A June 19 ABC News report about the murder of a Federal Protective Service officer in Oakland in May highlighted the suspects’ ties to the “Boogaloo” movement, which has been linked to other violent attacks. Ford School Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali described the movement:
“The origins are kind of murky. The movement has grown over the last decade mostly online through alternative content platforms. It initially took hold in sort of these dark corners of the Internet, 8chan, 4chan, Reddit, and others," he said.
"I don't think there's a central core belief either in the movement. There's a range of different grievances or different potential individuals who they believe are legitimate targets," he explained.
"There are some in the boogaloo movement that their animus is toward minorities or people and others that are protected classes. There are some in the boogaloo movement that their main animus is toward law enforcement or government. And then there are probably people who are a combination of both of those," Ali explained.
Referring to other recent arrests, he said, “There could be dozens of other people who could be silently advancing toward some plotting and we may not, unfortunately, know about until it's too late."
The report can be read here.
Javed Ali is a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Ford School. A former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Ali has over 20 years of professional experience in national security and intelligence issues in Washington, D.C., serving in the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While at the FBI, he also held senior positions on joint duty assignments at the National Intelligence Council, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the National Security Council under the Trump Administration. Ali holds a BA in political science from the University of Michigan, a JD from the University of Detroit School of Law, and an MA in international relations from American University.