Watch Fall of the Boogaloo in DC

Director Ford Fischer will be premiering episode one of his mini-series on the armed Boogaloo movement at Bus Boys & Poets Wednesday July 29th, 7pm - 9pm Busboys & Poets (2021 14th Street NW, Washington, DC). The screening is part of the Whistleblower Summit and Film Festival in Washington DC. Tickets are free, and you can get them at the link. Ford will be present for a Q&A.

For those that might not remember, for years the “Boogaloo” movement would show up at rallies both on the right and the left in Hawaiian style shirts

The Boogaloos take their name from the cult film “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” The movie (not a good one) has nothing to do with a civil war but like so much of our current internet meme culture has evolved from an inside joke to a racist meme to violence in the streets.

Boogaloo Boys were not fascist-leaning like the Proud Boys or the Patriot Front groups. But, in the confusing Venn diagram of far-right extremist movements, will often work together at the same events.

They had no official hierarchy. People who might call themselves Boogaloo in Cleveland, Ohio, could easily disagree with everything that some “Boog” in Lansing, Michigan might believe. Like most groups led by an internet meme, it’s an ever-moving target. Some even attended a Black Lives Matter rally to protect protesters from police.

Ford Fischer was following the movement from very early days across the country and often following them as they did live fire training in the woods. He’s a mad man. But because of his fly-on-the-wall approach he was able to get incredible access and exclusive, extremely revealing interviews.

From Ford’s description of the series: While the Boogaloo rises as a highly armed, insurgent wing of the militia movement, federal law enforcement strikes early from within. Unbeknownst to his followers, Mike Dunn is quickly groomed by the FBI and becomes a key informant. The movement slowly implodes from within as multiple members squeal.

A wild ride ensues involving an intel analyst, an illegal machine gun dealer, a plot to bomb a hospital, a home ricin lab, a fake suicide, a drunken and drug fuelled confrontation, multiple entrapment attempts, recordings of FBI handlers and an armed protest at a school board building. All culminating in multiple arrests, against the backdrop of the lead up to and aftermath of January 6, and punctuated by the fog of coded memes and social media trolling. It is literally a riot."

Full disclosure now, I’m a co-producer on the film and was the camera-man on the interview with Boog “leader” Mike Dunn - you can see clips of it in this extended mini-series trailer below.

If you can’t make it to Washington DC, he’ll be releasing the first episode August 4th at the link below. Make sure you sign up for youtube to notify you for the premiere. Ford and I will be having an extended chat soon about the series for the VisuNews Podcast.