Eleemosynary

Originally known as the Silent Brotherhood (Bruders Schweigen), The Order was a private guerrilla army, formed in September 1983 with the goal of destroying the U.S. government. Basing their beliefs in a misguided patriotism, paranoia and a race-based theology known as Christian identity, twenty-three people under the leadership of Robert J. Mathews, sought to emulate the fictional account of the overthrow of the U.S. government found in the book, The Turner Diaries.

After they were apprehended by the FBI, the government charged The Order with racketeering based on sixty-seven separate crimes. More than half the people (including Denver Parmenter, Thomas Martinez and Randall Radar) entered into plea bargains and agreed to testify against The Order.

On April 12, 1985, a federal grand jury in Seattle indicted twenty-four members of The Order on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. Through guilty pleas and other circumstances, only 1O defendants were actually tried in Seattle. Those on trial included Randy Duey, David Lane, Bruce Pierce, Andrew Barnhill, Gary Yarbrough and Ardie McBrearty (characters who appear in the play) as well as Jean Craig, Richard Kemp, Frank Silva and Randall Evans.

All of these defendants were tried in court by six prosecuting attorneys, depicted in the play by Mueller, Ward and Robinson. The defendants were all represented by their own attorneys.

Steven Dietz has created God’s Country based on actual court records. All of the words attributed to actual, named persons, are real. None have been invented.