Boogaloo Bois Member Tells Court He Tried to Sell Supplies to Hamas
GUILTY PLEA
A 22-year-old self-proclaimed member of the “Boogaloo Bois” movement pleaded guilty on Wednesday to trying to sell weapon parts to Hamas after traveling to Minneapolis amid this summer’s George Floyd protests. Benjamin Ryan Teeter testified via video link that he and a fellow Boogaloo Bois member met repeatedly with two men they believed were representatives for Hamas, the Star Tribune reports. Teeter said he and Michael Robert Solomon, who is also charged in the case, were trying to negotiate a deal to sell the purported Hamas representatives weapons parts. Although the Hamas figures turned out to be an undercover FBI agent and an informant, Teeter told U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis that he genuinely believed the supplies were intended for the terrorist group.
“I mean, why would someone buy suppressors if they weren’t going to deliver them to a militant wing?” he was quoted as saying. He said he had been hoping the militant group would provide assistance for the Boogaloo Bois “to exit the country and open a training facility.” He and Solomon reportedly told investigators they believed they shared the same “anti-U.S. government views” as Hamas did and wanted to work as “mercenaries” for the Islamist group to fund the activities of the Boogaloo Bois and the Boojahideen, a splinter group of the radical far-right group. Teeter faces up to 20 years behind bars for attempting to aid Hamas. His sentencing date has not yet been set.