Four men believed to have links to a group of far-right militias were charged with destroying evidence in a federal investigation into the shootings of two police officers.
The Justice Department announced Friday that Jessie Alexander Rush, 29, Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, were charged with conspiracy to destroy records, destruction of records and obstruction of official procedures.
Prosecutors say the four men are members of the far-right “Grizzly” extremist militia, which has links to the “boogaloo” movement, which advocates a politically motivated civil war or an uprising against the government.
The indictment against the four men refers to two shootings, one on May 29, 2020 and a day later on June 6. Sheriff Cruz’s deputies were shot in the second incident. A deputy was also killed in the second shooting.
The indictment says the U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant. Steven Carrillo, a member of the Grizzly Scouts, sent a text message to a WhatsApp group with other Grizzly Scouts saying he was going to shoot at law enforcement.
“The boys fed,” Carrillo authorities said by sending a text message just before the Santa Cruz shooting.
Rush then instructed group members to scrub the text proofs of their phones.
Subsequently, “Blancas deleted Grizzly Scout-related files from a Dropbox account. Also, within hours of the shooting, members of the Grizzly Scouts, including Rush, Blancas, Ybarra and Miksch, allegedly began reconnecting -in an alternative communications application, “the DOJ said.
The DOJ also said that “the four defendants deleted the records of the WhatsApp group’s communications from their phones, including previous discussions about violence against law enforcement.”
All four men face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.