Air Force Seargent Connected To The ‘Boogaloo Bois’ Movement Charged With Murder

An active-duty United States Air Force sergeant with suspected links to a loose group of far-right anti-government protesters has been charged with the murders and wounding of law enforcement officers, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Federal agents reportedly linked Carillo to the murders after he used his own blood to write phrases associated with the Boogaloo Bois movement on a stolen car after the murder of a sheriff’s deputy in California.

The FBI announced that Steven Carillo, 32 and a staff sergeant stationed in Travis Air Force Base, is accused of fatally shooting federal security officer David Patrick Underwood, 53, outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland.

Carillo allegedly used a nearby protest over the death of George Floyd in police custody as a cover to kill Underwood and wound his partner, May 30.

He also faces separate charges from California on the June 6 murder of Damon Gutzwiller, a California sheriff’s deputy and the wounding of our other officers in Santa Cruz.

According to federal authorities, Carillo was a leader in an elite military security force with no disciplinary record. They linked him to the Boogaloo Bois movement through his posts on social media and the phrases he wrote on the car he stole after the ambush of Gutzwiller. He reportedly wrote “boog,” “stop the duopoly” and other messages on the hood of the car using his own blood.

The Boogaloo Bois are reportedly loose collection of anti-government individuals who believe in carrying their guns in the open and, allegedly, advocate for a violent civil war against the U.S. government, in reference to the 1984 film “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

People who adhere to the ideology have shown up to protests carrying large guns and wearing Hawaiian shirts based on an inside joke.

The movement is gaining an audience in the short-video app TikTok, where the hastag #boogaloo reveals a feed full of teens dressing up the part and dancing with guns.

Several alleged members of the Boogaloo Bois movement are facing charges over violence during protests. Federal agents said they believed the members were trying to incite a large violent encounter with law enforcement to spark a civil war.

Jeffrey Strotter, Carillo’s attorney, said there is no evidence that his client was part of or in contact with anyone from the Boogaloo Bois movement.

Strotter also called the Boogaloo Bois a terrorist organization that exploits vulnerable individuals on social media who are likely susceptible to messages of “hate and destruction.”

“[Carillo] has personally expressed to me his sadness and sympathy for everyone that has been harmed by the tragic events in his case,” Strotter told the Associated Press.