NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two white supremacists, both with connections to a Tennessee-based neo-Nazi network, now face federal charges, accused of attempting to create a paramilitary unit capable of taking out "high-value targets."
Aiden Daniel Cuevas, 20, and Andrew Cole Nary, 23, are being held in separate northern Alabama jails after being arrested Jan. 20 by the FBI. Following a year-long undercover investigation, both men were charged with conspiracy to traffic illegal firearms, including fully automatic machine guns with obliterated serial numbers.
A sworn affidavit by an FBI task force officer also points to the involvement of neo-Nazis Aiden Stamper, 20, and Logan Gulbranson, 19, in the plot. Both have ties to a neo-Nazi group known as the Tennessee Active Club, although neither has been charged at this point. NewsChannel 5 Investigates could not reach them for comment.
The charges, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, were first reported by investigative reporter Jordan Green and Raw Story.
According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court, Cuevas met with an FBI undercover employee in Madison County, Ala., on June 21, 2025, to request assistance with paramilitary training.
"Cuevas discussed wanting Close Quarters Battle and Urban Terrorism Training with advanced training on taking out 'high value targets," the complaint continues, although it does not identify those possible targets. "Cuevas stated he and others wanted to be trained and ready within a year or two."
The undercover employee "discussed providing weapons, ammunition, and a location for the training."
A month later, Cuevas and Stamper met with the FBI undercover employee about the paramilitary training, with Cuevas expressing concern about the "Feds snooping around." Stamper, according to the complaint, said he "had bought an AR-15 off the street and converted it into a fully automatic firearm."
Stamper was previously implicated in the 2023 spray painting of swastikas and other hate messages on homes in Nashville's Sylvan Park neighborhood.
The federal complaint states that, during a September 2025 meeting, Cuevas claimed that "he had a contact who could make weapons," as well as another contact in Texas "who could provide suppressors and drones."
On Dec. 3, 2025, Cuevas met with the FBI undercover employee about moving forward with the paramilitary urban assault training. The suspect wanted the operative to provide the equipment, weapons and a training location.
Cuevas indicated that the guns and training were for himself, Nary and Logan Gulbranson, the complaint says.
Gulbranson was one of the neo-Nazis who provided security for Franklin mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson at a candidates forum in October 2023.
An acolyte of Tennessee Active Club founder Sean Kauffmann, Gulbranson – who was 17 at the time – wore a mask at the event, but later emailed a photo of himself to NewsChannel 5. Those photos showed Gulbranson with a swastika tattooed on his chest, giving a Nazi salute.
"I'm the one who was masked up at the city hall," Gulbranson emailed. "Post this on your story, you f--kin' kike bastard."
According to the recently filed complaint, after the undercover operative quoted prices of $300 each for rifles and $200 for pistols, Cuevas agreed to pay cash for three of each. The firearms were to be delivered to an unidentified location in Ardmore, Tenn.
Cuevas "considers this location a 'safe place' to conduct a covert operation, and the location was near where Cuevas had previously stood guard over what he believed to be a trailer of illegal weapons and explosives on June 27, 2025," the complaint says.
On Jan. 12, Cuevas and Nary delivered $1,000 cash, expecting that both would receive a fully automated rifle and a Glock-style pistol with obliterated serial numbers. The next day, Cuevas provided an additional $500 for two weapons for Gulbranson.
Cuevas and Nary were arrested after Cuevas showed up at the meeting location in Ardmore where, according to the complaint, he took possession of three fully automatic rifles and three Glock-style pistols, all with obliterated serial numbers.
Filings in the federal court system indicate that the two men were scheduled to have detention hearings on Jan. 23, although the system does not contain any rulings from the magistrate judge.
––––––––––––––––––––––
Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
RELATED STORIES:
June 24, 2024: Data compiled by watchdog groups suggests that neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups have targeted the Volunteer State with racist flyers at an alarming rate in the past year, signaling a more brazen and calculated focus on the state. The statistics are alarming.
July 19, 2024: Standing on what is now the Diane Nash Plaza — named after the civil rights legend who came here to confront a Nashville mayor and a community's racism — I decided to confront the hate that has once again reared its ugly head. Click here to watch my exchange.
August 20, 2024: He warned me there would be consequences if I failed to comply with his demands to air a white-supremacist video. Then, nothing happened. And now that man faces his own consequences. Read more about Kai Liam Nix.
September 16, 2024: Millersville, Tennessee, is gaining national attention for an approach to governing that democracy advocates fear. Here, conspiracy theorists carry guns and badges, using their police powers to explore notions that are sometimes completely divorced from reality. You can find a series of stories here.
November 18, 2024: An exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has discovered that those Christian nationalists have set their sights on a remote Middle Tennessee county, hoping to attract hundreds, even thousands, of like-minded people from across the country as part of efforts, in the words of one activist, to “radicalize Main Street.” Find the full story here.
November 25, 2024: As word spread across Jackson County, a gathering of friends quickly grew into an impromptu town hall. Some just came with questions — others, with deep concerns. Watch the full story.
December 2, 2024: The American Renaissance Conference — which calls Montgomery Bell State Park its "home away from home" — provides yet another example of the rise of hate and extremism in Tennessee. Watch what happened when Phil Williams went to this influential hate conference.
December 9, 2024: Podcaster C.Jay Engel thinks I’m part of a grand conspiracy, twisting his words and the views of his Christian nationalist partner Andrew Isker, apparently taking orders from what he calls "the American Regime." Here are the facts.
December 26, 2024: "Rarely in my nearly 40-year career as a journalist have I felt the target on my back as continuously and intensely as I have in the last 15 months." Read this personal reflection by Phil Williams.
January 17, 2025: It's an image that again shows hate rearing its ugly head in Middle Tennessee: a neo-Nazi standing in the lobby of Nashville’s Jewish Community Center while wearing a costume that mocks an Orthodox rabbi. See the neo-Nazis' videos and chats.
January 23, 2025: A manifesto left behind by the Antioch High School shooter reveals a 17-year-old young man who was sucked into the world of hate and never found his way out, says a veteran researcher who specializes in hate and political extremism.
January 27, 2025: For as long as he can remember, Gunner Joseph Fisher, 18, has thought about mass murder. Driven by a hatred of Jews, African Americans and Muslims, Fisher believed he was “bound to murder.”
March 3, 2025: From their participation in a conference in Middle Tennessee, to the compound being built in East Tennessee, Patriot Front has become a growing presence in Tennessee. Who are they? Phil Williams investigates.
March 6, 2025: Dramatic video obtained by NewsChannel 5 shows why a Canadian neo-Nazi now faces new charges for an assault back in July on the streets of Nashville. That video was captured by a group of neo-Nazis themselves.
April 14, 2025: A recent guest hosted by the Christian nationalist podcasters in Jackson County, Tennessee, highlights their willingness to flirt with ideas that critics call antisemitic and with characters who engage in Holocaust denial. Andrew Isker himself believes Jews should be treated as second-class citizens because, as he puts it, “this country belongs to Jesus.”
June 16, 2025: An armed man arrested during Nashville’s “No Kings” protest has a long history of fascination with Nazis and mass murderers, and he was already on the FBI's radar, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned.
July 21, 2025: He’s a Hitler-loving podcaster on a mission to convince young Christian men to hate – all in the name of God. He wants a right-wing Christian government that will deport Jews, immigrants and people of color. He does not rule out the possible need for genocide. Meet the Tennessee man.
July 28, 2025: For the politically connected investors behind the Christian nationalist project in Jackson County, Tennessee, our NewsChannel 5 investigation has now discovered, it’s about business, power and modeling what they describe as an alternative view of America.
Sept. 29, 2025: In a world where hate has become a powerful force in American society, one group of Middle Tennesseans may know as much as anyone about dealing with that hate. Phil Williams sits down to listen to members of Nashville's Jewish community.
Oct. 3, 2025: It was an unlikely encounter between a neo-Nazi and a woman who represented everything he thought he hated. What the woman, who was Jewish, chose to do with that moment may offer a lesson for us all.
Oct. 27, 2025: He thinks Adolf Hitler may have been right. He talks about preparing for civil war. And, now, he hopes to establish a whites-only community in Tennessee.
Nov. 17, 2025: NewsChannel 5 Investigates reviewed hours of online videos that reveal how, when Jon Minadeo encounters children of color, he tries to persuade them to hate themselves, often brandishing an assault weapon and warning them to expect to be treated violently.
Nov. 18, 2025: A notorious neo-Nazi is celebrating his possible role in influencing a deadly school shooting. Jon Minadeo appeared ecstatic during a podcast after a NewsChannel 5 investigation revealed how he goes into video chat apps popular with children and tries to recruit them into his world of hate. Check out the story here.
Nov. 19, 2025: Two notorious neo-Nazi websites have been taken offline following an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation that revealed how they have been used to target children.
Nov. 24, 2025: Frequent users of OmeTV video chat app describe adults attempting to groom children and other abuses: "People do this s--t on OmeTV because they know there's no consequences."
Dec. 8, 2025: NewsChannel 5 Investigates set up surveillance at the security checkpoint for the American Renaissance Conference, discovering that the attendees include characters who have celebrated heinous acts of violence by neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists.
Related videos, stories: