NORFOLK, Va. – Francis Harker, a former member of the National Guard, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for possession of a firearm and using illegal drugs.
On June 3, 2020, the 22-year old created a plan with a colleague to trap law enforcement at a shopping mall in Virginia Beach.
Later that day, he purchased a firearm and falsely stated that he was not a user of illegal drugs, despite the fact that he used drugs including LSD. He then purchased a handgun the following year and made the same false statement.
According to the release, in November 2021, the FBI conducted a search authorized by the court which led them to illegal drugs, Molotov cocktails, firearms and 100 blank COVID-19 vaccination cards in his home. Harker took the COVID-19 vaccination cards and dispersed them by mail across the country.
Harker's interactions on social media included violence towards law enforcement, images of him doing the Hitler salute, and imagery that reads “there is no god but Hitler.”
He admitted to engaging online with a group called “The Base,'' which is a terrorist group, according to the release.
