WHITMAN COUNTY, Wash. -- A man with ties to white supremacy groups was arrested Wednesday while FBI agents raided two of his properties near Pullman, Wash. Jeremiah Hop pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday morning to gun possession charges.
Agents raided a trailer in Pullman and a barn in Colton. People watched the arrest of Jeremiah Hop in the parking lot of a Pullman restaurant.
Hop was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is also a convicted child rapist and linked to white supremacist groups. He wrote on a Neo-Nazi website called Stormfront using the screen name White Phoenix. He references targeting Coeur d'Alene taco shops which police have been investigating for months.
Pullman police are also connecting Hop to a string of burglaries in that area.
"When we came in earlier with them we saw that they believe to be several pieces of possible stolen property from different burglaries from the last three months to three years," said Pullman Detective Sergeant Dan Hargraves.
Agents took a computer and two rifles from a barn in Colton. Pullman police seized more than 20 items from the trailer. Hop is expected to be in a Spokane federal courtroom Thursday morning.
Agents say the case is on-going but is not related to the Downtown Spokane MLK parade bombing attempt.
FBI: WA man with racist ties arrested on gun count
The FBI says a Washington man with racist ties has been arrested on a federal gun charge. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, FBI office supervisor Don Robinson said Jeremiah Daniel Hop was arrested Wednesday. A grand jury indicted the man on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Pullman Man Enters Plea On Fed Weapons Charge
Pullman police had accompanied federal agents on the initial search of the property and observed what they thought was stolen property. Once the federal agents were done with their search, Pullman police secured additional warrants for a search to seize stolen property.Pullman Police Sergeant Dan Hargraves said Thursday morning that officers recovered more than 20 stolen items, mostly tools and electronics, that totaled more than $5,000 in value. Sergeant Hargraves said the stolen goods came from a residential burglary in January and a commercial burglary a year and a half ago.Hargraves said the police department would be requesting felony charges against Hop regarding the stolen property.
