The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
4 alleged hate group members charged for roles in 2017 rally
Four California m en - all alleged members of an organized hate group - were charged Tuesday with violating a federal rioting law during the violent 2017 white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, authorities said.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Charlottesville described the suspects as members of a militant racist and anti-Se- mitic group called Rise Above Movement, based in California. The four were arrested by FBI agents in California early Tuesday and charged with one count each of violating the federal rioting statute and conspir- ing to violate it.
The suspects were identified as Benjamin D. Daley, 25, of Redondo Beach; Thomas W. Gillen, 34, of Redondo Beach; Michael P. Miselis, 29, of Lawndale; and Cole E. White, 34, of Clayton.
Authorities said in a state- ment that the four men trav- eled to Charlottesville “with the intent to ... commit vio- lent acts in furtherance of a riot.”
The Aug. 12, 2017 rally - dubbed “Unite the Right” by organizers - descended into a daylong scene of violent clashes involving hundreds of white supremacists and counterprotesters. The mayhem riveted the nation’s attention on the emboldened subculture of ethnonationalists in the United States.
The demonstration was nominally focused on Charlottesville’s public statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the city wants to remove. A lawsuit filed by Confederate heritage enthusiasts months before the rally has prevented the city from getting rid of the sculpture. A trial in the civil case is set for January.
Amid the violence that day, a self-professed neo- Nazi allegedly rammed his car into another vehicle on a crowded street, killing a counterprotester, Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 35 other people.
The accused driver, James Alex Fields Jr., now 21, is awaiting trial in a Virginia court on numerous charges, including first-degree murder, and has been charged by federal authorities with multiple hate crimes, one of which carries a possible death sentence.
White-nationalist figures Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler, both University of Virginia graduates, orga- nized the weekend events just over a year ago, includ- ing a Friday-night tiki-torch march.
The parade was marked by racist and homophobic slurs and chants such as “Jews will not replace us!” and “Our blood, our soil!”
The demonstrators on that Saturday - many armed with guns, clubs and bats - met fierce opposition from community members and anti-fascist protesters. Clashes soon erupted across the city. Law enforcement did not act immediately to break up altercations and stood by while groups battled in front of them.
As the marchers and coun- terprotesters dispersed, there were isolated incidents of violence.
Fields was photographed during the rally carrying a shield with the insignia of Vanguard America, a white-supremacist group that had a large presence at the event. The group later denied that Fields was a member. At the time of his arrest in Charlottesville, he was employed as a security guard.
Fields was arrested within minutes of the allegedly deliberate crash and eventually charged with first-degree murder by Virginia authorities. In the state case, if con- victed of all charges, he could be sentenced to up to four life terms plus 110 years in prison.
Months after the rally, in June of this year, the Justice Department obtained a federal indictment charging him with 28 hate crimes related to the multiple victims.