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Four Californian men charged with inciting violence at 2017 Charlottesville rally

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  tessylo  •  6 years ago  •  29 comments

Four Californian men charged with inciting violence at 2017 Charlottesville rally

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T




U.S.

Four Californian men charged with inciting violence at 2017 Charlottesville rally



973af590-e89a-11e6-b294-9bc8096ac008_reu   By Sarah N. Lynch and Lisa Lambert, Reuters   7 hours ago






2018-10-03T025438Z_1_LYNXNPEE9204A_RTROP

By Sarah N. Lynch and Lisa Lambert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four Californian men described by prosecutors as members of a militant white supremacist group were arrested on Tuesday on charges of instigating violence during a white nationalist rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year.

The criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville charged each of the four - Benjamin Drake Daley, 25, Michael Paul Miselis, 29, Thomas Walter Gillen, 34, and Cole Evan White, 24 - with violating the federal riots statute and conspiracy to riot.

Each defendant faces 10 years in prison if convicted of both counts, authorities said. No pleas were entered.

Authorities said all four men flew from the west coast in August 2017 to participate in the "Unite the Right" rally protesting against the removal of a statue honoring Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army in the U.S. Civil War.

They are accused of physically assaulting counter-protesters they encountered during the Aug. 12 rally at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, and during a torch-lit march the night before through the University of Virginia campus, where hundreds of Unite the Right demonstrators chanted "white lives matter" and "Jews will not replace us."

The Aug. 12 event ended with a man plowing his car into a crowd, killing one counter-demonstrator, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, and injuring dozens of others. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., was charged with the killing in June. He has pleaded not guilty.

U.S. President Donald Trump drew condemnation from Democratic and Republican political leaders for saying that "many sides" were to blame for the violence.

All four of the men newly accused of inciting violence were identified in an FBI affidavit as members and associates of the California-based Rise Above Movement, described as a "militant white supremacist organization."

VIDEO EVIDENCE

Prosecutors said their participation in beatings of counter-protesters was corroborated by photographs and video footage from the events, some excerpted in a collection of still images printed in the affidavit.

The defendants were also accused of having "engaged in acts of violence" at previous political rallies in Huntington Beach and Berkeley, California.

Daley, Miselis and Gillen, all from Southern California, were presented with the charges during separate court appearances on Tuesday before a federal magistrate in Los Angeles. Each was ordered to remain held by the U.S. Marshals Service pending further proceedings.


White, a San Francisco-area resident, was scheduled for his initial court hearing in Oakland on Wednesday.

All four will end up either transported in federal custody back to Virginia or, if freed on bond, ordered to appear for future court dates there.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jean Rosenbluth denied bond for Miselis, who according to prosecutors had traveled with Daley to Germany, Italy and Ukraine to meet white nationalists abroad.

Federal prosecutor David Ryan said thousands of rounds of ammunition, smoke bombs and flares were found at the home of Miselis at the time of his arrest. The judge cited a photograph showing him kicking someone who had fallen to the ground.

Miselis' lawyer, Angel Navarro, described his client in court as having been a well-educated, law-biding citizen who earned a graduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. Navarro later told reporters the defendants were all entitled to a presumption of innocence.

Attorneys for the others either declined to discuss the case with reporters or were unavailable following the proceedings.

Thomas Cullen, U.S. Attorney for the western district of Virginia, said he expected the four could stand trial by year's end.

"This case should serve as another example of the Department of Justice's commitment to protecting the life, liberty, and civil rights of all our citizens," Cullen told a news conference.

He said prosecutors chose to pursue a case against the four men as a violation of U.S. riot statutes rather than as hate crimes but he did not rule out the possibility of bringing further charges. At least two defense lawyers said they expected a federal indictment to be returned in the case soon.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Trott, Toni Reinhold and Paul Tait)






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Tessylo
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Tessylo    6 years ago

All fine people, right?  

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
1.1  Trout Giggles  replied to  Tessylo @1    6 years ago

oh yeah

Rise Above Movement - Ironic name for a white supremacist group.

And they had to go from California all the way to Virginia to pick a fight

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
1.1.1  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  Trout Giggles @1.1    6 years ago

I guess they couldn't find enough inbred scum in California.  

 
 
 
Skrekk
Sophomore Participates
1.2  Skrekk  replied to  Tessylo @1    6 years ago
All fine people, right?  

Trump voters.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2  Kavika     6 years ago
All fine people, right?

All mighty fine people....

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3  livefreeordie    6 years ago

Criminals are being prosecuted. A real yawner seed

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  livefreeordie @3    6 years ago

Then why did you comment 'pastor'?

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3.1.1  livefreeordie  replied to  Tessylo @3.1    6 years ago

It’s allowed to say something is boring

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
3.1.2  Kavika   replied to  livefreeordie @3.1.1    6 years ago

Prosecuting white nationalists isn't boring it's the right thing to do. The more it's publicized the better. 

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.3  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  livefreeordie @3.1.1    6 years ago

I'm so sorry that white nationalists being prosecuted is so boring to you.  Take yourself somewhere else then 'pastor'  

Shoo.  Get to stepping!
 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3.1.4  JohnRussell  replied to  Tessylo @3.1    6 years ago
Then why did you comment 'pastor'?

Out of sight out of mind. If they aren't talked about then the others can pretend they are not there. 

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3.1.5  livefreeordie  replied to  Kavika @3.1.2    6 years ago

I didn’t say it isn’t the right thing to do.  But there is nothing to debate which makes it a boring story

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.1.6  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  livefreeordie @3.1.5    6 years ago

Then piss off 'pastor'

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3.1.7  livefreeordie  replied to  Kavika @3.1.2    6 years ago

I don’t believe in giving criminals publicity 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.1.8  Trout Giggles  replied to  livefreeordie @3.1.7    6 years ago

This isn't giving them publicity! I really do think there's more to it than you're letting on.

This story is telling us that were horrified by the events of last year that justice is finally going to be served

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.2  Trout Giggles  replied to  livefreeordie @3    6 years ago

I don't understand you

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.2.1  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  Trout Giggles @3.2    6 years ago

I'd say that's a damned good thing dear lady!

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3.2.2  livefreeordie  replied to  Trout Giggles @3.2    6 years ago

Duplicate comment removed

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
3.2.3  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  livefreeordie @3.2.2    6 years ago

Duplicate comment removed

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3.2.4  livefreeordie  replied to  Tessylo @3.2.3    6 years ago

Removed for context

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.2.5  Trout Giggles  replied to  livefreeordie @3.2.4    6 years ago

No, it's just really silly of you to make a point that you think the story is boring. I think you want to say something else about all this but know that it will get you in trouble.

I stay away from seeds that I find boring and you are supposed to be so much better than me.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.3  Trout Giggles  replied to  livefreeordie @3    6 years ago

Do you know these guys personally? Is that why you felt compelled to comment?

 
 
 
livefreeordie
Junior Silent
3.3.1  livefreeordie  replied to  Trout Giggles @3.3    6 years ago

I don’t know them nor do I know any white supremacists. White supremacy is an ignorant ideology and a sin against God and man

nor did I feel any “compulsion” to post. That’s a juvenile comment 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.3.2  Trout Giggles  replied to  livefreeordie @3.3.1    6 years ago

Ah...you finally get what you came for.....

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
3.4  Krishna  replied to  livefreeordie @3    6 years ago
A real yawner seed

And yet you've already taken the time to make 7 comments!

(To put that in perspective-- well over 1/4 of the comments on this seed that you feel is so boring-- come from you!)

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
4  Paula Bartholomew    6 years ago

As these four are some of Trump's "fine people", he just might issue presidential pardons for them.

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
4.1  Krishna  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @4    6 years ago

As these four are some of Trump's "fine people", he just might issue presidential pardons for them.

Or perhaps some Cabinet appointments? (Seems there's going to be some vacancies soon-- the Trumpster is just waiting for the midterms to be over).

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
5  Jeremy Retired in NC    6 years ago

From Mexifornia.  No surprise there.  Nothing like upholding the Democrat platform.

 
 
 
Skrekk
Sophomore Participates
5.1  Skrekk  replied to  Jeremy Retired in NC @5    6 years ago

They're all very fine people, Trump's base.

 
 

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