Balogun was startled awake in his Dallas home by a large crash and police officers screaming commands on December 12, 2017, when he and his 15-year-old son were forced outside of their Dallas home dressed only in their underwear. Balogun was handcuffed and learned FBI agents were investigating domestic terrorism and had been monitoring him for years for posts on Facebook criticizing police. In particular, posts by Balogun praising Micah Johnson, the perpetrator of the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers, were cited as grounds for Balogun's arrest. According to Balogun he was exercising his right to free speech when he praised Johnson, and was not endorsing violence against individual police officers, but a general struggle against the Dallas Police Department.