Protesters confronted by armed men – including members of the so-called ‘boogaloo movement’ – in different parts of America
Anti police-brutality protesters have been confronted by armed men in cities around America in recent days, with some brandishing firearms or other weapons, some driving vehicles at crowds, and others – including members of the so-called “boogaloo movement” – claiming they have come to help anti-racism demonstrations.
On Sunday, in Seattle, a man drove at speed towards protesters, while several protesters tried to slow or stop the vehicle.
One who reached through the car window was shot in the arm by the driver. The driver then exited the vehicle carrying a handgun, which appeared in photographs to have a modified, extra-long magazine. He moved into the crowd, and later surrendered to police.
But this was not even the first such incident that day.
In Lakeside, Virginia, an armed man named Harry “Skip” Rogers, was arrested on charges of assault and battery after he allegedly drove his truck at protesters, hitting a cyclist.
Rogers, reportedly an organizer for the National Association for Awakening Confederate Patriots, carried out a one-man protest in 2016 wearing Ku Klux Klan robes, and was also part of the Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville in 2017, where protester Heather Heyer was murdered in a vehicular homicide.
Two days days after Unite the Right, according to photographs and accounts of activists, Rogers was bloodied in an altercation that took place when he attempted to disrupt a memorial rally for Heyer, while wearing a shirt with KKK and Confederate flag patches.
Other vehicular attacks have also occurred, among other places, on 29 May in Bakersfield, California, and day before in Denver. On 30 May an armed man pulled a gun before driving through a crowd in Gainesville, Florida.
In Minneapolis on 31 May, a man in a semi-trailer truck parted the crowd on an overpass when he drove towards them. The driver, Bogan Vechirko, was arrested and a police investigation continues, but Minnesota’s public safety commissioner, John Harrington, later said that interviews with Vechirko seemed to indicate the driver was not intending harm. “He knew the protest was going on, but it doesn’t appear that he was trying to intercept the protest,” Harrington said.
Further incidents involving firearms and other weapons have also occurred.
In McAllen, Texas, last Friday, a lone man threatened Black Lives Matter protesters with a running chainsaw, first screaming “go home” before shouting racial slurs.
In Upland, California, on 1 June, a man pulled an AR-15 from his truck and brandished it at protesters, and was subsequently arrested.
In Chicago on 31 May, a lone man armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a sidearm pistol was led away from the scene of a protest by police. He proved to be a private security guard licensed to carry a weapon. Protesters, who complained he had brandished a weapon at this, later expressed surprise he had not been detained.
In Boise, Idaho, on 1 June, two armed men disguised with skull masks similar to those favored by some neo-Nazi groups counter-protested a local Black Lives Matter march. One, Michael Wallace, 19, was later arrested after what police were investigating as an accidental discharge of his weapon.
In Salt Lake City on 31 May, a man was arrested after threatening a crowd of protesters with a hunting bow.
But some armed individuals attending protests, identified as members of the “boogaloo movement”, have presented protesters with a troubling ambiguity.
So-called “boogaloo bois” are members of a loose-knit, pro-gun, anti-government movement, which is preoccupied with what they believe to be a looming second American civil war.
Last week, three former armed servicemen associated with the movement were arrested and charged over an alleged plot aimed at vital national infrastructure.
In general, the subculture resents the police and government agencies who would restrict their access to firearms. But they are divided within themselves on several questions, including racial politics.
While some ardent white supremacists use the vocabulary and imagery of the movement – including donning Hawaiian shirts – others express strong sympathy for black victims of police violence.
At protests around the country, some members of the boogaloo movement have shown up armed to protect stores from protesters, and others are implicitly hostile.
But others claim to support the protests. Social media material obtained by the Guardian shows some in smaller communities in the Pacific north-west marching alongside Black Lives Matter protesters.
On social media, some of the most popular Facebook pages and groups associated with the movement have celebrated the protests against the killing of George Floyd.
One viral social video shows a “boogaloo boi” vocally criticizing police brutality and sympathizing with the protesters.
But worries about infiltration and uncertainty about the true motivations of boogaloo sympathizers have led many protesters to keep their distance.
The Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club is a leftist “community defense organization”, which itself frequently openly carries firearms in defense of leftwing protests, and is known for attempting dialogue with members of rightwing militia groups.
Via a messaging app, its spokesman reflected the ambivalence with which many protesters regard boogaloo bois.
“The ‘boog movement’ has many bad actors within its ranks proliferating antisemitic, racist and QAnon dog whistles, either deliberately or inadvertently, but the movement has also scooped up legitimately disillusioned people,” the spokesperson said.
Asked how the group and other leftists should respond to “boogaloo bois” seeking to join or assist protests, the spokesperson said: “We’ve had boogaloo types show up at events. Usually we watch from a distance because of the risk and unpredictability.”
• This article was amended on 10 June 2020 to include an official comment stating that indications so far were that the driver of a tanker truck had not necessarily driven with the intent to harm a Minneapolis protest group. A police investigation continues but no charges have been laid. For avoidance of doubt, a photograph and video of the Minneapolis incident have also been removed from this piece. A line has been added giving further information about an armed man at a Chicago demonstration.
