Robert Rundo: Neo-Nazi RAM founder nabbed in ROMANIA after global manhunt spanning three years
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA: The founder of a violent neo-Nazi group based in Southern California was nabbed inside a Romanian gym, after being on the run for three years, on Wednesday, March 29. Robert Rundo was indicted on several charges, including assaulting a police officer.
The 33-year-old head of the infamous White supremacist group, Rise Above Movement (RAM), was charged with violence in 2017, and a US court indicted him in 2018. Although the case was dropped in 2019, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles issued a new indictment in January.
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Who is Robert Rundo?
Police special forces in Bucharest arrested Rundo after receiving a tip from a source. He founded and was an active member of the RAM, whose members engaged in racist crimes and were fervent MMA practitioners. There are anywhere from 20 to 50 people in the organization. The man was holding documents that identified him as Robert Lazar Pavic, according to Romanian officials, at the time of his arrest. It is unknown how long he has been in the country. US officials have asked their Romanian counterparts for extradition as a result of the arrest. Rundo allegedly fought with adversaries and law enforcement on a regular basis between 2016 and 2018 at a number of political gatherings.
Rundo will have a hearing on April 25. According to Romanian news station Digi24, he is accused by European officials of promoting White supremacist ideology in nations such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary. "The suspect is said to be one of the founders of an organization that supports the ideology of white supremacy, which has publicly presented itself as a group ready to fight, campaigning for a new nationalist movement of white supremacy and identity," a statement from police read, as per Radio Free Europe.
What happened at Charlottesville Unite The Right rally?
In August 2017, Rundo and his associates traveled to Charlottesville for the 'Unite the Right' demonstration with their hands taped and "ready to do street battle," according to US Attorney Thomas Cullen, who announced the charges in 2018, as per the Daily Mail. Numerous White nationalists flocked to Charlottesville to oppose the intended removal of a statue honoring Confederate General Robert E Lee, among other things. On August 11, clashes broke out when a small group of counter-protesters came across a crowd of White supremacists marching through the University of Virginia campus holding torches and chanting racist slurs.
The demonstration, which was thought to be the biggest gathering of White supremacists in at least a decade, became the scene of more fighting the following day between counter-protesters and rally attendees. Before the event started as planned, there was a street brawl that broke out in front of the police and continued for almost an hour before they had to order the gathering to disperse. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a one of the White supremacists drove his car into into a group of counter-protesters on August 12 after officials ordered the rally to disband. When a state police helicopter that had been watching the incident crashed, killing two troopers, the death toll climbed to three.
What did Robert Rundo do?
RAM members were present at the infamous rally in Charlottesville, in 2017, which resulted in Heyer's death. Rundo is alleged to have left the country in 2019, following the dismissal of his original charges. The charges were dropped by a federal judge in Los Angeles on the basis that the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 was unconstitutional. Judge Cormac Carney stated that even those with a "hateful and toxic ideology" were protected by the First Amendment but added that under the law, someone could be found guilty for no more than texting friends to meet up at a political gathering. The Department of Justice stated in a press release at the time that Rundo had been charged with "traveling to political rallies across California, where they violently attacked counter-protesters, journalists, and a police officer."
According to an FBI statement, videos showed Rundo punching counter-protesters in Huntington Beach and a police officer in Berkeley. The prosecution referred to RAM as "a combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist white supremacy and identity movement." Rundo was charged once again in January, which resulted in his latest arrest, as per The Daily Beast.
US white supremacist Robert Rundo (33), co-founder of the Rise Above Movement, was arrested at a gym in Bucharest, #Romania. #Rundo had been hiding in #Serbia and other countries in the #Balkans for the past four years. He will be extradited to the US. pic.twitter.com/RTVOgS4DgG
— Adrian Shtuni (@Shtuni) March 31, 2023
"American judicial authorities submitted a request for provisional arrest with a view to extradition," Romanian police noted in a statement after Rundo's arrest, adding, "Currently, the American citizen is incarcerated in the custody of the General Directorate of Police of the Municipality of Bucharest."
What is RAM?
According to Radio Free Europe, Rundo claimed he fled the US because of what he called "harassment" from authorities in an interview given in September 2020 on a neo-Nazi podcast. The RAM is a hard-core alt-right street fighting group based in Southern California that has been variously referred to as "a loose collective of violent neo-Nazis and fascists," White nationalists, White supremacists and far-right individuals, as per Wikipedia. It is "inspired by identitarian movements in Europe and it is trying to bring their ideologies and violent tactics to the United States," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Members of RAM, according to the Anti-Defamation League, are battling against a "modern world" that has been tainted by the "destructive cultural influences" of liberals, Jews, Muslims and non-white immigrants. Members of this loose coalition of neo-Nazis, White nationalists and other far-right extremists refer to themselves as the mixed martial arts group of the "alt-right" fringe movement.
Meanwhile, the internet reacted to the news as well. A user tweeted, "Great news! Robert Rundo US was arrested in Romania. Let’s not forget that he was also in Serbia before. The real question is why Serbia didn’t arrest him and extradite him to the US (there’s an extradition treaty btw)?" Another user said, "Romania is on a roll." One user wrote, "Romania does it again, good job Romania."
Great news! Robert Rundo US was arrested in Romania. Let’s not forget that he was also in Serbia before. The real question is why Serbia didn’t arrest him and extradite him to the US (there’s an extradition treaty btw)? https://t.co/5Hv2j1Cjbt
— Ivana Stradner 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@ivanastradner) March 31, 2023
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