STEVEN CARILLO WILL LIKELY HEAD TO THE EXECUTION CHAMBER

Day after RNC mention, Boogaloo-linked ex-Air Force Sgt accused of killing cops stands in court wearing mask with BLM written on it  

 

By Nate Gartrell, Angela Ruggiero and Doug Duran

 

The Mercury News

August 27, 2020

 

DUBLIN, Calif. — The day after being condemned by Vice President Mike Pence at the Republican National Convention, the ex-Air Force Sergeant associated with the extremist anti-government Boogaloo movement stood in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to murdering a Santa Cruz Sheriff’s sergeant.

Steven Carrillo, 32, appeared in Dublin before a Santa Cruz County judge Thursday afternoon, wearing a large red jumpsuit indicating his placement in the Santa Rita Jail. His face was covered by a mask that had been written on with a marker: “We the people,” was at the top, and “BLM,” in large letters at the middle. At the bottom was written: “Portland, Kenosha, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.”

Carrillo is facing charges in federal and state court of first gunning down Federal Protective Services Officer Dave Patrick Underwood in Oakland, and then, a week later, murdering Santa Cruz Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller during an ambush in Ben Lomond. Underwood’s partner was injured, as were two other police officers in the attack that killed Gutzwiller.

Without mentioning Carrillo by name, Pence referenced Underwood’s killing in his Wednesday evening convention speech formally accepting the nomination for Vice President in the 2020 election. Pence recognized Underwood’s sister, Angela, who was present in the audience, and said Underwood was “shot and killed during the riots in Oakland, California.”

“Angela, we say to you: We grieve with your family. And America will never forget or fail to honor officer Dave Patrick Underwood,” Pence said Wednesday evening. “The American people know we do not have to choose between supporting law enforcement and standing with our African-American neighbors to improve the quality of their lives, education, jobs and safety.”

The FBI has repeatedly said that Carrillo and his co-defendant, Robert Justus, traveled to Oakland to assassinate law enforcement officers but were not part of a protest that night that came in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Underwood’s alleged killers picked the night of May 29 for the attack because they knew local police would be distracted by the protests, according to federal authorities.

The Boogaloo movement was started online, and based upon a meme making light of a second civil war that supporters believe is on the horizon. It is based on a reference to the movie “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” implying that a sequel to the Civil War is looming.

According to experts on extremism who have studied the movement, it is composed of two loosely organized ideologies — one that is decidedly white supremacist, and another that has aligned itself with other groups that have been critical of cops, including the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The ‘non-racists’ view Black Lives Matter and anti-fascist protests as like, really good anti-government energy but directed in the wrong way, because Black Lives Matter is going for policy changes and things a Boogaloo Boy doesn’t care about,” said Alex Newhouse, a researcher with the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism who focuses on far-right extremist groups. “The Boogaloo movement is radically anti-authoritarian. A lot of supporters view the police as the most obvious representation of government violence.”

When Carrillo was arrested in Ben Lomond, authorities discovered he’d written phrases in his own blood onto his white van, including “Boog,” and “I became unreasonable,” a reference to a man who became an icon in anti-government groups because of the 2004 rampage in which he bulldozed 13 buildings in a Colorado town over a land dispute.

Carrillo and his co-defendant in the federal case, Robert Justus, allegedly met through a Boogaloo-associated Facebook group. The criminal complaint against them references posts allegedly made by Carrillo, where he talks about wanting to manipulate protests of police violence.

“Go to the riots and support our own cause. Show them the real targets,” Carrillo allegedly wrote in one post. “Use their anger to fuel our fire. Think outside the box. We have mobs of angry people to use to our advantage.”

The night Underwood was killed, Carrillo and Justus allegedly drove to downtown Oakland in Carrillo’s white van. Justus got out, did “reconnaissance” on foot, then returned to Carrillo. Justus drove the fan as Carrillo opened fire at Underwood and his partner, who were stationed at the Ronald Dellums Federal Building on Clay Street.

Carrillo, a Ben Lomond resident, was the leader of a U.S. Air Force anti-terrorism squad, and was stationed at Travis Air Force Base at the time of his arrest. Police say a week after killing Underwood, he ambushed Gutzwiller and other Santa Cruz deputies with an AR-15-style homemade rifle, and by lobbing pipe bombs at them. He allegedly attempted several carjackings after killing Gutzwiller in the gunfight with police.

The charges against Carrillo make him eligible for a death sentence in both federal and state court, though federal prosecutors said at Carrillo’s court hearing earlier this month they won’t make a formal recommendation on whether to pursue death until at least mid-September. Carrillo’s federal defense attorney predicted it would be several weeks longer than that, saying there are thousands of pages of discovery in the case.

During Thursday afternoon’s hearing — held at Alameda County’s East County Hall of Justice due to the fires threatening Santa Cruz County — Carrillo could be heard telling Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Paul Burdick “yes, your honor,” agreeing to waive his right to be personally present for non-essential hearings.

As Carrillo’s hearing was heard in Dublin, the town of Ben Lomond — where Gutzwiller was killed and Carrillo lived — was being threatened by forest fires.

Although an absence of significant wind and a break from hot, dry weather is helping firefighters control the fire above Ben Lomond. Crews have cut, scraped and burned a firebreak that runs across the mountainside above the town, but the fire up beyond it is still burning and as of Thursday afternoon it was not clear when evacuated Ben Lomond residents might be able to return, said Cal Fire spokesman Dan Olson.

Carrillo is currently being held without bail. His next hearing was set for Dec. 11 in Santa Cruz County, to set a preliminary hearing date, likely to be held after Jan. 1.