Update: The soldier who was indicted by a grand jury two weeks ago for allegedly trafficking firearms and lying about his ties to a group that advocates overthrowing the U.S. government is permitted to live at his parent’s home while the case is pending.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James Gates ordered that Kai Liam Nix, 20, be released into the custody of his mother after a home detention agreement between prosecutors and Nix’s public defender was approved.
Earlier:
Lexi Solomon, The Charlotte Observer (TNS)
August 20 – An 82nd Airborne soldier at Fort Liberty was indicted by a grand jury last week for allegedly trafficking firearms, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley’s office announced Monday.
According to a news release, Kai Liam Nix, 20, also known as Kai Brazelton, was indicted Wednesday and arrested the following day.
His charges also include two counts of selling a stolen firearm and one count each of making a false statement to the government and dealing in firearms without a license, the release said.
“According to the court documents, Nix made a false statement on his Security Clearance Application Standard Form (SF) 86 when he claimed he had never been a member of a group dedicated to the use of violence or force to overthrow the U.S. Government,” the release states.
Nix was allegedly a member of the Patriot Front, which is, according to the Anti-Defamation League, an American white supremacist group.
A Patriot Front training video appears to show him in 2021 before enlisting in the Army in 2022.
Nix denied being a member of Patriot Front and denied being an administrator for the Appalachian Archives channel to the New Yorker, which published his name in their “Infiltrating the Far Right” article on Sunday.
“I’ve seen Patriot Front on the news,” Nix said, according to notes of the conversation the New Yorker reporter took. “But that is a hate group, and you can’t be in the military and in a hate group at the same time. You have the wrong guy.”
Nix made his first appearance in court Monday, according to the release. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison. Nix’s case will be prosecuted by Easley’s office and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, the release said.
The FBI, ATF and U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Department are investigating.
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