COURT DOC: Four Members Of Militia Group Identifying With “Boogaloo” Movement Charged With Conspiracy To Obstruct Justice By Destroying Records And Destruction Of Records

A federal grand jury has indicted four members of a militia group associated with the ‘boogaloo’ movement in connection with a scheme to obstruct justice and destroy records to thwart the investigation and proceedings involving the May 29, 2020 shooting of federal Protective Services Officers. The grand jury returned an indictment alleging that Jessie Alexander Rush, Robert Jesus Blancas, Simon Sage Ybarra, and Kenny Matthew Miksch, all members of a militia group, conspired to destroy communications and other records relating to the May 29, 2020 murder and attempted murder of two federal security officers in Oakland, California. The indictment charges Rush with an additional count of obstruction of official proceedings and Blancas with an additional count of destruction of records in official proceedings.

The indictment, filed March 23, 2021 and unsealed today, alleges that Rush, 29, a resident of Turlock, Calif.; Blancas, 33, a transient resident of the Bay Area; Ybarra, 23, a resident of Los Gatos; and Miksch, 21, a resident of San Lorenzo, were members of the ‘1st Detachment, 1st California Grizzly Scouts’ (Grizzly Scouts), a militia group based in Northern California. Beginning in April 2020, the Grizzly Scouts…periodically met in person for firearms training and other purposes…As alleged in the indictment, ‘boogaloo’ is a term sometimes used by certain militia extremists to reference a politically motivated civil war or uprising against the government. The ‘boogaloo’ is not a single cohesive group, but rather a loose concept that has become a rallying point for some extremists. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)