(JTA) — Two members of the Boogaloo Bois, a far-right anti-government movement, were arrested and charged with conspiring and attempting to give material support to Hamas.
Michael Robert Solomon, 30, and Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, were arrested Thursday, according to a Justice Department statement.
According to the Justice Department, the two men were recorded by a purported Hamas member promising to act as mercenaries for the group in exchange for cash. They later gave weapons to the purported Hamas member, who was secretly working with the FBI. The men thought they were working with the purported Hamas member to help overthrow the U.S. government.
“This case can only be understood as a disturbing example of the old adage, ‘The enemy of your enemy is your friend,’” said John Demers, the assistant attorney general for the department’s National Security Division. “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.”
According to the department, Solomon and Teeter are members of the Boogaloo Bois, a loose network of anti-government extremists seeking to attack the police and other public institutions. They are also members of a subgroup of the movement called the “Boojahideen,” a play on the Arabic word “mujahideen,” which means jihadists. According to the statement, a witness saw Solomon openly carrying firearms in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd in May.
The U.S. State Department has designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization.
