Bay Area Man Arrested For Role In Charlottesville Riots

CLAYTON, CA — Four California men were arrested in connection with the deadly clash between white nationalists and counterprotesters last year in Charlottesville, Virginia. Federal prosecutors have identified the four as members of the California-based "militant white-supremacist organization" Rise Above Movement. One of those arrested is from the Bay Area, Cole Evan White, 24, of Clayton in Contra Costa County. The other three are from Southern California.

According to the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, the four men are alleged to have participated in violence at the torch-lit march at the University of Virginia and at the "Unite The Right" rally.

Federal authorities say Benjamin Drake Daley, 25, of Redondo Beach, Calif., Thomas Walter Gillen, 34, of Redondo Beach, Calif., Michael Paul Miselis, 29, of Lawndale, Calif., and White, of Clayton, Calif. allegedly traveled to Charlottesville "with the intent to encourage, promote, incite, participate in and commit violent acts in furtherance of a riot." The men are charged with conspiracy to violate the federal riots statute and one count of violating the federal riots statute.

Prosecutors allege in the complaint that the four men committed multiple acts of violence against counter-protesters, which in some cases resulted in serious injuries. The complaint also alleges the four men participated in the torch-lit march the night before the rally that culminated in violence against students and counter-protesters at the University of Virginia campus.

The arrests were formally announced by federal prosecutors in Virginia, where the defendants' cases are expected to be handled

According to an FBI affidavit filed in Charlottesville, the four defendants were "among the most violent individuals present" at rallies held Aug. 11-12, 2017. The affidavit describes the Rise Above Movement as a "militant white-supremacist" organization that espouses violence and "regularly meets in public parks in the Southern California area and trains in physical fitness, boxing and other fighting techniques."

"RAM and its members openly identify themselves on various social media platforms at `alt-right' and `nationalist' and frequently posts videos and photographs of its adherents engaged in vigorous physical training and mixed marital arts street-fighting techniques in order to prepare to engage in fighting and violence at political rallies," according to the affidavit.

According to the court document, Daley, Miselis, Gillen and White previously took part in acts of violence at political rallies in Huntington Beach in March 2017 and in Berkeley in April 2017.

The affidavit details – with photos in some cases – alleged acts of violence committed by the defendants during a torch-lit march in Charlottesville on Aug. 11, 2017, and again on the morning of Aug. 12, 2017. It alleges they were caught on video "committing acts of violence, assaulting counter-protesters by punching, kicking and head-butting."

The Charlottesville clashes were prompted by a gathering of white nationalists in that city to protest the planned removal of a statue depicting Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The clashes between the white nationalists and counter-protesters turned violent on Aug. 12 when a motorist plowed a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. The alleged driver, 21-year-old James Fields Jr., is facing federal and state charges, including murder.

Related: Hate No More: A White Supremacist Transforms

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Patch staffers Feroze Dhanoa, Emily Holland and Bea Karnes, and City News Service contributed to this post; Image: 2017 AP YEAR END PHOTOS - White nationalist protesters clash with counterprotesters at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12, 2017. Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and police in riot gear ordered people to disperse after the chaotic violent clashes. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)