Alleged killer talked with Boogaloo Bois
Feds say man who murdered officer in Oakland planned attacks against police with extremist group
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Justice has linked a Texas man accused of shooting up a Minnesota police precinct in May to the U.S. Air Force sergeant who allegedly targeted and murdered a federal officer in Oakland one day later, saying the loosely organized extremist movement known as the Boogaloo Bois coordinated as they targeted law enforcement officials and structures across the country.
“Go for police buildings,” a suspected Boogaloo Boi named Ivan Hunter, a Texas resident, allegedly messaged Steven Carrillo on Facebook. The message was sent hours after Carrillo and a man he met on a Boogaloo Facebook group allegedly drove to downtown Oakland where Carrillo opened fire at a security booth at the federal building, killing Federal Protective Services officer Patrick Dave Underwood.
“I did better lol,” was Carrillo’s reply, federal authorities say.
These conversations, detailed by FBI agents in court records that were unsealed this week, give the public its first glimpse into allegations that Boogaloo Bois have acted in concert while carrying out high-profile attacks against police. Federal authorities have alleged that members had discussed violence against law enforcement for months before they took advantage of widespread protests after the George Floyd killing to carry them out.
Hunter expressed a desire to “riot” in Minnesota in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, brought guns with him on the multi-state trip, and later admitted to helping set a precinct on fire, authorities allege. The complaint against him alleges Hunter referred to himself as a “terrorist” in the presence of an FBI informant.
“I didn’t’ protest peacefully Dude … Want something to change? Start risking felonies for what is good,” Hunter allegedly said in a Facebook message two weeks after the precinct shooting.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have hit Hunter with a rioting charge for allegedly opening fire at the police precinct on May
28. On May 29, Carrillo and another Bay Area man, Robert Justus, allegedly met at the San Leandro BART station after becoming acquainted through a Boogaloo Bois Facebook group.
They set off for Oakland, where Justus allegedly did reconnaissance on foot. Justus drove the van while Carrillo opened fire at the FPS security booth, killing Underwood and injuring his partner. Carrillo seemed energized after the shooting, Justus told authorities days after the shooting when he arrived at an FBI building to offer a full confession.
Days after the May 29 killing of Under wood, Hunter messaged Carrillo that he was going to be “in the woods for a bit.” Carrillo allegedly wired him $200.
“Now I stand a better chance Steve,” Hunter al
legedly wrote.
Later in the conversation, Carrillo allegedly told Hunter that he was “doing good s— out there” and reminded him to stay safe.
“You too king,” Hunter allegedly responded.
A week after the Underwood killing, Carrillo allegedly ambushed Santa Cruz County deputies outside his home in Ben Lomond, opening fire and lobbing homemade pipe bombs at them. Carrillo killed Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and wounded two other of f icers, and he wasn’t arrested until a civilian thwarted his carjacking attempt and wrestled him to the ground.
Hunter allegedly found out about Carrillo’s arrest from the news, and shared an article with other Boogaloo Bois.
“Well, s—,” he allegedly wrote alongside the article.
Later, Hunter allegedly told an FBI informant — referred to in court records
as Confidential Human Source or CHS — that he and Carrillo were in regular contact.
“Hunter told the CHS that he is a Boogaloo Bois member and that he and Carrillo were founding members of the ‘ Happy Friends Group’ which, according to Hunter, is a ‘ fire team’ that responds with violence if the police try to take their guns away,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.
The Boogaloo Bois are a loosely- structured antigovernment movement that is built on the belief that a second American civil war is looming. It has a white supremacist faction, but also has members who’ve seen the Black Lives Matter movement as an opportunity to drum up violence against police.
“Go to the riots and support our own cause. Show them the real targets,” Carrillo allegedly wrote on a Boogaloo Facebook group,
according to the FBI.
Court documents say that between May 27 and May 28, Hunter traveled from Texas to Minneapolis and expressed a desire to “riot.”
I nve s t i g at or s fou nd posts on Facebook made by Hunter and Benjamin Ryan Teeter — a Boogaloo Bois member from North Carolina — stating that they were planning to go to Minneapolis. Hunter and Teeter communicated with each other as they traveled from their respective states to Minnesota, the complaint alleges.
Hunter also communicated with Michael Solomon, a Boogaloo Bois member and a Minnesota resident. Hunter sent his precise location to Solomon on the evening of May 28; two blocks away from the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct building. A video taken that night shows a man, identified in the complaint
as Hunter, firing 13 rounds from a semiautomatic rifle into the Third Precinct, according to court documents.
The shooter then walks toward the camera, highfives another person and yells, “Justice for Floyd!” The shooter is seen wearing a skull mask covering the lower-half of his face and wearing glasses, a baseball cap, and tactical gear, court documents allege.
Hunter later wrote on Facebook that he, “burned police stations with black panthers in Minneapolis” and “I helped the community bum down that police station in Minneapolis,” the complaint alleges.
When Hunter returned to Texas, he made several statements on social media about the Minneapolis violence he participated in, court documents say. On June 3, Austin police officers initiated a stop on a pick-up truck for various traffic violations. Hunter
was one of three occupants in the vehicle and sat in the front passenger seat. Hunter had six loaded magazines for an AK- 47 style assault rifle fastened to a vest he was wearing, court documents allege.
It wasn’t until several days after the stop that the FBI became aware of the connection between Hunter and Carrillo, according to the complaint.
Hunter was arrested Wednesday in San Antonio and made his first appearance in court Thursday.
Carrillo and Justus are still in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin where they face federal charges that carry a possible death sentence. Carrillo is also facing a death penalty murder case in Santa Cruz County for the killing of Gutzwiller.