards by followers of QAnon, who believe in a meta-conspiracy theory called 鈥淭he Storm.鈥�
The wild-eyed, multi-layered conspiracy web casts Trump as a superhero in a secret campaign to expose the Deep State and what is described as evil, leftist, global elites responsible for everything from 鈥減edophile rings鈥� to last year鈥檚 mass shooting in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, Wright鈥檚 defense attorney went before a state judge in Kingman, Arizona, asking that his client鈥檚 bond be lowered from $25,000.
But instead of lowering the bail, Judge Billy Sipe made note of Wright鈥檚 jailhouse letters and then raised his bond to $1 million,聽the reports.
鈥淚 find that $25,000 is an extremely low bond for these type of cases,鈥� the judge said, referring to mass shootings and other terrorist crimes. Sipe said he was 鈥済ravely concerned鈥� with Wright鈥檚 conduct.
Wright, an ex-Marine, was arrested on June 15 after he parked his black, homemade armored vehicle on the Mike O鈥機allaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge leading to Hoover Dam.
Traffic was blocked for almost two hours, but no one was injured.聽There was no exchange of gunfire during the incident, which charging documents described as an act of terrorism.
After blocking traffic, the suspect drove across the bridge where his vehicle tires were flattened by spike strips at a police roadblock. He surrendered moments later when his black armored vehicle became stuck on a dirt road in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Authorities reported finding a military-style AR-15 rifle, a handgun, multiple magazines of ammunition and a flash-bang explosive device during a search of the armored vehicle.
Photo: Mohave County Jail
