Robert Jay Mathews

Robert Jay Mathews (16th January 1953 - 8th December 1984) was a White Supremacist and founder of the terrorist organisation The Order.

White supremacy and The Order
Mathews was an avid supporter of White Supremacy and a member of the National Alliance, who he attempted to recruit people for. He was also a fan of The Turner Diaries by National Alliance founder William Luther Pierce.

In September 1983, Mathews and several members of the Aryan Nations formed an insurgent group known as The Order influenced by The Turner Diaries. Mathew's first plan was to carry out robberies in order to get money to fund white separatist groups. As a result, Mathews and the other members robbed several armoured cars and pornography shops. However, when one member was arrested for counterfeiting, The Order were forced to commit various robberies to pay his bail, resulting in another member being arrested.

The following year, Mathews officially declared war on the federal government, however one of the Order members who had been arrested informed on Mathews and the others, and the police laid siege to Mathew's home. When he refused to surrender, the police fired smoke grenades into his house, before opening fire on him when he shot at them, hitting a box of hand grenades and causing an explosion which set the house on fire. Mathews continued to fire at them, but suddenly stopped. When police entered to investigate, they discovered Mathew's charred corpse, with the cause of death later being established as a combination of smoke inhalation and fatal burns.

Mathew's body was cremated and his ashes scattered on his property in Washington State.