June 24, 2020
THE FEW, THE PROUD BOYS...
The U.S. Military Has a Boogaloo Problem: Some of the largest private Facebook groups catering to the boogaloo movement have scores of members who identify as active-duty military. (Tess Owen, Jun 24 2020, Vice News)
Meanwhile, there's growing concern among intelligence officials about the public-safety risk posed by the boogaloo movement. In late May, the Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement around the country that "anarchist and militia extremists" could try to exploit the protests against police brutality with the goal of sparking the "boogaloo," Politico reported.In early June, the FBI arrested three "Boogaloo Bois" -- an army reservist, a Navy veteran, and an Air Force veteran -- for allegedly planning to throw explosives into a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas to sow confusion and chaos.On June 15, authorities issued an intelligence assessment warning that "violent adherents of the boogaloo ideology" could target Washington D.C. due to the "significant presence of U.S. law enforcement entities."The following day, federal prosecutors announced charges against Air Force Staff Sgt. Steve Carrillo for a deadly ambush on federal security officers outside a courthouse in Oakland, California.Carrillo, who was already in custody for allegedly killing a sheriff's deputy, allegedly had ties to the Boogaloo movement. Investigators said they found explosives, firearms, and a tactical vest with a boogaloo patch on it inside his van. They said he'd also used his own blood to scrawl slogans associated with the boogaloo movement, including "BOOG," on the hood of the white van.Prosecutors say that Carrillo sought to exploit the pain and suffering driving the protests against police brutality to advance the goals of the boogaloo movement."We have mobs of angry people to use to our advantage.""Go to the riots and support our own cause," Carrillo allegedly wrote on Facebook the day of the ambush on the federal officer. "Use their anger to fuel our fire. Think outside the box. We have mobs of angry people to use to our advantage."It's hard to square the violent anti-government aspirations of the boogaloo with the oath of induction taken by military personnel to protect the U.S. and enemies "foreign and domestic." But the involvement of service members in anti-government extremist movements is nothing new, said Kathleen Belew, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chicago and author of 'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America.'Active-duty service members or veterans have the potential to "dramatically escalate the impact of fringe activism, pass on explosives expertise, urban warfare expertise," said Belew, which is why extremist groups have long-sought to radicalize and recruit those individuals."This is not a problem we should take lightly," said Belew.
Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2020 7:27 PM
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