No charges for police in death of boogaloo movement martyr

Maryland prosecutors have ruled out criminal charges against any police officers in the shooting death of a man whose family says he was sleeping in his bed next to his girlfriend when police opened fire, an attorney for the family has said.

Howard County States Attorney Rich Gibson Jr. informed the parents and girlfriend of 21-year-old Duncan Socrates Lemp of the decision during a meeting conducted remotely, family attorney Rene Sandler told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Gibsons office concluded that police in neighboring Montgomery County were justified in using deadly force against Lemp, Sandler said. Members of a tactical unit were serving a “no-knock” search warrant at the Lemp familys home about 4:30 a.m. on March 12 when an officer fatally shot him.

A spokeswoman for Gibsons office didnt immediately respond to a phone call and text message seeking comment on the decision.

Lemps shooting galvanized a loose network of gun-toting, anti-government extremists promoting the “boogaloo,” a slang term for a second civil war or collapse of civilization. Many “boogaloo” movement promoters have hailed Lemp as a martyr and turned his name into a hashtag campaign on social media.

Lemps girlfriend and parents say the software engineer was asleep in his bedroom when police fired at him from outside the house in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., according to Sandler.

The familys account contradicts a statement issued by Montgomery County police. The department has said Lemp was armed with a rifle and ignored commands to show his hands and get on the floor when officers entered his familys home.

The nascent “boogaloo” movement has been linked to a string of domestic terrorism plots and has been promoted by white supremacists, but many supporters insist theyre not truly advocating for violence. A post on Lemps Instagram account shortly before his death depicted two people holding up rifles and included the term “boogaloo,” which derives from the name of a 1980s-era movie sequel.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)