1:04 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Three men charged for planning to exploit protests and incite violence in Las Vegas
From CNN's Sarah Moon
A police officer looks outside the car window as people march, on June 1, in downtown Las Vegas.
Bridget Bennett/AFP/Getty Images
Three men who allegedly sought to exploit protests and incite violence in Las Vegas have been charged, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
In a federal complaint filed on Tuesday, each man was charged with one count of conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive, and one count of possession of unregistered firearms. They are currently in state custody.
All three were Las Vegas residents and alleged members of the “Boogaloo” movement, “a term used by extremists to signify a coming civil war and/or collapse of society,” according to a press release by the Attorney's Office today.
According to the complaint, authorities seized numerous accelerants, including gasoline, fuel injector cleaner, hair spray, strips of clothes, and four glass jars filled with a liquid that tested positive as gasoline, from one of the men's vehicles.
They also found multiple rags, cans of hairspray, a plastic bag full of fireworks, a 12-gauge shotgun with numerous shotgun shells and a 45 ACP pistol in his vehicle.
“Violent instigators have hijacked peaceful protests and demonstrations across the country, including Nevada, exploiting the real and legitimate outrage over Mr. Floyd’s death for their own radical agendas,” said US Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich in the press release.
Ongoing investigations nationwide: Federal law enforcement officials have told CNN that investigators believe extremists from both left and right have been involved. Investigations are still ongoing and prosecutors often add information to the charging documents.
So far federal prosecutors have charged at least a dozen people with crimes related to the disturbances in the cities of Nashville, Chicago, Newark, Dallas, Minneapolis, Buffalo, and Brooklyn.