2 ‘Boogaloo Bois,’ 1 from Minnesota, newly charged with providing material support to Hamas

Additional charges have been filed against two members of a right-wing extremist group. The two have been charged with trying to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said 30-year-old Michael Robert Solomon, of New Brighton, and 22-year-old Benjamin Ryan Teeter, of Hampstead, N.C., now also face one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of a machine gun.

The two were charged back in September with one count of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to Hamas.

2 self-proclaimed ‘Boogaloo Bois’ charged with attempting to support Hamas

A criminal complaint states the FBI began investigating the two men, two members of the "Boogaloo Bois" and a sub-group called the "Boojahideen," in May. The group is known to have violent anti-government sentiments, with the term "Boogaloo" referencing an impending second civil war in the U.S.

The complaint states, during the civil unrest in the Twin Cities following George Floyd’s death, Solomon was seen openly carrying a firearm in a residential neighborhood. The two men interacted with a witness over several days and the witness told FBI agents they had firearms and substantial quantities of ammunition. The witness also said the two men and other members of their groups discussed committing acts of violence against police officers and other targets to help further their mission of overthrowing the government and replacing its police forces.

In early June, the FBI learned from a confidential source, whom the two men and other members of their groups believed to be a member of Hamas, that they believed Hamas shared their own anti-U.S. government views. They expressed a desire to employ themselves as "mercenaries" for Hamas to generate cash for their Boogaloo Bois and Boojahideen movement, the complaint continues.

The men also shared with the source and another person they believed to be a senior member of Hamas that they wanted to destroy government monuments, raid the headquarters of a white supremacist organization in North Carolina and target politicians and members of the media, according to the complaint.

Solomon and Teeter also allegedly expressed their ability to manufacture unmarked parts for guns and create untraceable weapons, the complaint states. On July 30, they delivered five suppressors to the confidential source they believed to be a member of Hamas and expressed their desire to manufacture more suppressors and fully automatic weapons for Hamas. The attorney’s office said Solomon and Teeter believed the suppressors and a part designed for use in converting a weapon to shoot automatically known as a "drop-in auto sear" would be used by Hamas to attack Israeli and U.S. soldiers.