Federal officials have reportedly captured former U.S. Marine and Oath Keeper Charles Dyer in Texas, following a manhunt after Dyer skipped a court appearance for a rape charge that he believed was concocted as part of a government conspiracy against him.
According to ABC 13 in Houston, Texas, Dyer was captured north of Pecan Grove in Fort Bend County on Thursday. He was spotted walking down the street with no shirt on, and captured by local law enforcement.
He was picked up a short distance from a day care center, which went on lockdown until Dyer was in custody.
Chief Craig Brady with the Ft. Bend County Sheriff’s Office told ABC 13 that Dyer had been hiding for about 5-6 days in the brush along a river, but had gotten hungry.
Dyer went on the lam early August 15, the day he was scheduled to appear in court for a trial related to allegations that he raped a minor.
Dyer had been arrested in January of 2010 on the rape charges, and for possessing an unregistered grenade launcher that was reported as stolen from a military base in California. In April the judge declared a mistrial. He was scheduled to begin a new trial on the 15th.
Dyer had previously begun posting threatening messages toward law enforcement, and claimed that the charges against him were part of a government conspiracy. “I have been pushed to the limits multiple times by law enforcement and the judicial system in an attempt to cause me to take violent action against them,” he wrote in a letter to his attorney before he disappeared. “If I do, I know I will be the monster they depict me as.”
He is also a member of the Oath Keeper militia movement, and has appeared at Tea Party rallies in the past. Dyer has some internet fame for his YouTube videos as “July 4 Patriot.” “I’m certainly not going to be hiding from my command anymore. I’m not hiding from ATF. Not hiding from FBI. Any organization. If they want to come get me I’m not going to be afraid,” Dyer said in one video.
