HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA – A CBS News story this month noted Robert Rundo – after extradition from Romania – pleaded guilty to taking part in a series of violent rallies with white supremacists and is said to be affiliated with the Rise Above Movement
Rundo “admitted in a plea agreement that he took part in three rallies in 2017 as part of the Rise Above Movement, or RAM, a now-defunct group federal prosecutors describe as a violent organization devoted to white supremacy and white nationalism,” the CBS story said.
CBS added, “He was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in late October 2018, and the FBI has described him in the past as co-founder and leader of RAM.”
Rundo allegedly, in 2009, said CBS, “Stabbed a Latino man just outside a store in New York City and struck a plea deal leading to two years in prison, of which he served 20 months.”
“In March 2021, the Balkan Insight reported Bosnian police were searching for Rundo as a wanted U.S. fugitive who had entered Bosnia after being expelled from Serbia. After spending nearly a year on the run, he was extradited from Romania last year.”
The CBS article states. “At the time of Rundo’s arrest, the FBI described him as co-founder and leader of RAM, which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as a designated hate group and describes as an “overtly racist” street fighting club.”
According to Southern Poverty Law Center, “The “Rise Above Movement” is a Southern California-based racist fight club that first rose to prominence on the racist “alt-right” rally scene in 2017 and is often photographed in bloody confrontations with protesters.”
CBS added, “at a rally in Huntington Beach, Rundo tackled and punched a protester several times. Afterwards, he and others in RAM posted photos and videos online celebrating their assaults, federal prosecutors said.”
And, in the spring of 2018, “Rundo and some men charged in connection with the Charlottesville rally traveled to Europe to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday and meet with members of other white supremacy extremist groups, according to a prior criminal complaint filed in the case.”
Rundo “was sentenced to two years in state prison on gang assault charges through a plea deal,” ProPublica reported.
