Boogaloo Bois

Undercover ‘Hamas’ agents

A member of the anti-government Boogaloo Bois was sentenced last week to four years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist group Hamas.

Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 24, first came to the FBI’s attention when he and an associate, Michael Solomon, traveled to the Twin Cities carrying guns in the midst of the unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Teeter and Solomon made contact with individuals they believed were members of Hamas, but who were actually government informants and undercover agents.

Seeking to raise money for the Boogaloo Bois, the duo sold firearm parts to the undercover agents. They also discussed a desire to obtain C-4 to strike government targets, like courthouses and state monuments, and plotted to kill U.S. politicians (pdf).

“SOLOMON stated, “[w]ell, for the future, I’d build a gallows in front of the … in front of the Congress building in D.C. and just start hanging politicians left and right.” In reference to politicians hiring security for protection, TEETER stated, “you can’t stop threats that you can’t see. I shoot precision long-range bolt rifles. I do most of my shooting beyond half a mile. And I can easily, with a well-equipped rifle, shoot to fifteen hundred yards.”

District Judge Michael Davis (Clinton appointee), who sentenced Teeter to just four years in prison, said that he got “one heck of a break.” Prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence.

Murder in Oakland

Another Boogaloo Boi was sentenced for his crimes last week: 33-year-old Steven Carrillo pleaded guilty to murder in the killing of federal security officer Dave Patrick Underwood during George Floyd protests in Oakland, California.

On May 29, 2020, Carrillo opened fire on two security officers outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, killing Underwood and wounding a second officer. He then went on the run, hiding in the small town of Ben Lomond, California. When sheriff’s officers approached, Carillo ambushed them with a silenced automatic rifle and a pipe bomb. He was eventually arrested and taken into custody after the death of another officer and the wounding of several more.

A subsequent PBS investigation found that Carillo was a staff sergeant assigned to an anti-terrorist squadron at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield.

According to the Air Force, Carrillo completed the 24-day Phoenix Raven qualification course in New Jersey in late 2018 then returned to Travis Air Force Base to become “fully mission qualified as a Raven.” From July to November 2019, Carrillo served as a Phoenix Raven Team Leader in Kuwait and other countries in the region, the Air Force said.

In an interview, Carrillo said he was introduced to the political ideology of the Boogaloo Bois through friends in the Air Force and on the internet. The 15 active-duty airmen identified by the news organizations as openly promoting Boogaloo content on Facebook worked at bases around the world, including eight who, like Carrillo, served in the Air Force security branch.

Carrillo pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death and attempted murder of a person assisting an officer or employee of the U.S. Government. He was sentenced to 41 years in prison.

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Hit list

The man who allegedly shot and killed a retired Wisconsin judge last week in a targeted act was reportedly a member of a militia and had a hit list that included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D).

Police responded to a home in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, Friday morning after a 911 caller reported shots fired. They found 68-year-old former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer deceased in the home. The suspect, Douglas Uhde, was discovered in the basement with a self-inflicted gunshot wound; he later died in the hospital.

Uhde was sentenced to prison by the judge in 2005 for armed burglary and felony firearms charges. According to local WTMJ news, Uhde was a member of a militia (though law enforcement has not confirmed this as fact).

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Police chief trafficking firearms

A former police chief of Addyston, Ohio, escaped jail time for using his law enforcement position to illegally obtain and sell 200 fully automatic machine guns. Dorian LaCourse, 66, signed multiple letters falsely stating that the police department wanted military-grade weapons. Two firearms dealers in Indiana then sent the letters to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to obtain the weapons, which were resold for five or six times the purchase price.

LaCourse pled guilty to conspiracy and two false statement charges. Despite prosecutors asking for nearly 6 years in prison, District Judge Sarah Evans Barker (Reagan appointee) sentenced LaCourse to three years probation and an $11,800 fine—which is just $300 more than what the DOJ says he received from the gun dealers for his role in the scheme.