Alleged militant white supremacist apprehended in Romania and extradited to the US
FBI agents recently transported a white supremacist from Romania to the US after he was arrested in the former country. He is the lead defendant in an indictment that charges three Southern California men linked to a white supremacy extremist group with planning and engaging in riots at political rallies across California.
Robert Paul Rundo, 33, of Huntington Beach, was allegedly a founding member of the white supremacist Rise Above Movement (RAM). He is in federal custody and is expected to stand trial. Rundo, along with two other defendants, is charged with conspiracy to violate the Anti-Riot Act for his activities in connection with RAM. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Rundo is also charged with one count of rioting. Both the conspiracy and rioting charges carry statutory maximum sentences of five years in federal prison, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
According to the indictment, the defendants participated in the conspiracy in varying ways, including by engaging in the recruitment of RAM members, coordinating and participating in hand-to-hand and other combat training, traveling to political rallies to attack protesters and other persons, and publishing photographs and videos of violent acts to recruit other members for future events.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Bucharest provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Rundo. The Romanian National Police, Directorate of Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DCCO), Fugitive Unit; the Romanian General Prosecutor's Office and Border Police; the U.S. Embassy Bucharest Regional Security Office and Consular Section/American Citizen Services, in coordination with Interpol Romania, provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition.
Rundo was caught by the Romanian Police in March of this year while training at a gym in the capital. The Rise Above Movement, which he founded, is said to have participated in the violence at the Capitol three years ago. Footage filmed at a protest in the United States in 2017 shows how a peaceful demonstration turned into indescribable chaos, all because of an extremist group led by Robert Rundo.
American investigators say that the man was training his followers to attack people attending protests. "The man allegedly conducted mixed martial arts combat training for movement members, attending two political rallies where they would assault other individuals, including a police officer. Additionally, together with other representatives of the movement, they posted online videos and images of themselves conducting military combat training interspersed with clips of them physically assaulting individuals at political gatherings, accompanied by messages supporting white supremacy ideology," said police spokesperson Georgian Drăgan, cited by Digi24.
(Photo source: Jiawangkun | Dreamstime.com)
