Boogaloo Boy Fired on Minneapolis Police Precinct During George Floyd Unrest: Feds
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
A member of the militant “Boogaloo Boys” group fired on the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct with an AK-47 amid unrest resulting from George Floyd’s May 25 death, according to a federal complaint made public Friday.
Video taken during the unrest shows “an individual walking up to a door to the Third Precinct building and discharging 13 rounds from what appears to be an AK-47 style semiautomatic rifle,” according to charging documents. Officials allege the man seen in the video, captured the evening of May 27, was 26-year-old Ivan Harrison Hunter. Cell phone data captured by the feds allegedly showed Hunter traveling to Minneapolis from Boerne, Texas, earlier in the day.
The incident took place the same evening police abandoned the station, leading protesters to close in and eventually burn it down. Authorities said Hunter participated in the violence wearing a skull mask and tactical gear. A photo of Hunter’s personal Facebook page included in the complaint featured Hunter wearing the same type of mask.
His page additionally included a post taking credit for the destruction of the Third Precinct. “I helped the community burn down that police station,” the post stated. “I didn’t protest peacefully Dude… Want something to change? Start risking felonies for what is good.”
Officials also said police spotted Hunter at another protested related to Floyd in Austin, Texas on June 3. “Officers observed Hunter and two other men wearing tactical gear and carrying rifles,” the complaint noted. “After the three men entered a pick-up truck and drove off, officers watched the vehicle commit numerous traffic violations.”
Police claimed they found an AK-47, two AR-15s, and two pistols during the subsequent traffic stop, in addition to six loaded magazines for an AK-47 rifle affixed to Hunter’s tactical vest.
The feds alleged Hunter also sent a text message to 32-year-old Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo just hours after setting fire to the police station. “Go for police buildings,” Hunter allegedly wrote. “I did better lol,” Carrillo replied.
Carrillo was charged in June with killing Federal Protective Services officer Dave Underwood, 53, during unrest in Oakland, California, just hours before the text exchange took place. The latest charging documents indicated Hunter sent Carrillo $200 just days later after Carrillo said he needed to “be in the woods for a bit.” Carrillo allegedly shot and killed Santa Cruz Police Sgt. Damon Guztwiller, 38, five days later, in the incident leading to his arrest.
Hunter was arrested in San Antonio October 21 on a charge of participating in a riot. Charging documents in his case were made public by the Justice Department on Friday.
The Anti-Defamation League defined “boogaloo” in November as “extremists’ new slang term for a coming civil war,” adding the name derives from the 1984 movie “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” Adherents range from white supremacists to militia groups.
