Suspect charged with killing police officer wrote extremist 'Boogaloo' messages in blood

Serving US Air Force man and murder suspect had supported anti-government extremist movement

Steven Carrillo, charged with murdering one cop and attempted murder of another (AP)

Steven Carrillo, the man who has been charged with murdering a police officer in California, scrawled extremist phrases with blood moments before he was detained.

Santa Cruz district attorney Jeffrey S. Rosell alleged on Thursday that Mr Carrillo, who was charged with murdering Santa Cruz sergeant Damon Gutzwiller and launching pipe bombs at another cop during an attack on 6 June, had written right-wing extremist phrases on a car hood with blood.

Mr Carrillo was said to have scrawled the words “boog” and “I became unreasonable” in blood prior to his arrest.

“Boog”, otherwise known as Boogalo, is an extremist right-wing movement with pro-gun, anti-government, tendencies that emerged on the website 4chan with ambitions to start a second American civil war.

The phrase “I became unreasonable”, meanwhile, was originally written by Marvin Heemeyer, an anti-government extremist who bulldozed a town in Colorado after a zoning dispute in 2004.

Mr Carrillo’s ambush on two Santa Cruz cops came almost 16 years to the day that Mr Heeyemer, who killed himself after that destruction, carried out his demolition.

The three word phrase has since become a meme in public Boogaloo communities on Facebook, where members encourage each other to “become unreasonable”.

“Heemeyer is revered in Boogaloo groups,” said Megan Squire to NBC News, who tracks online extremism at Elon University.

“Killdozer represents the intersection between the libertarian ideal of small government and the militant fantasy of the Boogaloo,” said the professor, who referenced Mr Heemey’s nickname, Kildozer.

“Heemeyer, as Killdozer, meticulously planned a revenge fantasy on some local government entities that he blamed for excessive regulation of his business,” she added.

Mr Carrillo was also said to have written the otherwise nonviolent political phrase “Stop the duopoly” in blood on the same car.

According to NBC News, the Californian suspect’s Facebook presence had shown support for a libertarian presidential candidate, anti-police sentiment and pro-gun causes, who have all used the “stop the duopoly” slogan in the past.

His profile picture, said the news outlet, showed George Washington and other American presidents with modern weapons and tactical gear. His page and posts have since been removed from the social media site.

Santa Cruz chief sheriff Jim Hart said on Thursday that Mr Carrillo, who served with the US Air Force, was “dangerous”.

“It’s the last time you are going to hear me say it,” said Mr Hart. “This guy was active Air Force. He was dangerous and he was an angry man intent on bringing harm to police officers. He murdered Sgt. Gutzwiller. He injured another deputy.”

Mr Carillo has now been charged with murder and attempted murder, which could carry a death sentence.