Federal prosecutors on Friday charged a Texas man, who is a self-described member of the Boogaloo Bois, for allegedly firing an AK-47 style rifle into the Minneapolis police’s third precinct building during the unrest following George Floyd’s death.
Ivan Harrison Hunter, 26, of San Antonio, Texas, is accused of traveling to Minneapolis between May 27 and 28 with the intent of participating in a riot.
Court documents in the case also revealed new details about how far the Boogalo Bois, a far-right, anti-government group, went to coordinate violence in the aftermath of Floyd’s death
Mr. Hunter was texting with a California man named Steven Carillo who is charged with the killing of a Federal Protective Services Officer in Oakland days after the Minneapolis police precinct was torched, court records revealed.
Prosecutors say Mr. Hunter fired 13 rounds from an AK-47 style semiautomatic rifle into the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct building. At the time of the shooting, other individuals, believed to be looters, were still inside, according to court records.
He also looted and helped set the building ablaze, according to the criminal complaint.
The Third Precinct building was the epicenter for civil unrest following Floyd’s death on Memorial Day while in the custody of the Minneapolis police. During the unrest, the building was looted and set ablaze.
Upon his return to Texas, Mr. Hunter made several social media posts describing his illegal activities in Minneapolis, prosecutors said. They also allege he was communicating with Michael Solomon, a Minneapolis resident and also a member of the Boogaloo Bois and another associate named Michael Teeter.
Mr. Solomon was charged in September with conspiring to support Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
It was Mr. Hunter’s communications with Mr. Carillo that caught authorities’ attention.
In a text after the police precinct was set on fire, Mr. Hunter told Mr. Carillo to “go for police buildings.” Mr. Carillo responded, “I did better lol.” A few hours earlier, Mr. Carillo killed a federal agent protecting a courthouse in Oakland according to a criminal complaint there.
On June 1, Mr. Hunter asked Mr. Carillo for money because he needed to “be in the woods for a bit,” according to court documents.
Mr. Carillo sent him $200 via a cash app.
Five days later, Mr. Carillo shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz, California when authorities tried to arrest him.
On June 3, Mr. Hunter was a passenger in a pickup truck leaving a George Floyd protest in Austin, Texas. Officers found Hunter had six loaded magazines for a semiautomatic assault rifle, a tactical vest, three semiautomatic rifles and two loaded pistols, court documents said.
Austin Police say Mr. Hunter denied owning the weapons but told officers he was the South Texas leader of the Boogaloo Bois and that he was in Minneapolis when the Third Precinct was torched.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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