'Shoot Black people': Leaked chats show far-right activists fantasizing about killing random civilians

On Thursday, The Daily Beast reported new information from leaked chat logs about the "Boogaloo Boys," a loosely-associated movement of armed right-wing activists who have tried to use recent civil rights protests as a catalyst for widespread civil unrest.

"Although the movement has outwardly painted itself as acting defensively against gun laws, the leaked chats show members actively encouraging brutal violence, including that which would target civilians, particularly on the left," reported Kelly Weill. "And despite the movement’s stated hatred for federal agents and law enforcement, many members boasted of a cozy relationship with power, including one man who claimed to be an Army soldier working special operations with Mexican federales, and the school security guard in Long Island, who said he was angling for a cop career after interning with a local sheriff."

"The security guard, Christopher Dark, a 24-year-old Long Island resident, was one of the most prolific posters on Patriot Wave, a Boogaloo group that set up a private chat room on the messaging platform Discord in March 2019," said the report. "When members of Patriot Wave made one of the Booagloo movement’s earliest public appearances at a Jan. 20 pro-gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, Dark was one of the lead organizers, helping members coordinate their outfits and weaponry."

Dark initially denied involvement with the group to The Beast, and eventually admitted it was him but that he doesn't really want the "Boogaloo" war to happen.

When one member of the chat discussed his intentions to apply for a local sheriff's deputy position in New Mexico, several other members gave him advice, including “Just don’t go around confiscating guns when the boogaloo happens,” and "shoot black people."

Additionally, "At least one prolific participant in the leaked chats claimed to be an active-duty staff sergeant in the Army. The man, who invoked anti-Semitic and anti-Black slurs, said he worked in a task force overseen by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)" that coordinated with Mexican federales in an anti-Cartel mission.

Ultimately, despite the group's fantasies, many of the Boogaloo supporters expressed reservations about initiating the violence themselves, with one poster saying, “If we attack cops or military it would turn the people against us. We need to ‘defend’ ourselves.”

You can read more here.