Forget about this punk - the President of the United States needs to arrested.
17
What a charmer! But why would a white supremacist head to Central America? A new Hitler is still alive somewhere conspiracy?
5
@Kalkat During WWII, Argentina had the second largest Nazi party. At the end of WWII, thousands of Nazis fled Europe and landed in South America, primarily Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile. He was probably making his way south.
5
Great article, which demands better placement than A16.
One Major Question: I have to work and can't afford all this travel -- where does he get his income?
10
This is great news. Now I'm sure our Federal saviors, aka FBI, will start to work on the Antifa groups who so delight in attacking windows and garbage cans and old men for trying to get through their apparently protected demonstrations. The local governance in places like Portland Oregon and Berkeley California seem committed to being bystanders so it's good to know the feds are on the job somewhere.
2
Very happy this fellow is off the streets. The article, however, alternately uses the term "neo-nazi" and "white supremacist" as if they are synonymous. they are not. please correct.
Also, I hope the FBI is equally analyzing video and social media to apprehend antifa members and anarchists responsible for violence and vandalism and unlawful assembly in Oakland and Berkeley since the election. You can still see the damage from their rampages in downtown Oakland.
1
He fled to Central America? Sort of ironic. Guess he thought one day he could get back home via a caravan.
21
I doubt these men are worried. Probably counting on a POTUS pardon.
16
This is what I do not understand so maybe someone can explain it to me. In Germany the NAZI party is banned. You have freedoms extended to the moon and back, but there will be no NAZIs in Germany. That's the law! America, on the other hand, fought with others against the NAZIs during WW2, but, and you can't make this up, it's perfectly legal for the US NAZI Party to put up a candidate for President. The question is, how is this possible?! We should protect individual freedoms at all cost and ones man's tyranny is another man's freedom, but isn't authorizing the US NAZI Party to exist taking it a little bit too far? Because isn't authorizing the NAZI Party basically the same as allowing the NAZI methods that come with it?
25
The GOP has gotten pretty friendly with these guys.
9
I get that this guy is a white supremacist so we are supposed to hate him. But "conspiracy to riot" because they taped their hands and brought masks to a protest. That seems a little weak. If they punched somebody charge them with battery.
The whole AntiFa organization is one big conspiracy to riot, but they get free rein from the police. Not endorsing this guy for sure, but the FBI and the Times would have more credibility if they advocated even-handed law enforcement and not just whatever scores anti-Trump points.
4
The FBI would likely not have pursued this racist group were it not for the journalist who chronicled their member's participation in white nationalist events across the country. See public TV's Frontline for the underpinnings. These are the same brave journalists who are facing assaults from foreign dictators, the President, and conservative Americans who sell a media bias narrative meant to undermine critical reporting.
26
This piece of information should be forwarded to Mr. Trump to enlighten him about White Nationalism.
6
When I saw the headline I thought it was a prescient look into President Trumps future..
6
Trust me, America doesn't send it's best people to hide out in other people's countries.
12
Ben Shapiro a young conservative jewish lawyer and brilliant graduate of Harvard needed to spend heavily on private security simply to attend Berkeley to speak.
the problem is on both sides. which is what the President said.
2
Why anyone Jewish would side with these Neo-Nazi thugs is beyond me. There is no both sides, just right and wrong. The Nazis are wrong.
14
And the GOP is calling the Dems a Mob? Really...
21
This has been on the GOP's list of possible new voters for 30 years. So we shouldn't be surprised when they gloat with pleasure.
These are the guys at Trump's rallies--more than ready, willing & able to assault those who dare to protest Trump's hate mongering. As Trump applauds & praises neoNazi thugs for their violence.
16
Hey! Let donald j. trump know that there's another one of those guy(s) that he REALLY LIKES! and he's back in town, compliments of the US taxpayer.
Wowzie.
Will we be seeing him at one of trump's rallies chanting "LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP!" or will he be joining Mohammed bin Salman's new security force?
Trump's kind of guy!
15
I would not be surprised if these disgusting violent right wing extremists were financed by Putin.
5
A lot of good people who just happen to love violence on others. Thanks trump for making this hatred seem normal.
10
"He was later brought back to the United States, where he was arrested Sunday at Los Angeles..." How so? Was he bundled by CIA Trotskyites unto a jet, -yet another "extra-judicial" extradition/rendition? Or as is otherwise known in the lands ruled by law, kidnapped?
2
Yes he was captured and detained for extradition, sort of like what
happened to the toddlers at our southern border.
15
@Neocynic
Probably a routine request using an existing extradition treaty; not all that Alex Jones deep-state intrigue.
16
What, nobody sent Rundo a package? No shock.
5
No problem: Trump will pay their legal costs. He promised to pay legal costs if his followers assaulted protesters. If he doesn't keep his promise, they can always sue him.
12
I'm glad the FBI is doing it's work, but I wouldn't have mind seeing if he could've survived in Central America, given the gang situations forcing the caravan of people to go north. Jail time in the US is too good for him.
11
They should have given him the option of returning to Central America--now that everyone there knows who he is and what he thinks about them.
9
In case white supremacists are reading these posts, I'm wondering: How are you coming up with the money to pay to travel around the country and abroad to protest and act out violence on others? Who's paying your permit and legal fees? Who covers for you when you're not at work? Oh, you're not working--then who pays your bills? Are you the beneficiary of a trust fund like Richard B. Spencer, who's never had to hold a job? As one of the most materially and socially advantaged groups on the planet--what do you have to complain about? And why are you so full of hate?
26
Gee, and I was all worried about the Middle Easterners hiding in the Central American caravan. Little did i suspect that the really dangerous terrorists already live here and, furthermore, were born here.
Of course, the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented for many decades that the most dangerous terrorist groups in the US are on the right wing, but somehow that just doesn't sink into the national consciousness.
Nor, do I think, this particular event will change the national perception, as long as the right wing takes its newsfeed from Fox, Rushbaugh, and the like.
I'd like to see a national boycott of every company that advertises on the Fox network. Including the sports broadcasts, the Simpsons, and anything else you watch and enjoy there.
It's time to euthanize the Fox Network, in toto. As I recall a Supreme Court justice commenting, pornography is something which has no redeeming social value.
And the network that produces Fox News can only be described as a fountain of pornography.
Evangelicals should take notice.
28
Are these all examples of failures of parenting, education, or both?
9
What about TRUMP!??! For years he has called for violence against an endless list of people he doesn't like, including but not limited to members of the media, which our Constitution lists as entitled to freedom of expression.
No one in this country deserves arrest and conviction more than Trump and his gang of political yes men.
18
"Mr. Rundo apparently crossed into Mexico two weeks ago from California and then made his way to Central America. He was later brought back to the United States" ... Proof that violent criminals are entering the U.S. from Central America through Mexico ...
21
@Follow the Money. Very funny. But Trump uses similar logic ... In a pathalogical manner.
2
There's something pretty ironic and humorous about a white nationalist fleeing to South America. Given that the crime here is inciting a riot, though, it seems like kind of the least of the "gang" threats facing America. Despite the far more serious shootings and drug traffickings carried out by majority Latino or African American gangs, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to pursue this guy out of the country over an inciting a riot charge. This sort of seems like political theater. Put a hold on his passport so he's arrested if he ever tries to come back, and call it a day.
6
@JP: Did you read the parts of the article that discuss his beating people up? Incitement didn't just involve words.
17
@heliotrophic Throwing a few bunches is not quite the same as "beating people up." Did you also read in the article about how they're charging him with felony assault for that? Oh no? You didn't? Yeah, that's because he isn't even being charged with anything related to that.
And again, compared to the things real gangs do everyday, this really pales in comparison. Basically any large protest group - including some local chapters of BLM and Antifa could also be charged with conspiracy to incite a riot, but they're rarely actually charged and certainly wouldn't be pursued to a foreign country. Which again, leads to the obvious conclusion that this is political theater.
1
@JP
I suppose the apparent cluelessness of those who see what people like Rundo have done and are trying to do to America as merely "throwing a few [punches]" isn't surprising in these racist Trumpian times. Their inability to see there was much more at stake than mere brawling by Rundo in places like Charlottesville can be attributed at best to their myopia if not willful blindness, at worst to their sympathy for racist thugs like Rundo.
I for one am deeply grateful to the FBI for sending a powerful message through its pursuit and arrest of Rundo and the rest of his odious ilk that America will not tolerate those who organize and participate in politically and/or racially motivated violence. The crimes they committed pose a much greater potential danger to the American body politic than the antics of the antifa or the crimes of common street gangs, the views of Rundo's neo-Nazi, white nationalist friends, supporters and apologists notwithstanding.
2
What is the crime being alleged? Is it illegal to attend a permitted political demonstration which happens to be targeted for violent suppression by a second party?
I know it's not illegal to be prepared to defend yourself against assailants, especially if your assailants have announced their intention to attack you.
I guess the Idea is that the extreme, genocidal ideology of the arrestees justifies seeking them out for vigilante justice and invalidates their right to defend themselves? I don't know. I dislike communists. Theirs is an extreme, genocidal ideology. Would I be acting in the shadow of the law if I attacked a communist? Could my victim be prosecuted for defending himself? After all, I don't like his ideology.
6
I'm guessing that since this very fine individual is being detained (and I do hope that means jail, with other criminals) until trial that he might have some painful learning experiences. Hopefully more than one. Perhaps he will learn that he is not as tough as he might think once he can't punch people in the back of the head with impunity.
12
As the article states, he spent 20 months in a New York prison. He knows the drill. He'll hook up with the other white power nazis (he'll have instant street cred) and work on his hate. The charges against him will probably result in some prison time but he'll still be relatively young when he gets out. It's doubtful he'll learn anythng worthwhile inside.
6
Looks like Donald Trump and the Republicans just lost a vote.
32
It's ironic that so many white supremacists are inferior examples of their race.
73
A white nationalist flees the US for Central America?
Irony is not dead yet.
134
@Tom,
Indeed, I think an appropriate punishment might be 5 years in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, organizing reconciliation and reintegration of MS-13 members into general society. Maybe he would learn something good.
9
Glad to see that some parts of our governement are still functioning.
32
If there's a trial it could be interesting. perhaps he will argue he was following orders from his leader.
26
Wow! US law enforcement is going to begin arresting these monsters? As the saying goes, it's about time.
42
How ironic, emigration from the USA of bad characters.
28
The cause of this man's actions is no different than the cause of the views (beliefs) of those quick to judge him. People hold views because they don't understand that all views are empty of essential content (universal truth), irrespective of the relative indeterminacy underlying them, and that, therefore, their views are not only incorrect, it is not possible that they be true. At some level, even the most arrogant and opinionated among us suspect this to be the case, which is likely why Mr. Trump proudly admitted that he can't stand being alone with his thoughts. But as scary as they may seem to the self-deluded, the implications that follow from comprehending the true nature of reality and the process of becoming that underlies existence (particularly, consciousness) are actually as liberating as they are profound. From the moment a conscious being first perceives contact between the sense bases and sensory objects it begins developing an identity view - (I, mine, me, etc.) as it learns to distinguish between pleasant and unpleasant sensations. It isn't hard to see then why human beings fall over so we to delusion, anger and greed. What complicates matters, however, are all the views a conscious being unconsciously fabricates along the course of it's self-absorbed existence in order to justify whatever view it has of itself (the source of all cognitive bias). This is the proverbial log in the eye Jesus mentioned, and it's the cause of suffering. That's my takeaway.
3
I knew there was a reason that I didn't take philosophy in college.
7
@Paul Alexander Bravo - what dressings do you have for that word salad?
12
Please, California, charge him with some state law offenses. And try not to have them duplicate any federal charges, in case SCOTUS abolishes "two sovereign" prosecutions this term.
33
Thank you for reporting on this. We need more reporting on the threat of homegrown neo-naziism to balance the constant reporting on Trump's fear-mongering on immigrants.
67
@JF
They may have felt obliged to since it has been reported all over the world already.
Not a scoop or little known fact.
3
All anyone can do is vote blue. The GOP has to go.
42
For a moment I thought this article was about Trump being arrested for inciting the mail bomber(s?). Imagine my disappointment.
55
Contrary to popular belief, and with a quick look at The Southern Poverty Law Center's Hate map, California isn't a liberal Mecca. We have as many white supremacist groups here as the top southern states (Missouri, Florida, etc.)
Trump has given these white supremacists a huge boost with his violent talk these past two years. So, it is unsurprising that this criminal was apprehended. Now, we are facing the threat of home made bombs being sent to liberal public figures and grave doubts about the loyalties of our FBI.
A normal majority party would have already pulled the plug on Trump after making sure that Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller are safe in their jobs. But these are not normal times and this is a compromised majority party.
Rough times are coming...
--
'Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking' https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
85
@Rima Regas The SPLC's "map" does not measure the number of people associated with hate groups. It is a list of any hate group that publicly identified itself at any time. Racist hate groups are notoriously unstable. They are constant collapsing, splintering and re-forming with new names; their shelf-life is very short. Most of the groups on SPLC's map don't exist anymore and may have only consisted of three people with a Twitter account. Also, hate groups in the deep south may simply be more stable than those on the west coast. I suspect hate groups in Alabama are more associated with Christian Nationalism which gives their ideology greater coherence. In California they are likely more libertarian, just like the culture, and hence more likely to fight among themselves.
4
@Gary F.S.
You need to pick up some college-level history books. What you wrote are guesses that are not founded on historical fact. The Klan has been in California since the beginning, for example. It's still active. Neo-Nazi groups are still active with no sign of abatement.
Unless you can link to actual news items, your claims are nothing more than burying your head in the white sand.
Wish we had a place immune to these ideologies, but no place is I'm afraid.
4
As many others have alluded, it is incredibly ironic that this guy fled to Central America.
82
Who are the parents of these young men?
43
@GptGrannie What difference does that make? These men are adults. They chose their own destiny.
9
Trump gripes about unproven criminal immigrants coming into our country. He never mentions the criminals going into Mexico.
63
Finally the FBI is taking these people seriously.
99
@Bart
They have been.
1
@Bart
I agree.
Chica
1
@Bart They always have but American media ignored them far too long.
2
Great job FBI. Get these people out of So Cal and show that there will be no tolerance for this type of behavior.
92
So, this is one of the "very fine people" that the president likes so much. Trump says he's proud to be a nationalist. So is Mr. Rundo. They have a lot in common.
230
I wonder how he would fair in Central America or anywhere else if he were forced to wear his ideology outwardly, the way his victims cannot hide their skin color?
108
Was he on his way to assist the caravan, which Trump operatives no doubt have a hand in organizing to stimulate racist turnout in the midterms?
48
These must be the very fine people our beloved president was talking about.
104
I'll gladly pay my taxes to keep him warm and dry with three hots and a cot for the next 10-20.
136
@
Or working on a chain gang in Louisiana--might help him develop some badly needed humility.
5
How did he manage to travel so freely, if he was wanted?
38
@Boregard
I live near the border with Mexico and can assure you that entering that country on foot is quite easy. Identification is very rarely checked by Mexican authorities when crossing the Rio Grande and once you are across, you can get bus connections to any place in Mexico or Central America.
By contrast, travel via plane from the U.S. requires a passport and those are verified with software when you check in. I suspect that a federal warrant would have shown up on a computer check and that probably is why he went via a different sort of transportation.
19
@Quiet Waiting.BINGO.
Ah, so he's one of the "good people" on the other side.
And Don's now a born-again Nationalist.
And pipe bombs all over.
November 6 may be the new Independence Day.
Vote.
175
When we send people to Central America, we're not sending our best.
241
How does he finance this cross-country globe-trotting to events & MMA competitions? Hopefully not by teaching martial arts to kids.
47
The FBI and the Justice Department are doing good work in spite of everything.
54
One takeaway here should be: violent crime, violent intention exists. For that, society developed law, enforcement arms, and judiciary. We are doing disservice and watering down already stretched resources when we culturally police "micro-aggressions" and other PC-type thought crimes and attempt to legislate on them. Every cycle has its swings. I hope our culture will not internally weaken itself so much that what's left won't be recoverable (can't defeat or defend against real threats to life and limb like this or ISIS if we're too busy whipping ourselves to death with wet noodles because we used the wrong gender term- or worse, making excuses for gang activity under the imagined guise of DACA or other pronouns) before the eventual "swingback" when we realize after too much Right we went way too far Left as a people. Groups like Proud Boys evidence the new emergence of a re-tilting of the axis, as does the election of DJT.
8
@Tan Bogavich
"...we went way too far Left as a people. Groups like Proud Boys evidence the new emergence of a re-tilting of the axis, as does the election of DJT."
Please define "way too far left". Do you mean freeing fellow citizens from the oppressive yoke of people that sit on 'the right' of the political spectrum? Because if the last 25 years have told us anything, its that Republicans and right-leaning people in general want to not only usurp other people's rights but fully regulate how they live in our society.
The left want gender equality, equal opportunity, and freedom for all orientations and races, as well as a robust and universally available health care.
The right want to suppress and limit anything that scares them, e.g., black people, gay people, transgendered people, women, family planning and body autonomy.
24
That is one takeaway, but it's not a very good one. Violent crime cannot be the cause for the establishment of the very law that defines criminal behavior, and neither can violent intention given that criminal law recognizes the justified use of force. And to the extent there's a causual relationship between violence and beliefs/views it's only because they share a common cause - ignorance, which is just one reason why a better takeaway is that violence (anger), like dishonesty (greed) is caused by self-conceit - the natural result of ignorance as to the true nature of reality and the structure/process of becoming (craving, clinging, etc.) that underlies it. Another good takeaway is that whatever anyone does with ill-will, without exception, cause future suffering for that person.
1
Mr Rundo and his followers are base and evil. What is most disturbing is the revival of neo-Nazi groups like his. I thought the Second World War taught us something. But hate is simply hate and it appears everywhere. I'm glad the FBI captured this man.
95
Hard to kill this virus, it is always latent in our national body (and every where else,too.) and comes out when stimulated. Like shingles
26
Thank you, FBI. Keep up the good work.
181
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
When America sends its people to Central America, we’re not sending our best. We’re not sending enough of them at least.
164
@Blank
When you include American ex-pat pedos and tax-dodgers settling in Central America, how true.
16
Has Trump pardoned him yet?
62
I sense a presidential pardon in this man’s future.
119
@Gordon That would be the final move for Trump to launch his take-over. In my opinion, he has been building towards this end since the 2016 election.
18
If not a pardon at least payment of his legal fees.
12
@Perry white, nope...Trump won't pay his -own- bills, much less someone else's. A pardon won't cost him a cent.
I find it a bit a ironic that a member of the so-called "Master Race" would flee to and through countries populated by people he despises and would probably try to harm. It shows him to be a true coward, like most of his ilk.
330
He should be tried under terrorism laws. Absolutely revolting individual.
219
Mr. Rundo, gets around and surly someone at US Customs and Immigration must have noticed that he kept his passport in a Dixie Embolized plastic sleeve. However, now, his picture shows up in the New York Times which means his face will be at every boarder crossing in the world. So, jailtime in the US might be better than locked-up-abroad. Yet, I wonder if he will be happy back in the USA.
22
Hey, he is a nationalist, just like our president. Trump considers hi the good on his side.
76
There is only one race; the human race. 28 years old and still hasn't figured that out yet?!
But then again, the current administration doesn't seem to understand it either, nor does it understand this is the only planet we can live on.
126
@James Wallis Martin
You are 100% right!
2
no matter what is tried, this guy is not going to be rehabilitated. lock him up.
66
Oh, the irony. A white nationalist who decides to flee the country, and seek refuge in Central America. Since he planned on staying for an extended period, I wonder if he took the time to follow the law, and apply for a visa? Or, maybe he considers himself an asylum seeker?
270
@LA2SD, excellent observation!
Perhaps if radicalized young men and women had to follow the rule of laws that they want to see applied to scary others, they would become less radicalized via their shared experience/humanity.
hope springs eternal
8
Let's not forget the guy with the 3D gun printing software who was a self described libertarian
1
Let's not forget the guy with the software to print guns on 3-D printers. He was a self-described crypto-anarchist, free-market anarchist, and gun-rights activist. No red flags there /s. The anarchist fled the country, I believe, after being charged with having sex with an underage girl.
Funny thing about these supremacists, anarchists, and libertarian types...Laws are for the little people, never them.
4
The existence of these groups only proves that you cannot defeat any movement that ends in ...ism. The only way to defeat them is by having a better, more desirable, idea.
I have to wonder exactly what it is about these movements that cause people to want to join them. What is it that they actually want from being a member of these movements.
Unfortunately human society is filled with them and that minority makes life uncomfortable for the majority.
23
While the exact reasons for joining hate groups varies, such groups often have a lot of similarities with cults. People often join cults because they are at a vulnerable point in their lives and cults claim to have all the answers.
A similar dynamic often plays out with hate groups--those who join them are at a vulnerable point in their lives and such groups offer answers, though admittedly very ugly and repugnant ones, for why they are facing difficulties in life.
4
@George N. Wells, it's pretty clear that a large number of them join simply because they get excited by the idea of beating people. They're cowards and sadists. There's little reason to look any deeper.
3
Good job by the FBI. They scour the earth for these kinds of people. Twitterer in chief will probably pardon this guy in the near future if only because the FBI does not have enough good people like the alt right does. This is a good thing overall though for the Americans that choose not to be like this man. A true learning and teaching moment if ever we needed one.
42
@daniel r potter
If Trump were to try and pardon someone who is accused of crimes against America, how would that fly? "R" senators may not want to wear that one!
8
It is frustrating that the Alameda County District Attorney has not prosecuted him locally.
37
Some people are experts at succeeding. Others are experts at failing. This individual is of the latter type.
45
Mexico and other Central American countries should be aghast at the bad hombres from the US who are infesting their countries.
360