Weekend Listen: Exposing the truth by living a lie
Apr 5, 2025
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Scott Payne, a former FBI undercover agent, spent nearly two decades infiltrating some of the most dangerous gangs, including neo-Nazi networks. He shares chilling encounters and the psychological toll of living a lie. Listeners dive into a heart-pounding story of a tense showdown at a concrete plant and examine the complexities of dismantling extremist ideologies. Through his eyes, we uncover the dark world he navigated, revealing unsettling truths about violence and the personal cost of exposing hate from within.
FBI agent Scott Payne's undercover work exposed violent plots and extremist ideologies within the white supremacist group The Base.
The successful infiltration led to significant arrests based on concrete actions, highlighting the legal system's response to domestic extremism.
Deep dives
Undercover Life with The Base
FBI Special Agent Scott Payne went undercover to infiltrate a white supremacist group called The Base, where he experienced a shocking initiation process. After being invited to a secret meeting, he met key figures like TMB and Pestilence in Georgia, where he had to put his life at risk to gain their trust. At one point, he faced a tense situation when a tracking device was suspected to be active on his vehicle, creating a palpable fear for his safety. This tense atmosphere was compounded by the group's paranoia and the potential for violence, emphasizing the high stakes of his undercover operation.
Uncovering Extremist Plans
Throughout his infiltration, Scott recorded conversations that exposed the dangerous ideologies and violent plans being discussed by The Base members. His interactions with them included training sessions, where they shared tips on survival and strategies for initiating a race war. One of the most alarming revelations was that the leaders were actively plotting violent acts and recruiting others to their cause, revealing the extent of their extremist beliefs. This accumulation of evidence would later be crucial in bringing charges against The Base members, underscoring the serious threat they posed.
High-Stakes Arrest and Consequences
After months of undercover work, Scott's efforts culminated in the dramatic arrest of Patrick Matthews and other members of The Base, drawing significant media attention. The arrests were not based solely on ideology but on concrete actions, including conspiracy to commit murder and illegal possession of firearms. This crackdown highlighted how Scott's infiltration provided invaluable insights and evidence that led to legal actions against many individuals within the group. As a result, the charges against them varied in severity, with some members facing sentences up to 20 years, demonstrating the judicial system's response to the threat of domestic extremism.
FBI undercover agent Scott Payne’s job was to infiltrate the most dangerous gangs of our times: outlaw bikers, drug cartels and the international neo-Nazi networks hellbent on inciting a race war.
He was taking down these groups from within. And Scott was good at it — people confided in him their most audacious plans for mass violence and domestic terrorism.
In the second season of White Hot Hate, host Michelle Shephard gives you an unvarnished view of a life undercover. Because after a 28-year-long career pretending to be somebody else, Agent Payne is ready to tell his side of the story.
This series was produced alongside a book co-written by Scott Payne and Michelle Shephard titled Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis.