In the latest twist in a nearly six-year legal saga, a federal judge in Orange County on Tuesday granted bail to the accused founder of a violent white supremacy group — but the order will not take not take effect for at least four days while awaiting a decision. review by a higher court.
During a hearing that lasted more than an hour, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney questioned the use of government resources in the case before granting bail to Robert Rundo, who spent nearly a year on the run until his extradition from Romania last year to face charges of conspiracy and rioting.
Carney has twice dismissed government charges against Rundo and other members of a now-defunct white supremacist group known as the Rise Above Movement, or RAM. The judge said Rundo and others were selectively prosecuted, while “far-left extremist groups” were not.
“I understand dangerous international people, and with all due respect to Mr. Rundo, he was a fool who made a mistake,” Carney said Tuesday. “It’s not the crime of the century. I have no evidence that anyone was seriously harmed, even Antifa, much less innocent civilians.”
After Carney dismissed the charges against Rundo in February, Rundo was released for a short time over the objections of prosecutors, who appealed the decision. Rundo was later returned to San Diego County custody.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that any future district court order ordering Rundo’s release would be automatically stayed for at least four days.
In a written order Tuesday, Carney called the prosecution’s conduct in the case “quite troubling” and said the government “simply does not seem to care about the Constitution.”
“We are pursuing individuals associated with a white supremacist activist organization,” said US Atty. Martin Estrada said in a statement after the hearing. “As federal prosecutors, we do everything we can to protect our community, and we do so ethically and in accordance with the Constitution. »
In court, Asst. American Atty. Solomon Kim described Rundo, dressed in a white prison uniform, as “an international fugitive who has evaded law enforcement systematically and repeatedly over the years.” He said Rundo traveled to at least seven countries, booked more than a dozen flights and assumed different aliases as part of the effort.
In a written opposition to Rundo’s bail request, prosecutors described him as “dangerous and violent,” citing a 2010 case in which Rundo was sentenced to two years in prison for stabbing a person in many times.
“Regardless of what the court or defense counsel may think about whether or not the defendant was selectively pursued, it does not change the defendant’s flight and the danger he poses for the community,” Kim said.
At Rundo’s Huntington Beach home, which he shared with another Nazi sympathizer, prosecutors said, he kept Nazi items, including “drawings of swastikas and a Nazi eagle ornament” in his bedroom and ” a framed portrait of Adolf Hitler in the living room.” bedroom.”
The case against Rundo dates back to 2018, when he and three others were charged with violating federal conspiracy and riot laws related to their activities in the Rise Above movement. A federal indictment alleges that Rundo and other defendants recruited new members for the organization, coordinated hand-to-hand training and traveled to political rallies to attack protesters at events across the country. ‘State.
The indictment alleged that members participated in attacks at political rallies in Huntington Beach on March 25, 2017; in Berkeley on April 15, 2017; and in San Bernardino on June 10, 2017. Afterward, they allegedly trained for future events and celebrated by posting photos online of RAM members assaulting people.
Rundo was accused of organizing the violent clashes and also attacking protesters and police officers. After police ordered Rundo to stop attacking a “defenseless person” at the Berkeley protest, he allegedly punched a police officer twice in the head, according to an arrest warrant.
In his written order, Carney said Rundo and the other defendants were “not the real threat to democracy at the rallies,” instead blaming the anti-fascist movement known as “Antifa.”
“Antifa, not Mr. Rundo and his co-defendants, went to the rallies to stop them by humiliating, pepper spraying, assaulting, and injuring those present,” Carney wrote. “M. On the other hand, the obvious objective of Rundo and his co-defendants in participating in the rallies was to fight Antifa and prevent Antifa from attacking those present.”
During Tuesday’s hearing, Carney questioned whether Kim thought they would “get 12 people in Orange County to unanimously agree that Mr. Rundo and three others conspired to commit violence against innocent counter-protesters.”
“We do,” Kim said.
“I’ve been doing this – lawyer and judge – for 36 years and I feel like the people of Orange County don’t like Antifa demeaning disabled veterans, they don’t like it desecrating our flag, they don’t like that they’re pepper spraying middle-aged women who they’re just discussing what they believe,” Carney said. “I think you’re going to have a problem.
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