A Battle Ground man identified by federal officials as an “avowed white supremacist” faces charges of illegal firearms possession after police seized guns following a six-hour standoff in the city in 2019.
A release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Washington, announced Lynn Manley Cargile, 44, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of unregistered firearms. Cargile was previously in state prison on a 29-month sentence for convictions stemming from the standoff, and was in federal custody to be arraigned on the federal firearms charges at the time of the release.
Cargile was arrested Dec. 26, 2019, following the standoff, during which the Clark County Regional SWAT Team was activated, according to a release from the Battle Ground Police Department at the time of the arrest. Police were called to Cargile’s home in the 200 block of Southwest 12th Street by his ex-wife who had been assaulted, the Department of Justice release stated. After waiting for Cargile to surrender, officers used flashbang devices to get Cargile to exit the house and he was taken into custody.
Officers noted several firearms in the home when they secured the house, the release stated. After obtaining a warrant, officers discovered an AR-15-style rifle with a swastika on the butt, a short-barrelled rifle and two silencers.
The short-barrelled rifle and silencers are illegal under federal law unless they are registered in the National Firearms and Transfer Record, the release stated. Cargile wasn’t allowed to be in possession of a firearm anyway because of felony convictions he received in Clark County between 1999 and 2003, which prohibited his possession of firearms.
Cargile’s counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of unregistered firearms are punishable by up to 10 years in prison each, the release stated. Both BGPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) took part in the investigation.
