The white nationalist brawler Robert Rundo is back in federal custody, after a new warrant for his arrest was secured Thursday, and he surrendered in Southern California, approximately “50 miles north of San Diego,” according to new court documents. Rundo is expected to be brought to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles today.
Rundo’s re-capture is the latest twist in a long legal saga that stretches from Orange County to Eastern Europe, and back. The federal government scrambled to put Rundo back behind bars yesterday, following the surprising decision by a district judge in California Wednesday to dismiss riot charges against Rundo, citing “selective prosecution.”
Rundo was accused of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Riot Act for planning and participating in violence at a series of political rallies across California in 2017, when he was the leader of a far-right fight club known as the Rise Above Movement or RAM. A federal indictment described how Rundo and his crew decked themselves out as combatants with “goggles, mouth guards, athletic tape around their wrists, and black face masks with white skeleton designs.”
On Wednesday, federal judge Cormac Carney dismissed the charges against Rundo and a co-defendant. “While Defendants openly promoted ideas the Court finds reprehensible, and likely committed violence for which they deserve to be prosecuted,” Carney wrote, “this case is about something more important.” The judge ruled that the government had engaged in unconstitutional “selective prosecution” by singling out RAM members, while not similarly bringing charges against “members of Antifa and related far-left groups” whom he asserted had “engaged in worse conduct.” From the bench Carney ordered Rundo’s release, reportedly remarking: “I don’t think it’s right that Mr. Rundo spends another minute in custody.”
The government disagreed — and sought a stay of Rundo’s release while it appealed Carney’s ruling. That motion was granted early Thursday by the Ninth Circuit court, but it was too late. Rundo had already hit the streets. So on Thursday afternoon, the feds filed a new emergency motion, seeking a court order to arrest Rundo and “immediately return him” to custody.
The government wrote that it considered Rundo “an extremely serious flight risk” and believed he’d already traveled to “near the United States-Mexico border.” A magistrate judge issued the emergency warrant Thursday. According to a court filing by Rundo’s counsel, Rundo “agreed to self-surrender” and was later “arrested without incident” well north of Mexico.
The government and Rundo’s attorney are now sparring in court filings about whether Rundo will get a new bail hearing after his re-arrest.
The multi-year federal prosecution of Rundo has taken many twists. Judge Carney had previously dismissed the charges against the RAM leader in 2019 — by ruling that the Anti-Riot Act was unconstitutional. In 2021, an appeals court overruled Carney’s decision, but by that time Rundo was living in Eastern Europe, where he has been a leader in creating an international network of violent white-nationalist groups known as Active Clubs.
Last year, Rundo was arrested in Romania, and extradited to California in August. Judge Carney again upended the case against the white nationalist leader in his Wednesday ruling, which immediately sparked criticism in legal circles.
Carney wrote, in his 35 page opinion, that “prosecuting only members of the far right and ignoring members of the far left leads to the troubling conclusion that the government believes it is permissible to physically assault and injure Trump supporters to silence speech.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
