Three men are facing federal charges in Las Vegas after they allegedly sought to hijack otherwise peaceful protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
The men are alleged to be a part of the “Boogaloo” movement, a far-right group that wants to spark a civil war.
“Violent instigators have hijacked peaceful protests and demonstrations across the country, including Nevada, exploiting the real and legitimate outrage over Mr. Floyd’s death for their own radical agendas,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said in a statement. “Law enforcement is focused on keeping violence and destruction from interfering with free public expression and threatening lives.”
Stephen “Kiwi” Parshall, 35; Andrew Lynam, 23; and William Loomis, 40, all of Las Vegas, were arrested Saturday for allegedly conspiring to commit an act of terrorism and for multiple explosives violations. The three men are facing state charges as well.
According to NBC News, the charging documents show Lynam and Parshall were outed by an informant in April, and Loomis was added to the investigation in May.
The group originally planned to “firebomb” a power substation to distract law enforcement so they could incite a riot, but instead chose to take Molotov cocktails to a Black Lives Matter protest, according to NBC.
Protests have sparked up across the country since the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd told him he could not breathe.
NBC News reported that members of Boogaloo were seen at demonstrations in states including Minnesota and Texas, as well as in Philadelphia.