Two Missouri men were arrested after local law enforcement tipped off federal agents about their plan to travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, with assault-style weapons.
Michael M. Karmo, 40, and Cody E. Smith, 33, were arrested and charged with illegal possession of firearms on Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced Thursday, according to the criminal complaint. They were arrested outside of a La Quinta Hotel in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and officers recovered a cache of weapons, including an AR-15, a shotgun, a handgun, body armor, and a silencer from their vehicle and hotel room.
The criminal complaint noted that an Iowa law enforcement agency notified the Kenosha Police Department of Karmo’s plan, which was then passed along to the FBI. The tip said Karmo and another unidentified person had firearms and were planning on traveling to the city amid the unrest to loot and possibly “pick people off.” The tip also included photos Karmo sent to the tipster that showed him and the other person posing with assault weapons.
Federal officials looked into Karmo’s social media presence after receiving the tip. While they couldn’t definitively confirm that the account associated with Karmo was him, the profile had a number of photos of the man who was posing with firearms. One photo on the account had the Blue Lives Matter flag in the background.
Both Karmo and Smith had prior convictions that prohibit them from owning firearms and ammunition.
Smith told investigators that he and Karmo were there because they “wanted to see proof of the rioting,” but Karmo said they were part of the 417 Second Amendment Militia, according to the complaint.
They were seeking to travel to Kenosha less than two weeks after Officer Rusten Sheskey fired several shots into Jacob Blake’s back as they attempted to apprehend him. Blake is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the shooting. The officer has been suspended but not charged. His shooting, in culmination with the shootings and deaths of other people of color at the hands of law enforcement officers in recent months, has restarted a national conversation about policing and societal inequality.
