Appeals court revives charges against accused South Bay white supremacists

PASADENA - A federal appeals panel in Pasadena Thursday overturned a lower court's dismissal of criminal charges against two reputed members of a Southern California white supremacist organization suspected of inciting brawls at political rallies across the state.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the indictment against Robert Rundo, 34, of Huntington Beach, and Robert Boman, 31, of Torrance, and remanded the case for trial in Santa Ana federal court.

The indictment alleges that Rundo is a founding member of the now- defunct South Bay organization that represented itself "as a combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist white supremacy and identity movement."

It also contends that Rundo and his colleagues, including Boman, attended a number of peaceful protests, where they chased down and violently attacked counter-protesters.

The dismissal of the indictment in February was the second time in five years that U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney had tossed charges against members of the group. The judge rejected criminal charges in the case in 2019, after Rundo's attorneys argued that the Anti-Riot Act cited by federal prosecutors was "unconstitutionally over-broad."

Carney concluded that the government selectively prosecuted Rundo and Boman while ignoring violence by members of Antifa and related far-left extremist groups because the white supremacist organization engaged in what the government and many believe is more offensive speech.

In the 9th Circuit opinion, Judge Milan D. Smith Jr., a nominee of President George W. Bush, knocked down Carney's selective prosecution theory, writing that the opposing left- and right-wing groups were not similar enough to meet the required standard.

According to the appeals court, the defendants "behaved like leaders of an organized crime group. They coordinated combat training sessions, created materials to recruit others, and planned cross-country travel to commit their acts. Nothing in the record indicates that (far-left group members) were similarly organized. That is, there is no evidence that these individuals trained together, coordinated their attendance at other rallies, recruited others, or otherwise did anything other than commit violence at the Huntington Beach rally," Smith wrote.

In arguments last month before the panel, federal public defender Caroline Platt said the Antifa members were "doing the same thing" as Rundo and Boman at the rallies, but only her clients were prosecuted. "This case is about viewpoint discrimination," Platt told the judges.

In April, Carney sentenced white supremacist defendant Tyler Laube, 28, of Redondo Beach, to 35 days behind bars, or time already served, for punching a journalist in the face during a clash between supporters of former President Donald Trump and opponents in Huntington Beach seven years ago.

The rallies involved in the case were May 25, 2017, at Bolsa Chica Beach in Huntington Beach; April 15, 2017, in Berkeley; and June 10, 2017, in San Bernardino.

"We are prosecuting individuals associated with a militant white- supremacy organization who are charged in a federal grand jury indictment with participating in attacks against innocent individuals who were engaging in Constitutionally protected free speech," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement in April.

"As federal prosecutors, we do everything we can to protect our community, and we do so ethically and in conformity with the Constitution. Indeed, we are sworn to uphold the Constitution, and all our actions are guided by this sacred oath. We fully believe that we have abided by these important principles in this matter."