CA - Air Force sergeant suspected in ambush killing of CA deputy & officer's murder, May 2020

[Knitty]

FBI probes possible link between Air Force sergeant suspected in ambush killing of CA deputy and officer's murder

The suspect, Steven Carrillo, 32, was taken into custody on Saturday after he was wounded in a shootout with law enforcement officers in the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 35 miles west of San Jose, officials said.

Carrillo is alleged to have fatally shot Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and injured another deputy when he attacked them with a rifle and multiple improvised explosives in Ben Lomond, California, authorities said. A California Highway Patrol officer was also wounded during a shootout that erupted as officers moved to take Carrillo into custody, officials said.

...

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the FBI is investigating a possible link between the deadly ambush in Santa Cruz County and the May 29 killing of Federal Protective Services Officer Dave Patrick Underwood in Oakland.

 

[scapa]

This is a weird one for sure., Looking at him for other crimes also:

Staff Sgt Steven Carrillo has been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting Sgt Damon Gutzwiller of Santa Cruz county sheriff’s department and wounding two other officers on Saturday. He is expected to be charged with first-degree murder.

The FBI also is investigating if Carrillo has any links to the killing of a federal officer who was shot outside the US courthouse in Oakland more than a week ago. Both killings involved shooters in a van.

US air force sergeant accused of killing sheriff's deputy in ambush attack

 

[Marg from Oz]

Well at least he wasn't from fort hood. What on earth was he up to with all that armory? Did he just go rogue or were there signs he was a problem. Now his wife's suicide looks like it should be revisited. JMO.

 

[Knitty]

Air force sergeant linked to ‘boogaloo’ movement charged in federal officer’s death

An air force sergeant already jailed over the ambush killing of a California sheriff’s deputy was charged in connection with the shooting death of a federal security officer outside the US courthouse in Oakland during a night violent protest last month. Officials say the man has ties to the anti-government “boogaloo” movement.
...
Carrillo, a leader of an elite military security force, had multiple links to the far-right, anti-government “boogaloo” movement, federal prosecutors said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials said they identified multiple pieces of evidence that linked Carrillo to the developing anti-government extremist movement associated with the term “boogaloo”, an ironic word for “a violent uprising or impending civil war in the United States”.

Law enforcement officials discovered a ballistic vest with a “boogaloo” flag on it in a van they said Carrillo had used, and also alleged that Carrillo had written phrases associated with the movement in his own blood on the hood of a car he hijacked, according the criminal complaint against Carrillo.

There is more. So weird.

 

[Marg from Oz]

Just learnt a new word. Boogaloo. This sure is a weird one.

 

[Knitty]

Just learnt a new word. Boogaloo. This sure is a weird one.

I'm old. I remember a movie called Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Break dancing's answer to Flashdance. Sure makes these guys sound silly.

 

[Knitty]

But since he's talking about boogaloo and this group was talking about boogaloo . . . are they related? Is this guy part of "The Base" that's described in this other case we have here, also a military guy?

Recovered/Located - Canada - Patrick Mathews, 26, Beausejour, Manitoba, 28 Aug 2019 *possibly armed in Minnesota*

 

[Knitty]

'Boogaloo' Suspect Steven Carrillo Pleads Not Guilty To Fatal Ambush Of Sheriff Sergeant In Santa Cruz Mountains

Federal prosecutors have linked Carrillo with the extremist, anti-government group called the Boogaloo movement.

The group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending civil war, according to experts. The movement’s followers, some of whom call themselves “Boogaloo Bois,” are generally younger and more likely to turn to acts of violence than members of other militia-type groups.

 

[Cryptic]

Is this guy part of "The Base" that's described in this other case we have here, also a military guy?

Though I don't know if the person in question is, or is not party of the The Base, it maybe more accurate to call them a "movement". Extremists on both sides have taken to forming loosely organized movements, instead of formal groups.

There is an old joke about extremist groups that states that out of four members: 1 is an undercover police agent, 1 is an undercover reporter, and 2 are true believers. That joke has a basis in truth as formal groups are far easier to infiltrate than "leaderless resistance" type movements.

The above aside, I wonder how many of the far right wingers in The Base appreciate the irony that Al Queda also means "The Base" in Arabic.

Al-Qaeda, Arabic al-Qāʿidah (“the Base”), broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s. ...

"Birds of a feather flock together" and...... also pick similar names.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

What seemed like the most likely possibility is now official: The U.S. Department of Justice won’t make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty against two Bay Area men accused of murdering federal Ofc. Patrick Dave Underwood until after there is a new attorney general in place.

In a Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided with the attorneys for both Steven Carrillo, 32, and Robert Alvin Justus, 30, who have opposed what they call a rush by federal prosecutors to decide whether the death penalty should be on the table for both defendants. The defense has argued that the pandemic has also put them at an unfair disadvantage, as it has inhibited them from meeting with their clients face-to-face and establishing mutual trust.
U.S. | Federal death penalty decision on accused Oakland cop killers won’t be made until Biden/Harris administration takes over


According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court by FBI Special Agent Mark McNeal, authorities obtained records indicating one of Watson's customers was Steven Carrillo, a man accused of shooting security officers in May at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., and the June shooting of members of the Santa Cruz (Calif.) County Sheriff's Office. A security officer died in the May incident and a deputy also died from injuries sustained in the June shooting, records said.https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/tri_state/west_virginia/jefferson-county-man-linked-to-extremist-group-charged-with-selling-machine-gun-conversion-devices/article_9ebf8573-9005-57a2-9e2d-c4b34f280b02.

Boogaloo Sympathizer Indicted For Selling Tools to Turn Rifles Into Machine Guns

Military Veterans and the Boogaloo Bois Explained

Social Media Ban for Boogaloo Bois

 

[Cryptic]

In a Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided with the attorneys for both Steven Carrillo, 32, and Robert Alvin Justus, 30, who have opposed what they call a rush by federal prosecutors to decide whether the death penalty should be on the table for both defendants.

That is an awful decision that reflects the activist mindset of the California judiciary. Judges should not insert their personal opinions (decision was made too uhmmm "quickly") into matters that are not in their domain.

A decision whether or not to seek the death penalty for certain crimes is an internal matter of the prosecutors office. Their decision, either pro or con should not need to be affirmed by a judge. Likewise, the decision can be arrived at slowly or quickly.

In either case, a jury in California needs to actually impose a death sentence (at least by state law). Prosecutors can only ask for it.

 

[Knitty]

That is an awful decision that reflects the activist mindset of the California judiciary. Judges should not insert their personal opinions (decision was made too uhmmm "quickly") into matters that are not in their domain.

A decision whether or not to seek the death penalty for certain crimes is an internal matter of the prosecutors office. Their decision, either pro or con should not need to be affirmed by a judge. Likewise, the decision can be arrived at slowly or quickly.

In either case, a jury in California needs to actually impose a death sentence (at least by state law). Prosecutors can only ask for it.

The two are charged in federal court, yes? Do federal prosecutors receive/require guidance from above them?

 

[Cryptic]

The two are charged in federal court, yes? Do federal prosecutors receive/require guidance from above them?

Of course they do.

Federal prosecutors, like all prosecutors, receive alot of guidance from more senior members of the executive branch.

Prosecutors are not normally required to seek guidance from the judicial branch regarding decisions on what penalty to seek.

Likewise, they dont need to seek guidance from members of the the legislative branch either.

In short, how a case is prosecuted is normally an executive branch decision alone- providing the penalty they want is legal and constitutional.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Steven Carrillo and Joseph Keeler preliminary hearings pushed to March – Santa Cruz Sentinel
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sa...ler-preliminary-hearings-pushed-to-march/amp/
Keeler will return to court March 1.

Carrillo will return to court March 18.

 

[Knitty]

Former Air Force Sergeant Sentenced to 41 Years in Prison for Murdering Federal Guard in Attack on Courthouse

“Steven Carrillo was sentenced today to 41 years in prison for murder and attempted murder in connection with the May 29, 2020, drive-by shooting at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, California,” U.S. DOJ spokesman Abraham Simmons of the Northern District of California told Law&Crime in an email.
...
Prosecutors have said that Carrillo killed Underwood in a drive-by shooting on May 29, 2020. Co-defendant Robert Alvin Justus Jr. allegedly served as the getaway driver. His case is ongoing, with a status conference set for Aug. 24, online records show.