DETROIT — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged a prominent member of the far-right anti-government extremist Boogaloo movement with drug and gun-related crimes following a counterterrorism investigation focused on concerns about attacks on politicians and plans to disrupt the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
Wearing a Hawaiian print shirt that's a trademark of the Boogaloo Boys movement, Timothy Teagan, 24, of Plymouth made an initial Wednesday appearance in U.S. District Court in Detroit before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford, one day after FBI agents from an elite counterterrorism unit arrested him. Teagan was charged with two counts: being a drug user in possession of firearms and ammunition, and making a false statement in connection with acquiring a firearm, charges that could send him to federal prison for up to 10 years.
Pretrial services recommended bond for Teagan but the government will seek detention, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet said. Teagan's detention hearing is scheduled for Friday.
The charges Teagan faces are related to events on July 17 and Oct. 25.
Agents "were asking if I knew about any violent plans or any violent tendencies that could come forth about the election," Teagan told documentarian Ford Fischer in a recent interview. "They were asking what the boogs or any militias were planning during the elections, if we had any plans to go to polls armed."
The eight-page criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday does not mention the election. It is possible prosecutors are using the gun and drug-related charges as a quick way to detain Teagan while counterterrorism agents continue the investigation.
“Being a user in possession of a firearm is not a high priority for the (Justice) Department, but domestic violent extremism and election-related crimes are,” said Mark Chutkow, former criminal division chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit. “This may just be an effort to deter or disrupt a scheme that they may not have sufficient evidence at this time to prosecute."
Teagan has been a high-profile member of the Boogaloo movement in recent years, attending various protests, rallies and demonstrations, including the "People's Convoy,” which opposed COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The Boogaloo is a loosely organized movement of supporters who believe the country is broken and that a second Civil War is looming. Several members of the movement were part of the Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot, and prosecutors said the plotters were motivated to spark a second Civil War.
In an email to The Detroit News on Wednesday, Teagan's lawyer Benton Martin noted Teagan “is presumed innocent” but declined additional comment ahead of Friday’s detention hearing.
The criminal case against Teagan coincides with a rise in the number of domestic terrorism cases and increasing concerns about election-related disruption and violence, including last week's attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.
By late last year, the FBI had approximately 2,700 domestic terrorism investigations, nearly double the number from 2020, according to an unclassified intelligence assessment by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security in October.
The investigation is among the most visible federal law enforcement operations involving the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan since October 2020. That is when members of the same FBI task force arrested more than a dozen people accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer. FBI agents searched Teagan's home Thursday, one day after jurors in Jackson County convicted three of those men.
Teagan was arrested less than one week after agents from the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force searched his home for evidence of a "user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm or ammunition."
The investigation started Tuesday after Plymouth Police notified FBI counterterrorism investigators that Teagan had been arrested for domestic violence.
“When officers arrived at the residence, they observed Timothy Teagan’s father, Johnathan Teagan, covered in blood. He had been bitten on the forehead and repeatedly punched,” an FBI agent who is part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force wrote in an affidavit unsealed Wednesday.
Investigators learned Timothy Teagan had purchased a Glock pistol in July.
On Oct. 25, his father said there were three guns inside a safe in the home, which is maintained by his sons.
“Johnathan Teagan further advised that in the past, he has asked Timothy Teagan to remove the firearms from the premises, but Timothy Teagan refused to do so,” the agent wrote.
FBI agents returned to the home Thursday, armed with a search warrant. Investigators seized an AR-15 rifle, dozens of rounds of ammunition, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, including bongs.
On the gun form Teagan signed when he purchased the Glock in July, he denied being a drug user, according to the affidavit.
During an interview last week with FBI agents, he talked about using drugs.
“Timothy Teagan advised FBI agents that he is a marijuana user, that he has been trying to cut back, and that his brother Christopher Teagan brought marijuana to him the day prior, but he had not used it yet,” according to the court filing.
Teagan's Tuesday arrest by federal agents coincided with that of Aron McKillips, an alleged member of the Boogaloo Boys in Ohio. The 29-year-old Sandusky resident is accused of amassing weapons, including a grenade launcher, and talking about burning down federal buildings along with killing federal agents and other government officials.
The criminal case against McKillips references Lansing. During a visit to Lansing in April 2021, McKillips is accused of providing devices to Boogaloo Boys that convert rifles into fully automatic machine guns.
During the FBI search at Teagan's home, agents also seized body armor, Boogaloo movement flags and patches, gas masks and a plate carrier vest.
On Friday, prosecutors are expected to argue Teagan is a danger to the public, a flight risk or both, while asking to have him jailed while awaiting trial.
“Here they have a number of things that weigh in favor of detention: the assault of his father, the fact he has body armor, gas masks and different weapons is something that would be very concerning to a judge," Chutkow said.
The filing repeatedly mentions the Boogaloo movement.
“I believe that possession of firearms is consistent with the ideology espoused by members of this movement,” the agent wrote. “I am aware that Boogaloo ideology is an anti-government or anti-authority concept advocating the violent overthrow of government.”
The criminal case references video of an April 2021 Boogaloo-led protest outside the Ann Arbor Justice Center. During the recording, Teagan says he uses marijuana, which would prohibit him from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
“I love this city,” Teagan said. “I smoke plenty of weed in this city, believe me. Been to hash bashes before.”
In the video, he is holding an AR-15-style rifle.
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(Detroit News staff writer Hannah Mackay contributed.)
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