Four men believed to have ties to a far-right military group are charged with destroying evidence in a federal investigation into the shooting of two police officers.
The Justice Department announced on Friday that Jessie Alexander Rush (29), Robert Jesus Blancas (33), Simon Sage Ybarra (23) and Kenny Matthew Miksch (21) are charged with conspiracy to destroy records, destroying records and obstructing official proceedings.
Prosecutors allege the four men are members of the extremist ‘Grizzly’ militia, which has links to the ‘boogaloo’ movement, which is campaigning for a politically motivated civil war or rebellion against the government.
The charge against the four men refers to two shootings, one on 29 May 2020 and one day later on 6 June. Two federal protection officers (PSOs) were shot dead in the first incident in which one of the PSOs died, and two Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Deputies were shot dead in the second incident. One deputy was also killed in the second shooting incident.
According to the indictment of the US Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, a member of the Grizzly Scouts, sends a text message to a WhatsApp group along with other Grizzly Scouts to say he is going to shoot at law enforcement.
“Dudes I offered a meal,” authorities said Carrillo sent an SMS just before the shooting in Santa Cruz.
Rush then instructed the members of the group to scrub the evidence of the text on their phones.
Blancas then deleted files related to the Grizzly Scouts from a Dropbox account. “Furthermore, within hours of the shooting, members of the Grizzly Scouts, including Rush, Blancas, Ybarra and Miksch, allegedly reconnected to an alternative communications application,” the DOJ said.
The DOJ also said “the four accused each removed records of the WhatsApp group communication from their phones, including the previous discussions on violence against law enforcement.”
The four men are each sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.