Just three weeks after arresting four members of a California-based white nationalist group who participated in the brutal violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, federal officials have arrested the Rise Above Movement’s leader and two other members and are searching for one more.
Robert Rundo, leader of the so-called Rise Above Movement, was taken into custody Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
Two others — Tyler Laube and Robert Boman — were arrested Wednesday morning in connection with organizing and participating in riots, according to federal authorities. A third, Aaron Eason, was charged but remains at large, they said.
All four were charged with traveling to incite or participate in riots, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Rundo was held without bail due to being perceived as a flight risk. Anonymous sources tell the New York Times that the white supremacist gang leader entered Mexico through the California border two weeks ago and was found in Central America before being brought back to the States this weekend. Boman and Laube were picked up in Southern California.
The charges against the neo-Nazis address numerous violent acts committed during 2017, taking place not just at the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, but across the entire state of California.
The F.B.I. said that Mr. Rundo and others attacked protesters in 2017 in Huntington Beach, Calif.; the University of California, Berkeley campus; San Bernardino, Calif.; and Charlottesville, Va. The criminal complaint outlined the group’s hateful ideology and its embrace of violence.
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The F.B.I. said that Mr. Rundo and other gang members used the internet, “to prepare to incite and participate in violence” at various political events and committed violent assaults while at those events. The F.B.I. added that the men applauded each other for the attacks and “publicly documented their assaults in order to recruit more members” to carry out violence.
The criminal complaint is painstakingly detailed, tracking not just the violent acts of the R.A.M. maniacs, but also their internet and cellphone usage. Text messages, tweets, and Facebook posts show a digital trail of recruitment, shameless bragging, and vile mindsets. Based in Southern California, the gang of suburban, mostly 20-something white men, which was founded as the “DIY Division” in late 2016, has long been defined as a hate group.
According to The Anti-Defamation League, Rise Above Movement members believe they are fighting against a "modern world" corrupted by the "destructive cultural influences" of liberals, Jews, Muslims and non-white immigrants. Members refer to themselves as the mixed martial arts club of the "alt-right" fringe movement, a loose mix of neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other far-right extremists.
This disgusting YouTube video (that predictably, hasn’t been removed, and honestly, shouldn’t be watched) sheds some light on the group’s “Fight Club” activities, typically held at local parks.
Despite their unabashed promotion of their dangerous deeds, members of R.A.M. managed to avoid local scrutiny for quite some time.
As bold as the group’s social media presence was, members have been guarded with the media and remain relatively under the radar in their communities. Family members of some group members have declined to speak with The Times, and former neighbors of others said they didn’t know who the group members were. Local law enforcement agencies said they were unaware of the group causing major problems in the South Bay.
Those days, of course, are over for the Rise Above Movement—for now, anyway.
The midterms are just days away, but it’s not too late to chip in $3 or more to help get hatred out of the House and Senate!