FBI Arrests Alleged ‘Boogaloo Bois’ Member Who ’Threatened to Kill Police,' Blow up IRS

A member of the Boogaloo Bois walks near protesters in Charlotte, N.C., on May 29, 2020. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)

The FBI on Tuesday arrested an alleged member of the militant anti-government group Boogaloo Bois after he allegedly threatened to kill police and government officials and “blow up” the IRS.

According to a criminal complaint (pdf) first obtained by The Daily Beast, Aron McKillips, 29, of Ohio, was arrested Tuesday by members of a task force from the FBI’s Cleveland Division.

The complaint alleges that McKillips is a “well-known member” of the Boogaloo Bois and has traveled across the United States to attend protests, meetings, and training with members of the group. The complaint also states that he is reported to be a member of the New Sons of Liberty anti-government militia group.

McKillips was charged with unlawful possession of a machine gun and interstate communication of threats, according to the complaint.

According to the FBI, multiple “confidential human sources” were used to build the case against McKillips as well as audio recordings and screenshots of social media communications, posts, and messages on Discord, Signal, and Keybase.

The screenshots show someone who goes by the username of “prisonoh,” or “Prison OH” (meaning “Prison Ohio”), posting on social media on multiple occasions, indicating that the “government took some money from him and he still owed the government money.”

The FBI said it had identified the user as McKillips.

“Prisonoh then indicated that ‘I’ve got some planning to do brother,’ and that ‘its [sic] time I do something for the movement,” the complaint states.

The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington on Feb. 19, 2014. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

‘Shooting Spree Targeting Police or Feds’

“Prisonoh then reiterated that he had planning to do, and said ‘The fight may be coming to my door sooner than later,’” the complaint added, noting that he “also offered to sell an AR-15 style rifle fitted with what appears to be a grenade launcher, along with three ‘flash bangs’ and a ’triple pouch,’” which is designed to carry three rifle magazines.

The complaint goes on to state that screenshots provided to the FBI on the Signal chat app show that McKillips posted a picture of an AR-15 style rifle fitted with a grenade launcher.

“The rifle is lying on a red and black blanket and appears to be the same rifle depicted in Figure IB posted by ‘Prisonoh’ on the Keybase messaging platform,” the complaint states.

McKillips allegedly made multiple concerning statements on the app, including about killing informants, going on a “shooting spree targeting police or feds,” “drilling out the top of his door and filling it with Tannerite”—an explosive—and praising another Boogaloo member who killed a law enforcement officer.

On April 9, 2021, McKillips allegedly provided drop-in auto sears, commonly referred to as “DIAS”—a device that can make any handgun a fully automatic weapon—to several Boogaloo Bois in Lansing, Michigan, and also showed them how to make one themselves. The DIAS itself is considered an illegal machine gun.

Around May 6, 2022, McKillips allegedly said he was going to blow up Facebook headquarters. In Audio recordings, he allegedly said: “I just wanna [sic] blow up the IRS.”

A day before his arrest, McKillips posted a meme on his Facebook account mocking the hammer attack on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.

Pelosi’s alleged attacker, David DePape, 42, pleaded not guilty on Nov. 1 to attempted murder and other charges during his first court appearance.

McKillips appeared in court on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay.

A lawyer for McKillips could not be reached for comment.