A 26-year-old member of the so-called Boogaloo Bois, a far right, anti-government extremist movement, is facing federal charges for shooting 13 rounds from an AK-47 style semi-automatic rifle at the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct. Ivan Harrison Hunter of Boerne, Texas was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday and faces a charge of interstate travel with the intention of participating in a riot, the Minnesota US Attorney’s office announced in a statement.
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Hunter is accused of opening fire on the police precinct that was burned down on 27th and 28th May as racial justice protestors took the streets following the police killing of George Floyd. According to the federal complaint, Hunter wore a skull mask and tactical gear when he fired his gun at the precinct and allegedly helped set the building on fire.
Two hours after the incident, Hunter reached out via social media to Steven Carillo, another member of the far right group, encouraging him to “Go for police buildings.” Hunter later bragged about his participation in the uprisings, writing on Facebook, "I helped the community burn down that police station in Minneapolis," and “referred to himself as a ‘terrorist,’” according to the complaint. Carillo has also since been arrested for killing a Federal Protective Services Officer in Oakland, California, and for the fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz.
The so-called Boogaloo Bois is a far right extremist movement that originated on the racist and misogynist online forum, 4chan. The group found its footing on 4chan's weapons-dedicated /k/ board, a bellingcat investigation found. The “boogaloo” meme found its roots in anti-government and white power digital forums in the early 2010s, with the term itself referring to a second civil war, the Southern Poverty Law Centre reported. Adherents of the “boogaloo” meme include white nationalists and neo-Nazis who want to build a fascist state, with explicit calls for a race war.
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According to bellingcat's report, a commenter on a Boogaloo-affiliated Facebook page, the Big Igloo Bois, in late May encouraged Minneapolis residents to “join me in forming a private, Constitutionally-authorised militia to protect people from the MPD.” But their overall goal, according to the movement's roots, is to start a "race war" or another "civil war" in the US.
Hunter is the third member of the movement to face charges in Minneapolis, along with 30-year-old Michael Robert Solomon and 22-year-old Benjamin Ryan Teeter who were indicted on federal charges for allegedly attempting to provide weapons to Hamas, the Star Tribune reports. Before traveling to Minnesota, Hunter had been in online communication with both Teeter and Solomon in regards to a coordinated “central command” channel. That same day, Teeter posted to Facebook to encourage members of the movement to, “Lock and load boys. Boog flags are in the air, and the national network is going off."
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force continues to investigate Hunter’s ties to other members of the group.