Suspects in Underwood, Gutzwiller Murders Linked to Violent Extremist ‘Boogaloo Bois’

The suspects in the murder of federal law enforcement Dave Patrick Underwood near a Black Lives Matter protest in Oakland, California, on May 29 have been linked to a violent far-right extremist movement known as the Boogaloo Bois.

Underwood was killed and a colleague was wounded when they were on duty in Oakland during rioting that broke out amidst protests at the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Memorial Day.

Officials now say that Air Force Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo and Robert Alvin Justus Jr. took advantage of the protest to attack Underwood and his colleague. Several days later, Carrillo killed a sheriff’s deputy, Damon Gutzwiller, in Santa Cruz County.

Justus turned himself in to police last Thursday, and charges against the two were filed formally on Tuesday. The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

The shootings shed light on the relatively new fringe Boogaloo movement. In court records, the FBI said the term is used by extremists to “reference a violent uprising or impending civil war in the United States.” In the affidavit, the FBI wrote it’s not a defined group, but followers of the ideology “may identify as militia and share a narrative of inciting a violent uprising against perceived government tyranny.”

…

[FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack] Bennett said there was no evidence either man was part of the nearby protests, but rather they hoped to avoid detection with the crowds.

“They came to Oakland to kill cops,” he said.

As Breitbart News noted last week, Carrillo had allegedly posted pro-Antifa and anti-police messages on Facebook, criticizing law enforcement for the way it had responded to Black Lives Matter protests.

However, the loosely-defined ideology of the Boogaloo Bois is not left-wing, but is associated with the extreme right, and members “share a narrative of inciting a violent uprising against perceived government tyranny,” according to the FBI agent quoted by the Chronicle.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.