- On Wednesday, at a US District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Benjamin Ryan Teeter, a 22-year-old self-described member of the right-wing paramilitary Boogaloo Bois group, pleaded guilty to charges that he sought to sell weapons to Hamas.
- In court, Teeter added that he and co-defendant Robert Solomon hoped Hamas, which is designated by the US as a terrorist group, would help them “exit the country and open a training facility” for the Boogaloo Bois.
- “This case highlights the real threat posed by domestic violent extremists who self-radicalize and threaten to violently attack others opposed to their views, with little or no warning,” said Michael Paul, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office.
A self-described member of the far-right extremist Boogaloo Bois group pleaded guilty today to conspiracy charges to provide weapons and services to Hamas, a Palestinian political party and designated foreign terrorist organisation by the US government.
At a US District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Benjamin Ryan Teeter, a 22-year-old member of the paramilitary group, pleaded guilty to charges levied on November 6; the FBI’s investigation into the group started back in the summer.
According to documents filed in court, the FBI began investigating Teeter and co-defendant Michael Robert Solomon in May 2020, when an undercover confidential source tipped the FBI off that the Boogaloo Bois sought to employ themselves as mercenaries for Hamas in order to raise money for a training compound, and later sell specialised weapons to Hamas.
According to the Department of Justice, the source recorded conversations with the two, in which Teeter said that the anti-government group and Hamas shared similar goals. A sentencing date has not yet been set; Teeter could face up to 20 years on a felony charge.
Read the article by Azmi Haroun in Business Insider Australia.