Other incidents
On November 23, 2019, a police officer approached the
Mahopac, New York, home of Alex Booth, a 28-year-old
Afghanistan veteran, to investigate an accusation of
domestic violence. When Booth refused to come out, police set up a cordon around his home. Booth began streaming the events on his gun-themed Instagram account, where he used the username "Whiskey Warrior 556". Booth, who was wearing body armor and a knife, believed police had arrived to confiscate a 30-round
magazine under his state's red flag laws.
[1][61] During the
standoff, Booth began livestreaming on Instagram about the standoff, referencing the boogaloo and posting memes.
[2] He gained over 100,000 followers during the incident, some of whom urged him not to surrender to law enforcement. One follower with a large following of his own encouraged others to travel to the town and "shoot traitors". Booth's own posts became increasingly threatening, but he surrendered to police after a seven-hour standoff. Booth was arrested on charges related to the domestic violence accusation. The county sheriff's office denied Booth's claims that the arrest was related to his Second Amendment rights and reported that officers had found no firearms or magazines in the home.
[1][61] The event was later identified as the cause of a large spike in boogaloo-related comments on the 4chan
/pol/ board as well as on other boogaloo sites and right-wing militia social media pages, where followers organized to disrupt police by bombarding them with phone calls and posted incitements of violence.
[2]
A Facebook user, who was later identified as Aaron Swenson, was arrested on April 11, 2020 in Texas after streaming a live video on Facebook in which he stated he was driving around looking for police officers to ambush. He was apprehended after a high-speed police chase and found to be wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying loaded firearms and ammunition. Swenson had shared boogaloo memes on his Facebook page and other adherents of the movement watched and commented during his live stream. Swenson had also posted a photo to Facebook the day after the shooting of Duncan Lemp in which he wore a Hawaiian shirt and combat vest and used the hashtag "#HisNameWasDuncan".
[15][62]
Molotov cocktails allegedly carried by Boogaloo movement individuals Parshall, Lynman, and Loomis in Nevada, 2020
On May 30, three men who identified themselves as members of the boogaloo movement were arrested on
terrorism charges in
Las Vegas,
Nevada. The men, who had been plotting since April to bomb an
electrical substation, had decided instead to focus on the protests that were happening throughout the country in response to the killing of George Floyd. At an anti-lockdown protest in Las Vegas several days earlier, they had told a
confidential informant that they intended to try to incite violence and kick off a riot at a George Floyd protest. They were arrested when they were found filling canisters with gasoline and creating
Molotov cocktails on their way to such a protest on May 30 and each was charged with the federal crimes of conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive and possession of unregistered firearms. They were also accused in state court of felony
conspiracy, terrorism, and possession of explosives.
[21] The men have pleaded not guilty to the federal charges; as of June 24, 2020, they have not entered pleas for the state charges.
[63]
On June 5, two men were arrested in
Richland County,
South Carolina for attempting to incite a riot at a George Floyd protest. Law enforcement believe the men are affiliated with the boogaloo movement. Both men were wearing Hawaiian shirts when they were arrested; one also had boogaloo patches and a flag; the other had two
pistols and two
long guns.
[22][35][64]
On June 13, the United States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas announced they had arrested a
personal trainer with ties to the boogaloo movement. The man was arrested on
steroids-related drug charges and in a search of his home law enforcement agents found steroids and firearms. The man had previously posted on social media about using "
guerrilla warfare" against members of the National Guard deployed at the George Floyd protests, committing violence against looters and "hunting
Antifa".
[23][65]
On July 25 in Austin, Texas, an armed Black Lives Matter protester named Garrett Foster was shot and killed in an altercation with a motorist. Foster reportedly identified with the boogaloo movement and had expressed anti-racist, libertarian and anti-police views in his Facebook posts.
[66]