It's worth noting the court's reasoning here. In overturning the prior dismissal of the case, they challenged Judge Carney's comparison of the neo-nazi defendants with antifascist arrestees on three grounds:
1. The nazis were serial perpetrators who went to multiple rallies and assaulted people, whereas the antifascists who had been arrested at a rally weren't and didn't.
2. The nazis "behaved like leaders of an organized crime group" insofar as they "coordinated combat training sessions; created materials to recruit others; and planned cross-country travel to commit their acts."
3. Prosecutors simply had a much stronger case against the nazis, given their prior assault convictions and the fact that they bragged about it online, handing prosecutors useful evidence.
I'd like to think that the second point might establish a precedent applicable to basically the entire Active Club network and possibly others, but the reality is that it's at least as likely to be applied to groups like JBGC or any activists who do actual self-defense classes together.
The third one really should be an object lesson to all of us. As the lawyers say: Shut The Fuck Up. Don't talk about what you did or didn't do and sure as hell don't brag about it. It's just not worth it.
Anyways, an interesting turn. And Judge Carney has just recently (semi-?)retired, so maybe Rundo will finally go to trial. (From what I hear, Boman has left that whole scene and expressed regret about it all. I have no insight into whether or not this is true or, if so, whether or not he's sincere. In either case, regret isn't, unto itself, a literal or metaphorical Get Out of Jail Free card. Still, an ex-nazi is better than an active nazi, and I'd rather he make a sincere effort and get the support he needs in getting out of that scene. We'll see...)
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From the article:
For the second time, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday reinstated an indictment against a pair of Southern California white supremacists, overruling a federal judge who said the men were singled out for selective prosecution.
The appellate panel rejected the conclusion of Senior U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, a George W. Bush appointee, who said federal prosecutors went after the two members of the white-supremacist Rise Above Movement while ignoring similar violence by members of far-left groups. The pair was accused of chasing down and violently attacking counter protesters at Make America Great Again rallies.
By looking broadly at the collective conduct of groups like antifa and weighing it against the individual conduct of the two defendants, Robert Rundo and Robert Boman, Carney was comparing apples to oranges, the Ninth Circuit panel said.
#Rundo #RiseAboveMovement #NeoNazis #Antifa #NinthCircuit #ActiveClub
https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-again-reinstates-rioting-charges-against-two-white-supremacists/
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