Reputed founder of white supremacist group extradited from Romania on riot charges

A founding member of a violent white supremacist group accused of training and encouraging members to attack people at political rallies across California has been extradited from Romania to face federal charges, the Justice Department said.

Robert Paul Rundo, a 33-year-old resident of Huntington Beach, arrived Tuesday escorted by FBI agents at Hollywood Burbank airport and faces federal charges of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Riot Act, and rioting.

Rundo is alleged to be a founding member of Rise Above Movement, or RAM, a white supremacist group that according to federal officials touted to be a “combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist white supremacy and identity movement.”

The federal indictment against Rundo alleges he and other defendants recruited new members to the organization, coordinated training in hand-to-hand combat, and traveled to political rallies to attack protesters at events across California.

The group celebrated its assaults, officials allege, publishing pictures and videos of fights and using the images to recruit new members to the extremist group.

The indictment alleges the group was involved in violent attacks in Huntington Beach on March 25, 2017, Berkeley on April 15, 2017, and San Bernardino on June 10, 2017.

Rundo is accused not just of organizing the violent confrontations, but also attacking protesters and police officers. After Rundo was ordered by police to stop attacking someone during the April 15, 2017, protest in Berkeley, he allegedly punched an officer twice in the head, according to an arrest warrant.

Rundo, believed to be the leader of the group, was originally charged and arrested in October 2018 with other alleged members Robert Boman, 30, of Torrance, and Tyler Laube, 27, of Redondo Beach.

When he was initially charged, a federal judge called the Huntington Beach man a flight risk and denied him bail.

Charges against the Southern California men were dismissed a year later, in 2019, after Rundo’s attorneys argued that the federal Anti-Riot Act of 1968 was “unconstitutionally over-broad.” A federal appeals court, however, reinstated the charges in March 2021, finding that parts of the law were, in fact, constitutional.

After charges were reinstated in a superseding indictment filed in January, Rundo eluded authorities, traveling through Europe but continuing to post images on social media, Bellingcat reported.

FBI agents caught up with Rundo after he was located by Romanian authorities in a Bucharest neighborhood, according to an arrest warrant.

Court records allege that the group had already made contact with other white supremacist groups years earlier.

According to the indictment, in April 18, 2018, Rundo and others traveled to Germany, Ukraine and Italy, “where they engaged in combat training with members of European white supremacist organizations.”