Boogaloo Boys
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| “ | The way we know the boogaloo movement is as a far-right movement because they draw a line directly from Waco and Ruby Ridge. They hold up things like the McVeigh bombing of the Oklahoma federal building and the armed response to Ruby Ridge as heroic moments in American history. | „ |
| ~ Alex Newhouse, a CTEC researcher who studied the Boogaloo movement. |
The Boogaloo Movement, commonly known as the Boogaloo Boys, are an American anarcho-libertarian militia movement. Adherents of the movement are preparing for, and seek to kick-start, the Second American Civil War, which they refer to as the Boogaloo. Many groups associated with the Boogaloo movement are followers of the White Power Movement and believe that the Boogaloo will take the form of a race war, although others have associated themselves with extremists of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Boogaloo movement is characterised by an online "Boogaloo" meme originating from 4chan which recurs in many far-right circles such as the Proud Boys and the Atomwaffen Division. Adherents have often claimed that the boogaloo is simply a joke; however many groups exist in real life. These real-life adherents are generally identified by use of Hawaiian shirts and military fatigues.
Many adherents of the Boogaloo movement have carried out acts of murder and sedition, and it is considered a terrorist threat by the FBI, although they deny that the movement has any specific left or right wing ideology. Some Boogaloo adherents have also offered "mercenary" services to other far-right groups.
Ideology edit
The Boogaloo movement has no real cohesive ideology due to its disorganized structure. However, all members of the movement are libertarian or anarchist and seek to bring about the end of all forms of government. Many members of the movement are also affiliated with other anti-government militias like the Three Percenters. The majority of Boogaloo Boys are far-right, although a few left-wing Boogaloo groups exist.
Boogaloo Boys predominantly believe in accelerationism (the idea that capitalism should be intensified in order to bring about radical social change) and support using this to hasten the Boogaloo and the collapse of the government. As mentioned previously, many of these groups also follow the white supremacist movement and believe that the Boogaloo will be a race war.
Despite the movement's anti-government rhetoric, many members support Donald Trump and joined the movement due to becoming disillusioned with the federal government after the 2020 election.
History edit
The Boogaloo meme first emerged online in 2012 on the imageboard website 4chan. The first uses of the Boogaloo meme were on this site and another named Iron March (an Alt-Right website where Atomwaffen Division were first founded), generally on boards with a strong white nationalist presence and in reference to racist violence and hate crimes.
Despite the common usage of the meme on far-right websites, the movement was not fully established until 2019, when a viral video depicted a man under investigation for firearms charges ranting about the Boogaloo and screaming slogans related to it while engaged in an armed standoff with police before he was eventually subdued. Soon after this the Boogaloo slogan gained prominence among far-right groups and fringe anti-government militias, and groups following the Boogaloo ideology began to form. Government-enforced COVID-19 lockdowns and the killing of African-American George Floyd by a police officer have also been credited with facilitating the movement's rise in popularity.
On 12 March 2020, Duncan Lemp, the leader of a Boogaloo group, was shot by police who stormed his apartment under a no-knock warrant based on firearms charges. This lead to Lemp being regarded as a "martyr" by many Boogaloo groups and resulted in a further hatred of police in these circles. The slogans "We are Duncan Lemp" and "His name was Duncan Lemp" have since become Boogaloo mantras.
Activities edit
On 11 April 2020, an unidentified man was arrested in Texas for attempted murder after he livestreamed a video of himself driving round with several guns "looking for cops to kill". The man was later found to have posted material relating to the Boogaloo movement on his Facebook page and used the "His name was Duncan Lemp" slogan in a video the day before. It is speculated that he was planning to avenge Lemp by killing as many police officers as possible.
During the 2020 George Floyd protests, many Boogaloo members were indicted on terrorism charges. Three men who identified themselves as Boogaloo adherents were arrested on 30 May after being caught plotting to attack a Las Vegas protest with Molotov cocktails. Two men in South Carolina believed to be Boogaloo adherents were arrested for attempting to incite a riot at a Floyd protest in Richmond County. A Texas personal trainer with ties to the Boogaloo movement was arrested on 13 June after bragging on social media about firing on National Guard members attempting to contain the rioting. A South Texas Boogaloo group leader was indicted on 23 October for opening fire on a police station with an AK-47.
Steven Carrillo, an Air Force sergeant, carried out two attacks on police officers in May and June 2020. The first attack occurred on 29 May, when Carillo and an accomplice carried out a drive-by shooting outside a federal courthouse in Oakland, killing a guard. Over a week later, on 6 June, several officers arrived at Carillo's residence in Santa Cruz and were fired on with an AR-15, seriously injuring a deputy and killing Sheriff Damon Gutzwiller. He also attacked the officers with IEDs before being shot and arrested. During the shootout Carillo used several Boogaloo slogans and has been said to have been intending to start the Boogaloo by killing cops.
On 8 October 2020, the FBI announced they had arrested 13 Boogaloo militia members for involvement in a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan. The 13 had reportedly been planning to abduct Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the hope of starting a revolution against the government of Michigan and triggering the Boogaloo. Three others involved in this plot were later arrested.
During the attack on the US Senate which occurred on 6 January 2021, many Boogaloo emblems were reportedly seen in the crowd of rioters. One Boogaloo adherent claimed to have lead his group in an attack on the Senate after deciding to take the opportunity to strike against the US government. Rioters also chanted Boogaloo slogans such as "We became unreasonable" and anticipated that the Boogaloo would be triggered by the attack.