Two members of the anti-government Boogaloo movement in the United States have pleaded guilty to attempting to support the Palestinian organization Hamas.
Michael Solomon pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to a Department of Justice press release. In December, his co-defendant Benjamin Ryan Teeter pleaded guilty to the same charge.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political organization based in the Gaza Strip whose forces frequently clash with Israel. The Boogaloo movement is a loosely affiliated anti-government movement in the United States. Its members frequently show up at protests dressed in military apparel and brandishing assault weapons. It is often described as “far-right” by US media, but some elements of the movement have expressed support for anti-police protests in the country.
Solomon and Teeter were members of the Boogaloo subgroup “Boojahideen,” which is a play on the concept of Muslim fighters known as mujahedeen. They did not actually communicate with any Hamas members. Rather, they spoke to an undercover member of the FBI and a confidential government source posing as Hamas operatives. The confidential source was paid by the FBI and is a “Middle Eastern male with a heavy accent,” according to the original criminal complaint.
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