Boogaloo disciple arrested outside trucker convoy now faces federal charge

Brandon Jackson, the boogaloo adherent arrested last month for carrying a loaded firearm outside the trucker convoy encampment, now faces a federal charge in addition to state charges in Maryland.

Following his March 24 arrest outside the Hagerstown Speedway, where Maryland State Police responded to a complaint about a vehicle blocking the entrance, the 28-year-old Jackson spent the weekend in the Washington County Detention Center. According to Maryland state court records, Jackson was bonded out on March 28, but a federal complaint was filed against him the same day for interstate transport of a firearm while he was under indictment in Arizona for a crime carrying a potential punishment of imprisonment for more than one year.

Jackson made no secret of his legal troubles in Arizona during an argument with Josh Fulfer, a right-wing live-streamer from California, preceding his arrest on March 24.

“I support both sides,” Jackson said. “I’ve been at stop the steal rallies…. I’ve been at multiple freedom events. I’m a gun rights activist. If you’d look at Arizona on my record, you’d know. Everyone from Arizona listening to this knows my record. I’m Brandon Jackson.” Jackson's statement was captured by a livestreamer for the 1st Responders Media YouTube channel.

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During the prior incident, police arrested Jackson following an armed standoff at the Arizona state capitol on Dec. 4, 2020, according to a report by 12 News in Phoenix. Undercover officers had tailed Jackson and another man from Jackson’s home in Scottsdale after witnessing them transfer a rifle to the trunk of Jackson’s car. Footage from the report shows that Jackson had a pistol strapped to his hip, and he reportedly refused to comply with orders from police. Armored trucks and a helicopter converged on the scene and officers pointed their service weapons at Jackson before firing a flashbang and taking him into custody. Jackson and the other man were wearing Hawaiian shirts, an emblem of the boogaloo movement, and Jackson was wearing an igloo hat, which is also a boogaloo signifier.

Jackson’s March 24 arrest in Hagerstown, Md. appears to have caught the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. As noted in an affidavit filed by Jessica Woodin, an ATF special agent assigned to an FBI Joint Task Force in Maryland, Jackson was charged with multiple felonies in Maricopa County, in Arizona, on Dec. 8, 2020, including conspiracy to commit misconduct involving weapons and hindering prosecution in the first degree. A grand jury returned an indictment for the charges on Jan. 28, 2021.

While facing state felony charges related to the armed standoff at the Arizona capitol, Jackson purchased Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9mm pistol at a federally licensed gun store in Tempe, according Woodin’s affidavit. The pistol was found stuffed in Jackson’s pants when Maryland State trooper detained him outside the trucker convoy encampment on March 24.

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The affidavit supporting the federal charge against Jackson indicates he went out of his way to engage the troopers when they showed up to respond to the complaint about a vehicle blocking the entrance to the speedway.

When the troopers arrived on the scene, Jackson approached them to voice frustration about “security members that were removing certain convoy members from the speedway,” according to the affidavit.

“In an attempt to satisfy all parties, MSP asked Jackson if he could sleep elsewhere for the evening until there was an opportunity to speak with the head of the convoy regarding access back into the speedway,” affidavit reads. “Jackson explained he was not interested in leaving due to the fact that he had belongings still inside the speedway. Upon being asked what belongings he could not retrieve tomorrow, Jackson stated that he had firearms back at his campsite.”

Jackson confirmed that he was carrying a pistol when asked by one of the troopers, and admitted that he did not have a Maryland carry permit. Then the affidavit indicates that one of the troopers “shined a flashlight at Jackson’s waist and revealed an abnormal bulge in Jackson’s jeans consistent with the indentation of a concealed firearm.” The troopers reportedly informed Jackson that based on the 1968 Supreme Court decision in Terry v. Ohio, they had the right to search and detain him as an armed individual based on probable cause.

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Following Jackson’s arrest, the troopers searched his 2020 Honda Civic, which was parked on the shoulder of the road outside the speedway. They reportedly recovered a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 firearm, a magazine with 24 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, two glass jars of marijuana, a glass smoking device and a vape pen with a THC cartridge.

A trace of the Palmetto State Armory PA-15 firearm found that it was purchased by another individual from a federally licensed gun store in Lansing, Mich. on Dec. 4, 2021.

Following a detention hearing in Baltimore on March 31, a federal magistrate judge released Jackson on condition that he refrain from possessing firearms, submit to drug testing and undergo substance abuse treatment if recommended by pretrial services.