Four men associated with the "boogaloo" extremist movement have pleaded guilty to obstructing the investigation into the May 2020 shooting at an Oakland federal building that killed a security officer and injured another, federal authorities said Monday.
Jessie Rush, 29, of Turlock; Robert Blancas, 33, a transient resident of the Bay Area; Simon Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, all members of a Northern California militia group, were indicted on March 23 for destroying communications related to the shooting death of Federal Protective Service officer David Patrick Underwood and the wounding of his partner at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, according to reporting by KPIX.
On Monday, the last of the four defendants, Miksch, pleaded guilty to the charges in United States District Court.
The men said they joined an armed anti-government militia group named the "1st Detachment, 1st California Grizzly Scouts" in April 2020 after meeting on a "boogaloo" Facebook group. Extremists use boogaloo to refer to a politically motivated civil war or uprising against the government.
The four trained in firearms and combat, labeled law enforcement as potential "enemy forces" and suggested using lethal force and taking prisoners.
The suspected gunman in the Oakland federal building shooting, former Air Force sergeant Steven Carillo, was also a member of the Grizzly Scouts. He has also been charged with the murder of Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and attempted murder of other deputies in an ambush in June 2020 in the mountain community of Ben Lomond.
Rush, Blancas, Ybarra and Miksch learned a Grizzly Scouts member was allegedly involved in the Oakland federal building shooting and his alleged attack on the Santa Cruz County deputies in Ben Lomond.
The member asked the other group members to come to his aid and said, “Dudes i offed a fed.”
Rush instructed that member to delete data on his phone and get out of there. Rush, Blancas, Ybarra and Miksch then conspired with other group members to destroy the records of their interactions and communications because they foresaw authorities would investigate and prosecute that Grizzly Scouts member.
Separately, Blancas also pleaded guilty to enticing a minor to engage to produce child pornography. From about April through September 2020, he asked a 15-year old girl to repeatedly make and send him dozens of pornographic photos and videos of herself. He knew she was a minor.
Blancas pleaded guilty on Aug. 23 to the enticing and the conspiracy to obstruct justice charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6. Rush and Ybarra pleaded guilty on Sept. 13 and Miksch pleaded guilty on September 20 to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Rush is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 10, while Ybarra and Miksch are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7.
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