ATF raids home of W.A.R. Founder

WARSAW, Ind. (WANE) - NewsChannel 15 has confirmed that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms raided the Warsaw home of Tom Metzger on Thursday. Metzger founded the White Aryan Resistance, an organization considered to be a neo-nazi hate group.

The ATF has not released details of what agents were looking for, but it's known that Metzger was allowed to leave his home while the search was underway.

The search warrant and other documents related to the case have been sealed.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney's office in South Bend refused to confirm or deny any information. A spokesperson told NewsChannel 15 they have no comment on the case.

Metzger's been a vocal and well known head of the white supremacist movement for more than 30 years.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization devoted to fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, Metzger has been a Grand Dragon of the KKK and a member of the John Birch Society. In 1990, an Oregon jury rendered a $12.5 million judgment against Metzger and his son for inciting the murder of an Ethiopian immigrant by neo-Nazi skinheads.

Metzger's web site currently has a link to the text of James von Brunn's book "Kill the Best Gentiles", which was written in an attempt to refute the existence of the Holocaust. On June 10, von Brunn opened fire inside the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. and killed a security guard.

Metzger has not been arrested. There's no word yet on what agents found.

NewsChannel 15 will pass along more details as they come in.