Far-Right Linked Man Charged For California Police Murder

A California air force sergeant with ties to a far-right group was charged Tuesday with the murder of an Oakland city policeman during a recent anti-racism demonstration - one of two officers 'he is accused of having killed.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Steven Carrillo shot and killed police officer Patrick Underwood by shooting from his vehicle during a peaceful demonstration against police violence on May 29 after the death of George Floyd. Eight days later, on June 6, his van was found further south, near the city of Santa Cruz. When the police approached Steven Carillo's residence, he ambushed them and killed a second officer, Damon Gutzwiller. The 32-year-old soldier was eventually arrested after stealing another vehicle and trying to escape.

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According to the authorities, he is associated with the ideology "boogaloo", an anti-government movement which promotes civil and racial war and whose followers often hold assault rifles or wear military uniforms in public. According to local media reports, Steven Carillo - who owned weapons, ammunition and a bomb at home and in his van - wrote “boog” on the hood of his vehicle, with his own blood, at the time of his arrest. "The term boogaloo is used by extremists to refer to a violent uprising or an impending civil war in the United States," prosecutor David Anderson said on Tuesday at a press conference in Oakland.

This is the second case of arrests of far-right activists in connection with the historic protest movement following the death of George Floyd, asphyxiated under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. In Las Vegas, three far-right activists were indicted in early June for inciting violence during peaceful marches in late May. According to the services of the Nevada federal prosecutor, Nicholas Trutanich, the three men also belonged to the "Boogaloo" movement, and were notably in possession of a Molotov cocktail.