Prosecutor: 'Serial rioters' charged in Charlottesville rally violence

October 03, 2018 12:00 am • Last Updated: October 03, 2018 1:23 am

By By DENISE LAVOIE and SARAH RANKIN

U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Charlottesville, Va., regarding the arrest of four members of a militant white supremacist group in connection with a white nationalist torch-lit march and rally in Charlottesville, last year. The defendants, Benjamin Drake Daley, Michael Paul Miselis, Thomas Walter Gillen and Cole Evan White, are part of the Rise Above Movement, which espouses anti-Semitic views and meets regularly in public parks to train in boxing and other fighting techniques, according to an affidavit filed in the case. (Zack Wajsgras/The Daily Progress via AP)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Four California men described as "serial rioters" are facing federal charges after prosecutors say they flew across the country for a white nationalist rally in Virginia last year and violently attacked counterprotesters.

Federal agents arrested the men Tuesday. Prosecutors identified them as members of the Rise Above Movement, a militant white supremacist group they said espouses anti-Semitic and other racist views and meets regularly to train in boxing and other fighting techniques.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen says each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the two counts they each face: traveling to incite riots and conspiracy to riot.

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