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Authorities Say Suspect Who Killed Officers In California Linked To ‘Boogaloo’ Movement

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Marlo Safi Culture Reporter
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The man who allegedly killed law enforcement officers in California amid protests was associated with the far-right extremist Boogaloo movement, authorities announced Tuesday according to numerous sources.

Steven Carrillo, 32, allegedly threw pipe bombs at Santa Cruz County deputies June 6, killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and wounding four others, Forbes reported. He was also charged with killing David Patrick Underwood, a Federal Protective Services Officer, with an AR-15 outside an Oakland federal courthouse May 29.

Authorities confirmed that Carillo, a U.S. Air Force sergeant, is associated with the fringe anti-government Boogaloo movement, which seeks to incite a civil war or other violent clash. Police found a ballistics vest in a vehicle registered to Carillo that had a patch on it with a Boogaloo symbol, which authorities described as an altered American flag, according to the San Francisco Examiner.


Carillo also allegedly wrote the word “boog” and “I became unreasonable” in blood on the vehicle.

The white van used in the Oakland shooting also had bomb-making equipment in it.

Police also announced the arrest of a suspected accomplice, Robert Alvin Justus, Jr.,30, who allegedly drove the van used in both the Oakland Federal Building Shooting and the Santa Cruz attack, according to Forbes.

FBI Agent Jack Bennett said both men chose the protest to commit the killings to blend in better and were seeking out police officers to kill.

“Carrillo elected to travel to Oakland to conduct this murder and take advantage of a time when this nation was mourning the death of George Floyd,” Bennett said in a Tuesday’s press briefing.

“There is no evidence that these men had any intention to join the demonstration in Oakland,” he added. “They came to Oakland to kill cops.” (RELATED:These Are The Police Officers Shot During The Riots)

Carillo is charged with 19 felonies, including murder and attempted murder in federal court and faces up to life in prison or the death penalty for the murder charge and up to 20 years for attempted murder, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

Justus faces the same maximum penalties with charges of aiding and abetting murder and attempted murder.