A South Texas man charged with participating in a riot in Minneapolis after George Floyd's death was stopped by Austin police days later, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday.
FBI investigators say 26-year-old Ivan Hunter of Boerne traveled from Texas to Minneapolis with the intent to start a riot. Hunter is a self-described member of the Boogaloo Bois, which has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
On May 28, Hunter allegedly fired an AK-47-style rifle into the Minneapolis Police Department's third precinct, which was ultimately set ablaze using Molotov cocktails. The fire was blamed initially on protesters.
The Minnesota Star Tribune's Andy Mannix first reported news of the charges.
The complaint alleges the de facto leader of the Boogaloo Bois, Steven Carrillo, told Hunter to "go for police buildings" hours before the shooting and the fire. A defendant cooperating with the FBI also told investigators Hunter fired the shots into the precinct. Authorities believe Hunter is the man on a video who yells "Justice for Floyd!" after firing 13 shots into the building.
Days later, Hunter was in downtown Austin near protests outside Austin police headquarters with two other men – all three of whom allegedly were equipped with assault-style weapons and tactical gear.
According to the complaint, Hunter and the two men were pulled over later for driving erratically. The officers reportedly found two pistols and three assault rifles – including an AK-47 with a floral-print magazine that matched a witness description of Hunter's weapon – along with marijuana.
Hunter told police he didn't own the weapons, but that that he was head of a chapter of the Boogaloo Bois, a group that's incited violence at peaceful protests of Floyd's death across the country and openly espouses its support of a second civil war.
"HUNTER denied owning any of the weapons found in the vehicle but volunteered to APD officers that he was the leader of the Boogaloo Bois in South Texas and that he was present in Minneapolis when the Third Precinct was set on fire," the complaint reads.
APD seized the weapons, including a total of seven magazines that allegedly belonged to Hunter, and let the three men go.
KUT reached out to APD for clarification on the traffic stop, but has not yet heard back.
In a bulletin to Austin-area law enforcement agencies obtained by KUT, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center – a data center that shares state, local and federal intelligence and surveillance with area police – advised that Hunter and the two other men could present a danger to law enforcement.
The June 3 bulletin said they gave "numerous conflicting statements about where they had been and what they were doing in Austin," were heavily armed and had "several hundred rounds of ammunition."
"Searches of social media show sympathetic views toward the Boogaloo Bois, an anti-government movement, as well as several other anti-police sentiments," the bulletin read. "On one subject’s Facebook page, he stated that he did not 'expect to be here next year'; further comments suggest he may take action against [law enforcement]."
Got a tip? Email Andrew Weber at aweber@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @England_Weber.
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