UPDATE: Alleged Anza white supremacist turns self in after FBI intensifies search
UPDATED: Sunday, Oct. 28, 7:45 p.m.
An Anza man and alleged member of a violent white supremacy extremist group wanted in connection with engaging in activity promoting violence and and inciting riots at political rallies across southern California surrendered Sunday to the FBI, according to various law enforcement sources and NBC News.
Aaron Matthew Eason, 38, was the last to be apprehended of four men named in a recently unsealed affidavit that included Robert Rundo, 28, of Huntington Beach; Robert Boman, 25, of Torrance; and Tyler Laube, 22, of Redondo Beach, listing each as Eason’s co-conspirators.
A criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, Oct. 24, alleges that the four defendants are members of the Southern California-based “Rise Above Movement,” also known as RAM, and that the men allegedly engaged in a series of violent attacks at several 2017 political rallies and events across southern California; including locations in Huntington Beach, Berkeley, and San Bernardino.
According to the affidavit, the defendants brutally attacked counter-protesters, journalists, and even a police officer, and used the internet “with the intent to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on riots,” said DOJ.
All four men are expected to make their first appearance in federal court Monday, Oct. 29.
If convicted of the conspiracy and riot-related charges filed in the complaint, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, according to DOJ.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David T. Ryan of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section in the National Security Division of the United States Attorney’s Office.
Original Story: FBI ramps up search for alleged Anza white supremacist
Three of the four men have been apprehended and are now in custody according to DOJ, but authorities are continuing to search for the fourth man, identified by FBI and DOJ as Aaron Eason, 38, of Anza.
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The criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, Oct. 24, alleges that the four defendants are members of the Southern California-based “Rise Above Movement,” also known as RAM, and that the men used the internet “with the intent to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on riots,” said DOJ.
Aaron Eason, 38, of Anza, is currently being sought by federal authorities,
The four men allegedly engaged in a series of violent attacks at several 2017 political rallies and events across southern California; including locations in Huntington Beach, Berkeley, and San Bernardino.
A press release from DOJ explained that the affidavit in support of the complaint alleges that the men used the Internet to coordinate “combat training,” as well as to track and arrange attendance and travel before the events. The affidavit also indicated the men then used the Internet to “celebrate their acts of violence in order to recruit members for future events.”
The three men taken into custody have been identified as Robert Rundo, 28, of Huntington Beach, Robert Boman, 25, of Torrance, and Tyler Laube, 22, of Redondo Beach.
According to the FBI and DOJ, Rundo is allegedly a founding member of RAM and the man behind RAM’s Twitter account. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday, and at an Oct. 24 hearing in United States District Court was ordered detained pending trial.
Boman was arrested Oct. 24 by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is expected to appear in federal court this afternoon. Laube was also arrested the same day by the FBI.
The fourth defendant named in the complaint, Anza resident, Eason, has not been located and apprehended, and is still being sought by federal authorities. He may be driving one of the following three vehicles: a 1991 black, Ford pickup truck, with a CA plate of 4B50112;
a 1972 Chevy pickup truck, with a CA plate of 4N85217; or a 1999, gray or silver Toyota Corolla, with a CA plate of 4GFN584.
“Every American has a right to peacefully organize, march and protest in support of their beliefs – but no one has the right to violently assault their political opponents,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “The allegations describe an orchestrated effort to squelch free speech as members of the conspiracy traveled to multiple locations to attack those who hold different views. This case demonstrates our commitment to preserve and protect the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.”
“The safeguarding of Constitutionally-protected activity is at the heart of the FBI’s mission,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “There is no place in our democracy, however, for lawbreaking by individuals who cross the line from protected free speech to violence in the name of extremist ideology.”
The unsealed complaint, charges the four defendants with violating the federal conspiracy and riots statutes at several southern California political events:
- At the Huntington Beach “Make America Great Again” rally on March 25, 2017, members of RAM broke off from the main rally and confronted counter-protesters, where Rundo, Boman and Laube attacked a number of people, including two journalists.
- In the weeks following this melee, RAM members celebrated the attacks, which were noted on a neo-Nazi website, and solicited others to attend an upcoming rally in Berkeley, as well as combat training to be held in a park in San Clemente.
- At the Berkeley rally on April 15, 2017, Rundo, Boman and Eason were involved in violent attacks, which resulted in Rundo being arrested after punching a “defenseless person” and a Berkeley Police Officer.
- In the subsequent months, RAM members celebrated the assaults in Berkeley, which included Boman posting photos of himself attacking people and RAM members engaging in combat training.
- On June 10, 2017, Rundo and other RAM members attended an “Anti-Islamic Law” rally in San Bernardino, where they participated in violent attacks.
The case announced last Wednesday follows the filing of an indictment in federal court in Charlottesville, Virginia that charges four other California RAM members with violating the riots statute during violent altercations at an Aug. 2017 torch-lit march at the University of Virginia and Unite the Right Rally. The affidavit unsealed last week in Los Angeles noted the connections between the defendants in both cases.
According to FBI and DOJ, RAM and its members documented and promoted their white supremacy ideology through postings on various internet platforms and through graffiti, including tags found in Irvine.
In a video posted online earlier this year and described in the complaint, Rundo said he was “a big supporter of the fourteen,” a reference to the “14 words,” a slogan used by white supremacists and neo-Nazis that reads: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
In the spring of 2018, Rundo and two of the men charged in the Charlottesville case traveled to Europe to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday and to meet with members of other white supremacy extremist groups, according to the unsealed complaint.
“Rundo, Boman, Laube, and Eason, along with other RAM members, have used the Internet to prepare to incite and participate in violence at various political events, have committed violent assaults while at those events, and have applauded each other for it and publicly documented their assaults in order to recruit more members to engage in further assaults,” the complaint alleges.
If convicted of the conspiracy and riot-related charges filed in the complaint, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, according to DOJ.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David T. Ryan of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section in the National Security Division of the United States Attorney’s Office.
Anyone with information about this ongoing investigation or who knows Eason’s whereabouts is encouraged to immediately contact the FBI at (310) 477-6565. Callers can remain anonymous.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.