LOS ANGELES – Four men in Northern California who are allegedly linked to the extremist “Grizzly” militia have been charged with destroying evidence in a federal investigation into the murder of two officers, prosecutors said Friday.
Jessie Alexander Rush (29) of Turlock; Robert Jesus Blancas (33), no hometown given; Simon Sage Ybarra (23) of Los Gatos; and San Lorenzo’s Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, are charged in March 23 with conspiracy to destroy records, destroying records and obstructing official proceedings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco said.
Blancas is also facing a separate federal case, filed on Nov. 20, accusing him of seducing a teenage girl into having sex.
It was not immediately clear who the accused represented in court. Northern California federal defense attorney Candis Mitchell declined to comment.
According to federal authorities, the four men with Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, on June 6 when he ambushed deputies from the sheriff’s office in Santa Cruz County and killed one of them.
Officers were at a scene in the town of Ben Lomond to look at a suspicious white van later associated with the death of Federal Officer Dave Patrick Underwood (53) on May 29 during George Floyd protests outside the Ronald V Dellums Federal. Built in Oakland.
Carrillo is also an accused in that case and pleaded not guilty in both.
“Dudes I was given some food,” authorities said Carrillo told the men on WhatsApp minutes before sr. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney, Damon Gutzwiller, 38, was fatally shot.
Prosecutors referred to the four men as ‘Grizzly Scouts’, or members of a small group of men in Northern California associated with the ‘archery’, a loose anti-government group campaigning for violence against liberal politicians and law enforcement .
Investigators said Carrillo asked the men to lure officers into a trap as they rushed to the shooting scene.
“Get ready and come here,” Carrillo said in a statement. “There’s only one way in / out. Take them out when they come in … The police are here for me … They are waiting for reinforcements that I listen to them.”
Prosecutors said Rush “immediately” told Carrillo to “factory set” his cell phone, allegedly to destroy the texts as possible evidence. The four eventually deleted any WhatsApp group record from their phones, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Blancas also removed 20 files from a Dropbox account, the indictment reads. “Almost everyone was relevant to the Grizzly Scouts,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “The deleted files regarding the Grizzly Scouts apparently contained files regarding the ranking structure of the Grizzly Scouts, for example.”
Federal authorities call the “Grizzly Scouts” a small militia “linked via a Facebook group” and “discussing the use of force against law enforcement using WhatsApp and other messages.”
“they say the west will not bow,” someone according to prosecutors on the Facebook group’s page referred to Boogaloo.
“wash [sic] here to come together like minded Californians who can network and establish local goons, ” reads the social media report according to the indictment.
Brian Levin. director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said the accused apparently reflect the state of domestic terrorism in the US.
“We have a series of far-right Boogaloo accused with a common denominator of social media,” he said. “In an increasingly fragmented extremist landscape, it is the smaller, underground groups that are one of the most dangerous threats.”
The accused are each sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Blankstein reports from Los Angeles and Romero from San Diego.
