Members of California white supremacist group arrested in connection with violent Charlottesville rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia - Four members of a militant white supremacist group from California were arrested on charges they traveled to Virginia last year to incite a riot and attack counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally that turned deadly, federal authorities said Tuesday.

The defendants - Benjamin Drake Daley, Michael Paul Miselis, Thomas Walter Gillen and Cole Evan White - are part of the Rise Above Movement, which espouses anti-?Semitic views and meets regularly in public parks to train in boxing and other fighting techniques, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent.

The affidavit alleges the four were “among the most violent individuals present in Charlottesville” in August 2017 during a torch-lit march on the University of Virginia campus and a larger rally in downtown the following day. It says photos and video footage shows they attacked counter-?protesters, “which in some cases resulted in serious injuries.”

The men have also taken part in “acts of violence” at political rallies in Huntington Beach and Berkeley and other places, the affidavit alleges.

“This is a group that essentially subscribes to an anti-Semitic, racist ideology, and then organizes, trains and deploys to various political rallies, not only to espouse this particular ideology but also to engage in acts of violence against folks who are taking a contrary point of view,” U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said at a news conference in Charlottesville held to announce the charges.

All four men were arrested early Tuesday morning, Cullen said.

A Los Angeles magistrate judge denied bail for Miselis, finding that he posed a risk to the community.

Miselis’ attorney, Angel Navarro, argued fervently for his release, detailing how his client got his master’s at UCLA and worked as an engineer at Northrop Grumman for five years before being dismissed after his connection to Charlottesville became public.

Magistrate Judge Jean Rosenbluth said she was impressed with Miselis’ academic and professional credentials and that “clearly he’s an intelligent young man” who until recently had “lived a law-abiding and apparently productive life.”

“What I’m concerned about is who he is now and the danger he presents to the community,” Rosenbluth said.