DETROIT — The FBI has arrested two alleged members of the far-right anti-government group the Boogaloo Boys, with authorities increasingly concerned about the potential for violence in the leadup to next week’s midterm elections.
Timothy Teagan appeared Wednesday in federal court in Detroit on charges of being a drug user in possession of firearms and ammunition, and giving a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, according to an unsealed federal complaint.
Meanwhile, the FBI said in a criminal complaint filed Monday that there was enough evidence to charge Aron McKillips, of Sandusky, Ohio, with illegal possession of a machine gun and the interstate communication of threats. It says McKillips is a member of the Boogaloo Boys and is believed to be in a paramilitary group called the Sons of Liberty.
The timing of the law enforcement action is notable in part because it comes just days before the midterm elections. After the FBI searched his home last month, Teagan told documentarian Ford Fischer that federal agents questioned him specifically about potential violence being planned ahead of the election.
“They were very, very particular about questions involving anything going on with the election,” he said. “They were asking if I knew of any violent plans or any violent tendencies that could come forth about the election. … They were asking if we had any plans to go to polls armed.”
Election workers have increasingly been targeted by threats and harassment since the 2020 election, and it’s gotten worse in recent weeks — five people have already been charged with intimidation.
Nationally, elections officials are concerned about a flood of conspiracy theorists signing up to work as poll watchers, with some groups that have trafficked in lies about the 2020 election recruiting and training watchers.
The arrest of the suspected Boogaloo Boys members was reminiscent of a similar move by police in Washington, D.C., who arrested the leader of the Proud Boys just days before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s win. Members of the far-right group, along with leaders of the Oath Keepers, were later charged with seditious conspiracy.