Member of far-right Boogaloo Bois charged with firing on MN police, fomenting unrest in George Floyd protests

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Texas member of Boogaloo Bois charged with opening fire on Minneapolis police precinct during protests over George Floyd
Feds say Texas adherent of far-right group fired on precinct building, conspired with cop killer to ignite civil war.

By  Andy Mannix 
Star Tribune

October 23, 2020 — 9:13pm

In the wake of protests following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a member of the Boogaloo Bois opened fire on the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct with an AK-47-style gun and screamed “Justice for Floyd” as he ran away, according to a federal complaint made public Friday.

A sworn affidavit by the FBI underlying the complaint reveals new details about a far-right anti-government group’s coordinated role in the violence that roiled through civil unrest over Floyd’s death while in police custody.

Ivan Harrison Hunter, a 26-year-old from Boerne, Texas, is charged with one count of interstate travel to incite a riot for his alleged role in ramping up violence during the protests in Minneapolis on May 27 and 28. According to charges, Hunter, wearing a skull mask and tactical gear, shot 13 rounds at the south Minneapolis police headquarters while people were inside. He also looted and helped set the building ablaze, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday under seal.

Unrest flared throughout Minneapolis following Floyd’s death, which was captured on a bystander’s cellphone video, causing Gov. Tim Walz to activate the Minnesota National Guard. As police clashed with protesters, Hunter and other members of the Boogaloo Bois discussed in private Facebook messages their plans to travel to Minneapolis and rally at the Cub Foods near the Third Precinct building, according to federal court documents. One of the people Hunter coordinated with posted publicly to social media: “Lock and load boys. Boog flags are in the air, and the national network is going off,” the complaint states.

Two hours after the police precinct was set on fire, Hunter texted with another Boogaloo member in California, a man named Steven Carrillo.

“Go for police buildings,” Hunter told Carrillo, according to charging documents.

“I did better lol,” Carrillo replied. A few hours earlier, Carrillo had killed a Federal Protective Services officer in Oakland, Calif., according to criminal charges filed against him in California.

On June 1, Hunter asked Carrillo for money, explaining he needed to “be in the woods for a bit,” and Carrillo sent him $200 via a cash app.

Five days later, Carrillo shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz when authorities tried to arrest him, according to charges filed in California. Authorities say he then stole a car and wrote “Boog” on the hood “in what appeared to be his own blood.”

A couple of days later, during police protests in Austin, Texas, police pulled over a truck after seeing three men in tactical gear and carrying guns drive away in it. Hunter, in the front passenger seat, wore six loaded banana magazines for an AK-47-style assault rifle on his tactical vest, according federal authorities. The two other men had AR-15 magazines affixed to their vests. The officers found an AK-47-style rifle and two AR-15 rifles on the rear seat of the vehicle, a pistol next to the driver’s seat and another pistol in the center console.

Hunter denied he owned any of the weapons found in the vehicle. He did, according to the complaint, volunteer that he was the leader of the Boogaloo Bois in South Texas and that he was present in Minneapolis when the Third Precinct was set on fire. Police seized the guns and let Hunter and the others go.

Hunter had bragged about his role in the Minneapolis riots on Facebook, publicly proclaiming, “I helped the community burn down that police station” and “I didn’t’ [sic] protest peacefully Dude … Want something to change? Start risking felonies for what is good.”

“The BLM protesters in Minneapolis loved me [sic] fireteam and I,” he wrote on June 11. According to the complaint, “fire team” is a reference to a group he started with Carrillo “that responds with violence if the police try to take their guns away.”

“Hunter also referred to himself as a ‘terrorist,’ ” the complaint states.

A confidential informant told police that Hunter planned to “go down shooting” if authorities closed in. He didn’t. They arrested him without incident in San Antonio, Texas, this week, and he made his first court appearance Thursday.

Hunter is the third member of the Boogaloo Bois, a loose-knit group intent on igniting a second American civil war, to be charged in Minneapolis as a result of the unrest that followed Floyd’s death.

Michael Robert Solomon and Benjamin Ryan Teeter were indicted in September with conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Two members of the Boogaloo Bois, including one from Minnesota, have been indicted on federal charges of attempting to provide material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday.

The Boogaloo Bois is a loose-knit group of anti-government extremists. The heavily armed members often mobilize on social media and have garnered more prominence and law enforcement scrutiny this year. The term “Boogaloo” refers to a second civil war in the United States and is associated with violent anti-government uprisings, according to the complaint.

Michael Robert Solomon, 30, of New Brighton, and Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, of Hampstead, N.C., allegedly sought to capitalize on the unrest following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Solomon was seen openly carrying a firearm in a residential neighborhood during that time, according to a witness.

A Star Tribune investigation in July found references to the Boogaloo Bois in dozens of leaked state and federal documents from the rioting in late May and early June. Solomon was singled out by name in one of the bulletins, which cautioned that he and others were ready to shoot police if they approached a home in Minneapolis where they were staged.

“We know we have a target [on us], that’s why we don’t meet up in big groups, because we know we’re probably going to get raided,” Solomon said in July. “We know a lot of us are probably going to die.”

Posts to a Twitter account that appear to be Teeter’s showed him in downtown Minneapolis during last week’s during the unrest following untrue rumors that a man wanted in a fatal shooting who shot himself had actually been shot by police. Teeter posted photos of law enforcement vehicles and encouraged nearby Boojahideen, a subgroup of the Boogaloo Bois, to “respond.”

“We need to get the word out and make sure that every Boojahideen in the area knows what’s going on so that they can respond appropriately to the situation,” he said in the video.

Solomon and Teeter were arrested Thursday evening. They made their initial appearances Friday before Magistrate Judge Tony Leung in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

The FBI began an investigation into Solomon, Teeter and the Boojahideen at the end of May, according to the affidavit. The two men are accused of attempting to provide weapons suppressors or silencers to Hamas in exchange for funding for their extremist organization.

“This case can only be understood as a disturbing example of the adage, ‘The enemy of your enemy is your friend,’ ” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers. “As alleged in the complaint, these defendants sought to use violence against the police, other government officials and government property as part of their desire to overthrow the government.”

On May 26, Solomon posted on Facebook that he was looking for a head count of members. Teeter followed with a post that read, “Lock and load boys. Boog flags are in the air, and the national network is going off.” That day, Teeter traveled from North Carolina to Minnesota.

A witness who encountered Solomon that day in Minneapolis told the FBI that his mission was to get police out of the city. The witness said Solomon offered his protection from police, white supremacists and looters during the civil unrest.

Later, the witness invited Solomon, Teeter, and an unnamed associate to stay overnight at their home. There, the three discussed attacking police and other targets. The witness became uncomfortable with the conversation, the men’s firearms and large amounts of ammunition, authorities say.

Solomon and Teeter discussed attacking and stealing weapons and bombs from a National Guard armory to supply the Boojahideen. They also discussed seeking out and killing white supremacists.

In June, the FBI began receiving information about Teeter, Solomon and other Boogaloo Bois from a confidential source that the Bois believed to be a member of the terrorist organization Hamas. The source, a paid informant, had a Middle Eastern accent.

Soloman and Teeter told the source that Hamas shares their anti-U. S. views. They spoke of their desire to become “mercenaries” for Hamas to make money to recruit more members and to purchase land for a training compound for the Boogaloo movement.

The source and Solomon communicated using Facebook Messenger until Solomon pushed for a switch to an encrypted messaging app.

The source met with the two men and another unnamed associate at a Twin Cities residence on June 6, where they discussed their dislike of police officers and the possibility of shooting them, as they loaded ammunition into magazines. “Most likely, [expletive] we’re doing, we don’t want our fingerprints on our [expletive],” Solomon said.

In mid-July, Solomon, Teeter and the source began discussing the destruction of government monuments to make a “big statement.”

“Teeter revealed that he and Solomon had decided to target a historical county courthouse,” because it was “a symbol of the unjust laws that America upholds” and had “low security,” according to the complaint.

Teeter implied that he knew the basics of blowing up a courthouse, and that he had been researching their plan on the “dark web.” Teeter identified a historic courthouse in northern Minnesota.

Solomon asked the source for Hamas to invest in their future, because he and Teeter would be assets to the organization. “To you and your friends, we’ve got to be pretty valuable, because two American-born white boys, right? We can move around like nothing. I can take anything anywhere,” he said.

When discussing future targets for the Boogaloo Bois, Solomon expressed a desire to harm politicians and media executives. “[A]s soon as we, you know, mark the politicians that we want to. I’d be fine with going after the media after that. I’m not necessarily talking about the journalists on the street. Yeah, they lie. ... I just want to take out the top 20% people at each company.”

During a hotel meeting on June 28 with Solomon, Teeter, the informant and an undercover FBI agent whom the Bois believed to be a more senior member of Hamas, the two expressed their willingness to manufacture suppressors for Hamas. Teeter offered to manufacture unmarked gun parts and unregistered and untraceable weapons. In return, they asked Hamas to fund their organization.

“If we are able to accomplish our goals, the U.S. would be [expletive] done,” Solomon said.

On July 30, they delivered five suppressors to the undercover agent that they believed would be delivered to a militant wing of Hamas, negotiating a price of $1,800. The two offered to make fully automatic weapons and more suppressors for Hamas.

On Aug. 12, they told the source that they were delaying their plan to blow up a courthouse so they could execute a larger plot that could involve the murder of politicians.

Solomon and Teeter continued working to manufacture and sell more suppressors to Hamas through August.

Minneapolis criminal justice attorney Joe Tamburino said that the complaint presents a strong case against the two men.

“They’ve got the discussions, they’ve got the act of furtherance of the conspiracy. When these guys get into court, I’m sure they’re going to be held without bail,” he said.

Their sentencing could easily be 12 to 14 years, said Tamburino.

“The FBI is committed to stopping acts of violence against law enforcement officers or anyone else in our communities. The defendants in this case were willing to work with Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization, in order to get money for potential acts of violence here in the U.S.,” said Jill Sanborn, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.

The two will remain in custody pending a formal detention hearing set for Wednesday.

Staff writer Stephen Montemayor contributed to this report.

Zoë Jackson covers young and new voters at the Star Tribune through the Report For America program, supported by the Minneapolis Foundation. She is at 612-673-7112 and @zoemjack

https://www.startribune.com/charges-boogaloo-bois-fired-on-mpls-precinct-shouted-justice-for-floyd/572843802/

[aubiefifty 16,758]

i wonder where mikey is? he has denied this over and over. thhese same idiots wer going to kidnap the gov while discussing raping her and saying we will probably have to kill some cops when we do this. all the while trump has made it worse and and these people think from a discussion on msnbc that trump is ok with this. AND they still take up for trump.

[McLoofus 35,182]

33 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i wonder where mikey is? he has denied this over and over. thhese same idiots wer going to kidnap the gov while discussing raping her and saying we will probably have to kill some cops when we do this. all the while trump has made it worse and and these people think from a discussion on msnbc that trump is ok with this. AND they still take up for trump.

Waiting to see how alexava makes this about antifa myself.

[homersapien 11,366]

ANTIFA!!!!  ANTIFA!!!!  ANTIFA!!!!