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The F.B.I. arrested the head of a California neo-Nazi gang under a federal conspiracy charge after fleeing the country earlier this month.
Robert Rundo, 28, of Huntington Beach, Calif., Is currently being held in the downtown federal prison in Los Angeles. He was indicted in a criminal complaint that was unsealed on Tuesday.
It seems that Mr. Rundo arrived in Mexico two weeks ago from California and then went to Central America. He was later taken back to the United States, where he was arrested Sunday at the Los Angeles International Airport, according to two people close to the case who spoke under the guise of anonymity because that they were not allowed to speak in public.
He is the founder of Rise Above Movement, a neo-Nazi gang based in Southern California, whose members have been involved in violent activities during protests in California in 2017. He is surrounded by three other Californians associated with the group. Robert Boman, 25, Tyler Laube. , 22, and Aaron Eason, 38 – were charged with inciting riots, according to court documents. Mr. Boman and Mr. Laube were arrested Tuesday morning in Southern California. The F.B.I. said he was still looking for Mr. Eason.
Earlier this month, four other members of the Rise Above Movement – Benjamin Daley, Michael Miselis, Thomas Gillen and Cole White – Charged with Riot Conspiracy for Attacking Counter-Protestants at Unite The Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Last Year .
The F.B.I. said that Mr. Rundo and other people had attacked protesters in 2017 in Huntington Beach, California; the University of California, Berkeley campus; San Bernardino, California .; and Charlottesville, Virginia. The criminal complaint describes the group's hateful ideology and its attachment to violence.
At a rally held on March 25, 2017 in Huntington Beach, Mr. Laube seized a reporter and punched him in the face three times, according to videos of the incident that the F.B.I. referenced in the complaint. At the same gathering, the F.B.I. These videos showed that Mr. Rundo hit a protester in the back of his head and assaulted a second protester.
Later that day, Mr. Daley, who was attending the rally, sent an SMS to another member of the group who was bragging about the incident: "The front page of the stormer, we have it made." The stormer is a reference to "Daily Stormer", the neo-Nazi website.
In April 2017, Mr. Rundo and others went to Berkeley, California. The video mentioned in the complaint showed that the men were sticking their hands to prepare for the fight and wearing skeleton masks. We also see Mr. Boman hitting at least two people. Mr. Rundo then attacked another protester, then hit a Berkeley policeman twice before he was restrained and arrested.
The F.B.I. stated that Mr. Rundo and other gang members had used the Internet to "prepare to incite and participate in violence" at various political events and had committed violent attacks at these events. The F.B.I. They said the two men applauded the attacks and "publicly documented their attacks to recruit more members" to carry out acts of violence.
The investigation was led by the joint task force on terrorist activities of F.-B.I. in Los Angeles. Nicola T. Hanna, first federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, In a statement released Wednesday, every American has the right to organize, march and demonstrate peacefully to defend his beliefs – but no one has the right to take violent action against his political opponents. . "
Mr. Rundo appeared before a federal judge in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning and was remanded in custody. Mr. Boman and Mr. Laube were also scheduled to appear for the first time in federal court.
Prior to founding the Rise Above movement, Mr. Rundo spent 20 months in a New York state prison for stabbing a member of a rival MS-13 gang during an attack. in 2009 in Flushing, Queens. At the time, he was part of a small multiracial neighborhood gang called The Original Flushing Crew, which was arguing with a subgroup of MS-13, known as Little Cycos Salvatruchas, of Guanacos. , according to a federal indictment of 2012.
The authorities said that Mr. Rundo's links with white supremacist groups and their ideology have gradually deepened since his conviction. Since the creation of the Rise Above movement around 2017, Rundo has established links between the group and the West Coast chapter of the Hammerskins, an international network of neo-Nazi skinheads whose members have been involved in at least nine murders in four States.
Earlier this year, Mr. Rundo traveled to Europe with members of the Rise Above movement to participate in mixed arts tournaments organized by neo-Nazi organizations in Germany and Ukraine. In Europe, the F.B.I. Mr. Rundo and others celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday and met with members of European white supremacy.
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