Lemp associated himself with the
Three Percenters, a far-right
paramilitary militia group, and had set up websites for other such organizations.
[1][6] He was a member of the
United States Transhumanist Party, having joined on September 6, 2019.
[7] A week before the raid, Lemp posted a picture of two people armed with rifles on
Instagram, with text referring to "boogaloo", a term used by the boogaloo movement as coded language for an anticipated war against the government or
left-wing political opponents.
[1][8][9][10] Lemp had also made an Instagram post with a caption referring to the
Three Percenters and a post captioned with the phrase
sic semper tyrannis. The phrase, which means "thus always to tyrants", is the state motto of Virginia.
[11] The New York Times noted it had also been used both by Abraham Lincoln's assassin,
John Wilkes Booth, and the Oklahoma City bomber,
Timothy McVeigh.
[12]
Warrant[edit]
Detectives assigned to the Investigative Services Bureau received an anonymous tip that Lemp illegally possessed firearms.
[13][2] Police stated that "detectives applied for and received a no-knock search warrant for the crimes of possession of an assault weapon and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person."
[13][14] Police stated that Lemp had a criminal history in juvenile court that prohibited him from legally possessing firearms until the age of 30.
[1][2][3] An attorney for Lemp's family said the family had been unaware of any conviction that would have prevented Lemp from owning a gun.
[6]
Raid[edit]
The raid was conducted at approximately 4:30 AM by the Montgomery County Police Department's
SWAT team.
[2][14]
"The officers entering the residence announced themselves as police and that they were serving a search warrant," police said. "Officers gave commands for individuals inside the residence to show their hands and to get on the ground."
[2] The
Montgomery County Police Department said that Lemp "confronted" police and was shot by one of their officers.
[1] "Upon making contact with Lemp, officers identified themselves as the police and gave him multiple orders to show his hands and comply with the officer's commands to get on the ground," police said. "Lemp refused to comply with the officer's commands and proceeded towards the interior bedroom door where other officers were located."
[2] Police also stated that "Lemp was found to be in possession of a rifle and was located directly in front of the interior bedroom entrance door."
[2]
Lemp's family maintains that according to an eyewitness, the officers initiated gunfire and
flash bangs from outside the house through Duncan's window without warning and while Lemp was sleeping.
[2][3] As of October 2020, neither body camera footage nor the arrest warrant had been released, despite public record requests by
Reason magazine and
MuckRock.
[15][16]
Police stated that Lemp had rigged a
booby-trap device that was designed to "detonate a shotgun shell at the direction of anyone entering" the bedroom.
[2] "After officers entered the bedroom, the other occupant of the room warned the officers to be careful of the device rigged to the exterior door," and Montgomery County bomb-squad technicians were brought in to "render the device safe," police said.
[2]
Three rifles and two handguns were recovered during the raid.
[3]