New York Cop Bought Rifle for Neo-Nazi ‘Rapekreig’ Marine Who Planned Synagogue Attack: Feds

A former Marine accused of being in a neo-Nazi group called “Rapekrieg” planned to attack a synagogue and had a New York police officer purchase an assault rifle for him, federal prosecutors allege.  

Facing several firearms charges, former U.S. Marine Matthew Belanger is alleged to have prepared an attack on a synagogue, attempted to pass his military training on to his neo-Nazi comrades, and written a screed urging both racial and sexual violence. 

Belanger’s alleged neo-Nazi ties came out in a July 14 memo responding to his request to be released from detention to his family home while awaiting trial. The court memo, filed by the prosecutors and was first reported on by Rolling Stone, states Belanger’s actions and affiliations show that he could “pose a danger to the community” and strongly recommended against releasing him from custody. The judge has not yet ruled whether he will be released. 

Rapekreig members who spoke to authorities said Belanger, during his time with the Marines, wrote the group’s manifesto. The court document contained several excerpts of the Rapekrieg screed. The rambly racist writing described rape as “an extremely effective tool against our many foes.” The court document states that the group endorses “the rape of white women to increase the production of white children in furtherance of Rapekrieg’s goal of creating a white ethno-state through accelerationist means.” Another section talks about the necessity of killing Jewish children and urges members to prepare themselves to do this. 

The memo states Rapekrieg has “overlapping beliefs and membership with Atomwaffen Division and Rapewaffen,” other neo-Nazi accelerationist groups. These groups form nodes of an international network of online organized modern neo-Nazis focused on militant accelerationism, which hopes to hasten the fall of modern society. Many neo-Nazis associated with this network are serving lengthy prison sentences for myriad crimes (including murder) they took part in as members of these groups. 

Like many groups in the neo-Nazi ecosystem Rapekreig operates in, there was an inside source who flagged authorities about Belanger. 

In May 2021, Belanger was discharged from the military for misconduct stemming from his affiliation with neo-Nazis. He was arrested and charged in June of this year and is facing three charges stemming from multiple fraudulent firearm purchases wherein someone illegally purchased a firearm for another person.  

The alleged illegal purchases of firearms for the neo-Nazi came via the help of an unnamed New York police officer. The documents do not indicate if this officer has been charged. Belanger is from New York but was stationed at the Marine Corps base in Hawaii at the time of the purchases. 

The officer allegedly purchased firearms for him twice. The first purchase, which took place in 2019, was for a PTR .308 assault rifle. The officer purchased the rifle for Belanger, who then paid for it via Cash App. Then, in April 2020, Belanger had the officer purchase him a second firearm. This one is a Luger, the handgun associated with the Nazis. In a chat, Belanger sent the police officer the listing online. 

“I think I wanna buy this,” he texted. 

“Better you than me,” the officer replied. 

The officer allegedly purchased the firearm for Belanger. The Marine celebrated it in a chat he had with other neo-Nazis online. He texted the group that his “luger drip” was incoming. “I’m gonna start concealed carrying that luger so soon Der boys gonna be strapped at Applebees,” he sent. 

The memo states that authorities began investigating Rapekreig in mid-2020 and interviewed several members, including the group's leader. Belanger, as a member who allegedly wrote the group's manifesto, was a key cog whose actions seeped from online into the real world. 

It’s alleged that he discussed attacking a synagogue with another member—originally they were discussing “shooting up” the place of worship but then decided it would be best if they burned it down. The group is alleged to have gone so far as to surveil the synagogue to see if it had security cameras.

The memo also states that Belanger, as part of Rapekreig, showed up at a person's home “wearing tactical equipment, including camouflage, body armor, and bulletproof head gear” and led two neo-Nazis in military-style training. The group allegedly trained once a year with real firearms and other times with Airsoft. The make-believe enemy they were running their drills against was the “Zionist Order of Governments.” 

A search of Belanger’s computer allegedly brought up almost 2,000 “images, videos and documents related to white-power groups, Nazi literature, brutality toward the Jewish community, brutality toward women, rape, previous mass murderers such as Dylan Roof, firearms, body armor, instructional documents on how to build explosives and/or illegal firearms, violent uncensored executions and/or rape, and other disturbing content.” Prosecutors say that his computer history showed “a pattern of progression towards more extreme, graphic, and violent content.” 

The document states that Belanger ran multiple social media pages in which he tried to spread racial hatred online. On one of them, where he posed as a Jewish man on Twitter, he posted an image with a caption directed at law enforcement agents. 

“Catch me if you can, cunts,” it read.

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