Turlock man among ‘boogaloo’ extremists indicted on obstruction of federal probe
A Turlock man is among four militia members indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly working to thwart the investigation into the shooting death of a federal officer in May in Oakland.
Jessie Alexander Rush, 29, and the three others were members of the “1st Detachment, 1st California Grizzly Scouts,” a militia group based in Northern California, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. They are accused of conspiring to destroy communications and other records relating to the May 29 killing of one federal security officer in Oakland and the wounding of another.
According to the indictment, Rush and the others charged — Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, a transient resident of the Bay Area; Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo — connected on a Facebook group in April 2020 and periodically met in person for firearms training and other purposes.
The indictment says Rush founded the Grizzly Scouts and granted himself the titles of “commanding officer” and “major.”
The Grizzlies are associated with the boogaloo movement, according to the Justice Department. As alleged in the indictment, “boogaloo” is a term sometimes used by certain militia extremists who wear Hawaiian shirts and espouse dismantling the government through violence.
The “boogaloo” is not a single cohesive group, but rather a loose concept that has become a rallying point for some extremists, the news release says.
The Grizzly Scouts Facebook group’s description stated, “They say the west won’t boog,” and “Were [sic] here to gather like minded Californians who can network and establish local goon squads.”
The indictment references the May 29 shootings at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Oakland. A Los Angeles Times story notes there was unrest in the city after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer just days earlier.
Authorities allege that Grizzly Scouts members Steven Carrillo, who was an Air Force sergeant, and Robert A. Justus Jr. used the chaos as cover in their plan to attack law enforcement. “Federal authorities say Justus drove a white van with its license plates removed while Carrillo fired at the officers out its side door, using a homemade machine gun,” the Times reported. Security officer David Patrick Underwood was killed.
The killing led to an eight-day manhunt that ended in the Santa Cruz mountain town of Ben Lomond, where Carrillo lived, the Times reported. “There, he allegedly opened fire on deputies, killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, the Sheriff’s Department said. Wounded during the gunfight, Carrillo fled and carjacked a vehicle, using his own blood to write ‘BOOG’ on the hood before authorities apprehended him,” the story says.
According to the indictment, Carrillo exchanged messages on WhatsApp with other Grizzly Scouts, in which he allegedly told the group that he was preparing to engage in a shootout with law enforcement. “Kit up and get here,” he reportedly wrote as deputies arrived.
Rush immediately told Carrillo to “factory reset” his phone, the indictment says. Resetting would have destroyed stored communications. The other militia members later deleted WhatsApp group records from their phones, including another message from Carrillo that day that read, “Dudes i offed a fed.”
Within hours of the Ben Lomond shooting, Rush, Blancas, Ybarra and Miksch allegedly began to reconnect on an alternative communications app, the news release says.
The indictment charges Rush with an additional count of obstruction of official proceedings and Blancas with an additional count of destruction of records in official proceedings.
The Stanislaus County Superior Court case index includes just one incident involving Rush: a September 2020 citation for driving a vehicle without valid registration.
This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 9:21 AM.
