A Huntington Beach resident is now back in the United States after being extradited from Romania to face federal charges related to his involvement in a militant white supremacist group in Southern California. Robert Paul Rundo, the founder of the Rise Above Movement, along with two other men, is accused of inciting violence at local political rallies in Huntington Beach, Berkeley, and San Bernardino. Rundo has been transported to California and is currently in federal custody awaiting trial.
The Rise Above Movement openly identifies itself as a militant organization advocating for white supremacy and nationalist ideals. Federal prosecutors have previously labeled its members as “serial rioters” with racist and anti-Semitic beliefs who actively train to attack individuals with opposing viewpoints.
Rundo, along with Robert Boman and Tyler Laube, is accused of physically assaulting individuals during a pro-Trump rally in Huntington Beach in March 2017, which escalated into a violent clash at Bolsa Chica State Beach. The three defendants are also charged with aggressive confrontations at a rally in Berkeley. Additionally, Rundo is implicated in a violent anti-Islamic law protest in San Bernardino in 2017 that involved acts of vandalism.
To attract new members, Rundo and at least one of his co-defendants reportedly boasted about their violent actions at the rallies on social media platforms, using them as a recruitment tool for the Rise Above Movement.
Rundo and his associates have been charged under the Anti-Riot Act of 1968. However, in 2019, the charges were initially dismissed by U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who deemed the Anti-Riot Act overly broad and a potential infringement on freedom of speech. While Judge Carney acknowledged the hateful and toxic ideology of the Rise Above Movement, he believed there were alternative means available to prevent and punish such behavior without compromising the First Amendment.
An appellate court partially upheld the dismissal but reinstated criminal charges against Rundo and his co-defendants, determining that certain parts of the Anti-Riot Act, specifically those targeting “unprotected speech” and “unprotected conduct” related to violent acts in furtherance of a riot, are constitutional.
Aaron Eason, the fourth defendant charged alongside Rundo, Boman, and Laube, had his charges dismissed earlier this year.
It remains unclear when Rundo traveled to Romania, the duration of his stay there, or the purpose of his visit. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Bucharest, worked with Romanian authorities to locate, apprehend, and extradite Rundo back to the United States.
Previous members of the Rise Above Movement have already been convicted in federal court, including four individuals involved in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, where counter-protestor Heather Heyer was killed, and numerous others were injured.
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