Facebook says they removed 220 'Boogaloo' groups and 95 Instagram accounts

Weeks after feds said ‘Boogaloo’ group members used Facebook to plan the murder of a federal agent, Facebook says they have removed 220 Facebook Groups and 95 Instagram accounts associated with the extremist movement.

Facebook says 400 additional ‘Boogaloo’ related groups advocating armed violence that were tangentially associated with the movement would be taken down, too.

“Today we are designating a violent U.S.-based anti-government network as a dangerous organization and banning it from our apps. This network uses the term boogaloo but is distinct from the broader and loosely-affiliated boogaloo movement because it actively seeks to commit violence,” a Facebook spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Read the June 30, 2020 Facebook statement:
Banning a Violent Network in the US

Report Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News,

In May, federal officials alleged that Steven Carrillo killed a federal security officer during protests in Oakland, California, against the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police. Carrillo allegedly plotted the attack with a man he met in a Boogaloo Facebook group and aimed to use protesters to “support our own cause” of a second Civil War.

The Boogaloo is a heavily armed, mostly conservative libertarian militia movement with extreme anti-government views that advocates for a violent uprising targeting mostly law enforcement. The movement, which has strong ties to current and former military members, grew to tens of thousands of followers since January, mostly in Facebook groups.

Several self-professed “boogaloo boys” have been arrested in recent months, charged with crimes including the murder of law enforcement officers and planning terror attacks at Black Lives Matter protests.

Carrillo was apprehended a week later shortly after killing a Santa Cruz County deputy in an ambush and scrawling the word “boog” in his own blood across the hood of a car.

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Facebook to remove anti-government ‘Boogaloo’ groups