Two Boogaloo Followers Charged with Trying to Sell Weapons to, Become Mercenaries for Hamas

“This case can only be understood as a disturbing example of the old adage, ‘The enemy of your enemy is your friend,’” Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers, of the National Security Division, said in a statement. “As alleged in the complaint, these defendants sought to use violence against the police, other government officials and government property as part of their desire to overthrow the government. While planning these activities, the defendants met individuals whom they believed to be members of the foreign terrorist group Hamas. Thinking that they shared the same desire to harm the United States, they sought to join forces and provided support, including in the form of weapons accessories, to Hamas.”

U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said: “Michael Solomon and Benjamin Teeter proclaim themselves to be members of the Boogaloo Bois, a group that espouses a violent ideology and an objective to overthrow the government,” adding: “Whenever extremist ideologies, regardless of their roots, move into the realm of violence, the FBI and its Joint Terrorism Task Force stands at the ready to prevent potentially deadly and destructive plots.”

Solomon and Teeter described themselves as belonging to a Bogaloo Bois faction they called “Bojahideen,” and prosecutors said both talked about “committing acts of violence against police officers and other targets in furtherance of the Boojahideen’s stated goal of overthrowing the government and replacing its police forces.”

During one recorded conversation, Solomon talked about shooting at police until he ran out of ammo if he got into a confrontation.

“I’m going to take out whoever initiated the violence, and then I’m going to hang out in the area, you know, move and set up in a better location that’s as close to the area as I can, and then I’m going to take out the next thing that shows up,” he said. “Like if I get into a firefight, I’m getting into a firefight until i can’t fight anymore. If I run out of ammo, I’ll go to court.”

Prosecutors say that in late May, a confidential source informed that FBI that Teeter, Solomon, and other members of the Boogaloo Bois and Boojahideen discussed committing acts of violence against police officers and other targets in furtherance of the Boojahideen’s stated goal of overthrowing the government and replacing its police forces.

In early June, Teeter and Solomon talked with another FBI source, who posed as a Hamas member, about becoming mercenaries for a terrorist group in order to earn money with which they were hoping to recruit more members and buy a remote farm where the group could train.

The FBI source said that Solomon and Teeter said that the Boojahideen has six active members.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the FBI informer who posed as a Hamas member introduced Solomon and Teeter to another FBI source, who posed as a more senior Hamas operative, and that Teeter and Solomon talked with him about “destroying government monuments, raiding the headquarters of a white supremacist organization in North Carolina, and targeting politicians and members of the media.”

In another recorded conversation, Teeter talked about targeting a historical county courthouse in Minnesota because it was a “symbol of the unjust laws that America holds.”

“I’d be fine with going after the media after that,” Solomon said in another conversation, according to the criminal complaint. “I’m not necessarily talking about the journalists on the street. Yeah, they lie. I’m more talking, I just want to take out the top 20 percent people at each company.”

Solomon and Teeter also told the informers that they could manufacture unmarked parts for guns and create unregistered and untraceable weapons, including suppressors. On July 30 the two men gave the FBI undercover agent, who posed as a Hamas member, five suppressors for $1,800, and a “drop in auto sear”(“DIAS”), a part designed and intended for use in converting a weapon to shoot automatically. “Solomon and Teeter believed the suppressors and the DIAS would be used by Hamas overseas to attack Israeli and U.S soldiers,” the complaint said.

The complaint says that the two men were repeatedly recorded making threats against government figures and, at one point, talked about hanging politicians in front of the U.S. Capitol.

“I want to like take down 20 senators while they’re playing fucking baseball, right?” Soloman is recorded saying, according to the complaint. “I don’t want to blow up a courthouse. I want to murder a bunch of U.S. politicians. That’s the statement I want to make.”