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According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Bowie County, Texas, Aaron Swenson, 37, was charged with making a terroristic threat against a peace officer, after Swenson 鈥減osted a Facebook Live video stating he was going to ambush and murder a Peace Officer.鈥�

Swenson 鈥渉ad been sharing memes from boogaloo pages on Facebook鈥� for some time prior to the incident, according to 聽by Buzzfeed.

In this May 2 photo, people, including those with the boogaloo movement, demonstrate against business closures due to concern about COVID-19 at the State House in Concord, New Hampshire. (Photo via AP Images/Michael Dwyer)

The term 鈥淏oogaloo,鈥� which began to predominate in far-right web spaces in early 2019, began as a shorthand for civil unrest following potential local or federal firearms confiscation, and has been embraced by antigovernment and white nationalist听肠辞尘尘耻苍颈迟颈别蝉.

The 鈥淏oogaloo,鈥� understood as a violent uprising against the federal government, bears similarities to other fantasies about potential eschatological violence popular in the antigovernment world, particularly 鈥淭EOTWAWKI鈥� (the end of the world as we know it), 鈥淪HTF鈥� (shit hits the fan) and 鈥淩AHOWA鈥� (racial holy war), a trope common among white nationalists and paramilitary groups in the early 1990s.

The Facebook Live incident highlights the continued failure of social media companies, particularly Facebook, to stem the proliferation of extremist groups and content on their platforms. A 聽details the proliferation of 鈥淏oogaloo鈥� content on Facebook.

On April 11 an anonymous tipster called in to warn police that a Facebook user named 鈥淎aron Derpingston鈥� was threatening cops on a livestream. Police viewed the livestream in real time. 鈥淒erpingston,鈥� who police claim was revealed at the time of his arrest to be Swenson, drove around hunting for 鈥渞ed and blue lights.鈥�

An officer viewing the stream identified Swenson鈥檚 vehicle based on a glimpse of his truck鈥檚 dashboard in the livestream. 鈥淒erpingston鈥� announced that he had passed an access road at the same time that another officer on that access road spotted Swenson鈥檚 truck.

Swenson allegedly ran from police but was arrested after a police spike strip damaged his vehicle鈥檚 tires. In the police affidavit an arresting officer claims, 鈥淚 could see Swenson holding his phone up [so] the people watching his Facebook Live video could see him during the pursuit.鈥�

Aaron Swenson booking photo from Texarkana Police Department

After refusing to exit his vehicle for 20 minutes Swenson surrendered and was arrested 鈥渨earing a ballistic vest with a handgun holster, rifle, and pistol magazines on the chest.鈥�

According to a Texarkana police affidavit, this was not Swenson鈥檚 first time threatening law enforcement:

Officer鈥檚 [sic] received an email from the federal government in reference to this suspect a couple of months ago about him making threats towards law enforcement prior to tonight.

Swenson鈥檚 arrest comes in the midst of increased scrutiny on white supremacy and far-right extremism. In July, FBI Director Christopher Wray informed Congress that 鈥渁 majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we鈥檝e investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence.鈥�

Comments from 鈥淎rnold Derpingston鈥檚鈥� Facebook Live stream, which have been preserved online, show other members of the 鈥淏oogaloo鈥� community warning 鈥淒erpingston鈥� against committing violence and stating that 鈥淭he boog community still needs you.鈥�

This is not the time, if you are a part of the movement you must be PART of it that doesn鈥檛 mean to be some straggler lashing out needlessly, and there is no call for doing anything like this鈥�

Several users disavowed 鈥淒erpingston鈥� in the comments, telling him 鈥淵ou are not one of us anymore.鈥�

Others invoked the name 鈥淒uncan Lemp,鈥� a Maryland man who was 聽executing an arrest warrant last month. Far-right groups have speculated that Lemp was murdered by authorities for his role in the 鈥淏oogaloo鈥� community and his antigovernment beliefs and have begun to valorize him as a sort of "Boogaloo" martyr.

Lemp鈥檚 death has galvanized the creation of "Boogaloo" Facebook groups and spawned a demonstration at a Montgomery County, Maryland police station to protest 鈥渢he unjust murder of Duncan Lemp and the abolishment of unconstitutional Red flag Laws.鈥�

Social media companies, particularly Facebook and Twitter, have repeatedly failed聽to substantively address the presence of far-right groups and messaging on their platforms. The 鈥淏oogaloo鈥� community, in particular is prolific on both Facebook and Twitter.

Tech Transparency Report鈥檚 survey of "Boogaloo" content on Facebook found that of 125 identifiable "Boogaloo groups," 60% were founded after COVID-19 lockdowns took place nationwide and that these groups have 鈥渁ttracted tens of thousands of members in the last 30 days.鈥�

When reached for comment, a Facebook spokesperson said, 鈥淲e updated our policies to prohibit the use of ["Boogaloo" and related] terms when accompanied by statements and images depicting armed violence.鈥� The spokesperson said the policy was updated May 1, but said data about how many such posts have so far been removed is unavailable.