Four members of a Northern California civilian force were charged Friday with allegedly obstructing justice and destroying records related to the shooting death of a federal officer in Oakland, Oakland, by another member of their extremist group.
The federal indictment on Friday revealed an unsealed revelation that the shooting suspect, Steven Carrillo, told fellow members of the Civil Service via a secure messaging app that he had killed a federal officer, and he warned them that he was on the point was to involve the deputies of the sheriff of Santa Cruz in a gun battle during which he would kill another law enforcement officer. His compatriots immediately began covering up their association, authorities claim.
Along with Carrillo, the men, Jessie Alexander Rush (29) of Turlock; Robert Jesus Blancas (33), a short-lived; Simon Sage Ybarra (23) of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo; are members of an armed band that calls themselves the “Grizzly Scouts”. According to U.S. Department of Justice officials, the group is associated with the “boogaloo” movement, a loose collection of extremists wearing Hawaiian shirts and supporting the dismantling of the government.
Lawyers for Carrillo and Blancas did not return requests for comment, and advocates for others could not be immediately located.
The complicated conspiracy began to unfold in June, when federal law enforcement officers charged Carrillo, an air force sergeant, and alleged accomplice Robert A. Justus Jr., 30, with the death of a federal security officer in Oakland and the wounded on 29 May. of a second officer.
After the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May, Oakland was driven into weeks of civil unrest. Authorities allege that Carrillo and Justus used the chaos as cover in their plan to attack law enforcement – a fantasy of boogaloo supporters. According to federal authorities, Justus rode a white van with his license plates removed while Carrillo fired at officers at his side door with a homemade machine gun – a so-called ghost gun due to the lack of identifying marks – with a damper.
The murder led to an eight-day hunt that ended in the Santa Cruz mountain town of Ben Lomond, where Carrillo lived. There he allegedly opened fire on deputies and ao. Damon Gutzwiller, said the sheriff’s department. Wounded during the shootout, Carrillo fled and took a vehicle with a hood and used his own blood to write ‘ARCH’ on the hood before being apprehended by authorities.
Justus handed himself over to the federal authorities days later, but claimed he was an unwilling participant. The charge sheet does not identify Justus as a member of the Grizzly Scouts.
The indictment alleges that Rush, Blancas, Ybarra and Miksch used WhatsApp to communicate in the minutes before Carrillo opened fire on the Santa Cruz delegates, and in the ensuing days wanted to cover up their connection with him by erasing evidence.
“Sit up and come here,” Carrillo apparently wrote to his countrymen when the delegates arrived. “There is only (sic) one way in / out. Take them out when they come in … ”
According to the complaint, Rush immediately told Carrillo to “factory set” his phone, which would destroy the stored communications. The other militia members later removed the communication from their own devices, including another message from Carrillo on the day that read: ‘Dudes i offed a fed.’
Later, Blancas also removed Dropbox files related to the Grizzly Scouts, including an unpublished agreement requiring members to keep the group’s material confidential, and scorecards to test members’ skills in areas such as firearms. and assess battles.
Authorities claim the group formed only months before the attack – Rush formed the Grizzly Scouts last year and, according to the complaint, awarded the titles of ‘Commanding Officer’ and ‘Major’. Blancas, who also went under the monks MuskOx and Orgotloth, was in charge of security and intelligence, while Ybarra handled the recruitment and Miksch, who used the name Senapai, handled firearms and training.
Carrillo, called ‘Armadillo’ and ‘Dillo’, was also a member and took part in their Facebook discussions in a group called ‘/ K / alifornia Commando.’
Blancas was charged separately at the end of last year with charges related to child pornography and seduction of a minor, after federal officials searched several places associated with him and other Grizzly Scouts members on August 6 while investigating the conspiracy. . Along with two assault rifles, a pistol, armor and other tactical equipment, authorities found electronic devices containing evidence of child pornography.
Authorities allege Blancas met a 15-year-old high school girl in an online forum called “DDLG”, the abbreviation for Daddy-Daughter Little Girl, on Whisper, a platform that allows users to remain anonymous. From there, Blancas began communicating with her through the instant messaging platform Kik, and through calls and videos on Skype, the criminal charge alleges. Although the girl originally told Blancas that she was an adult, authorities claim he had similar interactions with other minors.
All six men remain in custody pending ongoing hearings. Carrillo and Justus could face the death penalty.
Devin Burghart, executive director of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, said the charges help “dispel the myth that Carrillo was a lone actor.”
Brian Levin, executive director of the Cal State San Bernardino Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said the Grizzly Scouts have been on the radar for extremist viewers for months.
“This is not the first time the name has appeared,” he said. Northern California, he said, has become a center of extremist anti-government activities, though much of the boogaloo element involves little more than love for the 2nd Amendment and a hatred for the organized government. “It’s bringing your own plate to the extremist buffet,” Levin said.
Levin called Friday’s charge a “very important” development in the government’s crackdown on such groups, which became a focal point for law enforcement after the January 6 uprising in Washington, where several extremist groups were involved.