Court docs: Columbia County teen wanted to kill ICE agents, start his own nation

ST. HELENS, Ore. — Police say anger over high-profile incidents involving ICE and other federal officers led an 18-year-old from St. Helens to create a manifesto that included intentions to kill ICE agents and recruit people to his cause.

The disturbing allegations first came to light when the parent of one of the suspects’ roommates contacted police about her concerns.

The roommates interviewed by police say Rayden Tanner Coleman, 18 , first started discussing his plans in early January.

According to court documents, a concerned roommate showed Coleman’s messages posted to the app Discord.

In the messages, he allegedly said he was “sick and tried of it… gonna get my hands on a firearm and I will actively kill any ICE agents killing or kidnapping civilians.”

One roommate told police they tried to talk him out of it, saying, “I think you are too good and important of a person to get locked up.”

The concern grew over the next few days as roommates saw Coleman bring knives to the apartment as he discussed his plans.

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According to court documents, Coleman focused in on ICE agents in Portland, saying he wanted to get night vision goggles and camouflage clothing.

He said he wanted to follow them home and kill them. He even suggested he would cut off their heads and bring their severed heads to Warm Springs Indian Reservation to show people he was serious.

He also discussed killing the father of another friend who works as a security guard at the ICE facility in Portland, a probable cause document indicates.

“I know this might sound crazy but I have a plan,” Rayden allegedly said in a message included in the affidavit.

He then said he wanted to create a separate country called the Cascadia Rangers Coalition and base it out of Warm Springs and recruit people to his cause.

His behavior continued to escalate, according to roommates, and he was gathering items such as tactical axes, a US Army knife, shovels and was making payments for an AR rifle to be delivered.

He also asked about making Molotov cocktails and another friend, thinking he was joking, gave him two dozen glass bottles.

Police say he filled six of the bottles with sand ‘for weight’ and also purchased hand sanitizer to use as an accelerant.

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On February 4, St. Helens Police made a high-risk traffic stop at Avamere Assisted Living, where Coleman works.

According to court documents, they found the glass bottles in the trunk along with surveillance equipment.

Black and white photo of glass bottles and surveillance equipment found in Coleman’s trunk (attached in court documents)

Police say he was arrested and interviewed him after advising him of his Miranda rights.

According to court documents, he admitted that he had plans to kill ICE agents and that he planned to use the Molotov cocktails against ICE agents.

He also admitted he made statements about cutting off agents’ heads and using them to convince people to join his cause. However, he said he made the statements about severed heads out of anger and that he did not intend to do it.

Court records show he was arraigned Friday on six counts of unlawful manufacture of a destructive device, six more of unlawful possession of a destructive device, and one count of attempted second-degree assault.

A judge ordered him held on $400,000 bail and he has a pretrial release hearing scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 11, with a trial date set for March 31.