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A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday launched riot charges against three members of the Rise Above Movement (RAM), a violent right-wing group that participated in the Unite the Right rally of August 2017 as well as the 39, to other clashes in California.
The accused had been charged with riots incentives under riot law following a series of incidents at political rallies, including April 2017 at the University of California at Berkeley. The uploaded videos showed the accused at the event with fists stuck in combat and faces partially masked by skeleton masks.
Defense attorney John McNicholas, however, argued that the government's accusations centered on the plans and conversations surrounding RAM's trip to Berkeley, not on the actual violence that had taken place. As a result, the charges unfairly related to "lawful assembly and speech", which US District Judge Cormac Carney accepted.
"As the riot law governs a considerable number of protected words and assemblies, the Court considers that the anti-riot law is excessively unconstitutional," said Carney in his 12-page decision. "The political nature of a riot increases the risk that the riot law incriminates a substantial amount of expressive expression activities protected."
"The court makes [not] tolerate the hateful and toxic ideology of RAM, "continued Carney. "But the government has sufficient means to prevent and punish such behavior without sacrificing the First Amendment."
The judge urged defendants Robert Rundo, Aaron Eason and Robert Bowman to "move away from violence and hatred". The trio was released on Monday.
A spokesman for the US prosecutor's office said prosecutors were disappointed with the decision and would review their options regarding an appeal.
The RAM case is the latest example of the pitfalls faced by prosecutors when they try to sue right-wing extremist groups or national extremists. As ThinkProgress has pointed out previously, local extremist groups and individuals enjoy broad protections under the First Amendment, which allows them to prove their extremism and violent ambitions.
The case of Christopher Hasson, the lieutenant of the coastguard, accused of storing weapons and creating a "blacklist" of prominent politicians and liberal journalists. Although Hasson described Hasson as a "national terrorist" in the initial filing, prosecutors still have to bring terrorism charges against him. His defense attorney had previously claimed that prosecutors were trying to punish him for "private thoughts" because he had not made specific threats against people.
In April, a magistrate ruled that Mr. Hasson could be released on bail before his trial, although this decision was later dismissed on appeal.
Heidi Beirich, director of the intelligence project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said she hoped that the charges against members of the RAM would not result in federal prosecutors giving up on pursuing white supremacists more generally. from other far right groups. Although the First Amendment creates challenges for prosecutors, she added, the main problem is the lack of political will to attack extremist right-wing extremists.
"The implosion of [the so-called ‘alt-right’] and the arrests of other members of the RAM have had a deterrent effect, "Beirich told ThinkProgress. "Nevertheless, this movement continues to produce terrorists so that we can not take their eyes off them."
The RAM, which formed in California in 2017, describes itself as a far-right mixed martial arts club that aims to "promote an active lifestyle and common values among young people." and a future for Europeans ".
The group is strongly influenced by older Californian skinhead groups, focused on both melee combat training and the association with the Hammerskin Nation, one of the largest skinhead groups in the United States. United.
Members of the group, including the accused Rundo, had already been to Europe, where they formed links with other right-wing personalities, including Olena Semenyaka, who is linked to to the Azov neo-Nazi group, the battalion.
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