Torrance man convicted in rioting case tied to former SoCal-based white supremacist group
A Torrance man once tied to a what federal prosecutors and civil rights groups have described as a now-defunct white supremacist group in Southern California was convicted Tuesday of federal rioting charges.
Robert Boman was found guilty by a jury in downtown Los Angeles of federal charges including conspiracy to violate the Anti-Riot Act and rioting, becoming the last defendant to be convicted in the federal case linked to the so-called Rise Against Movement. He and his co-defendants were accused of inciting violence at political rallies in Southern California in the months leading up to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virg., which one left person dead. Some members of the RAM, which federal authorities have described as a violent organization devoted to white supremacism, also attended the Virginia rally.
Beginning around February 2017, as prosecutors told jurors during the trial, Bowman took part in the group which had presented itself on social media as a "combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist identity movement." The Southern Poverty Law Center once described it as "racist fight club," with members "often photographed in bloody confrontations with protesters."
Bowman's co-defendants in the case are Tyler Laube of Redondo Beach and Robert Paul Rundo, a former resident of Huntington Beach who was extradited from Romania to face federal charges in the U.S. Rundo was once described by the FBI as a co-founder and leader of RAM.
All three men were arrested in October 2018 but Rundo had left the country after being released. Bowman is the last defendant in the case to be convicted, and he is the only one of the three found guilty by a jury. Rundo and Laube both took plea agreements.
Rundo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Riot Act last year, and in December, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison. In October 2023, Laube pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a federally protected right in connection with punching a journalist and was sentenced to time already served. Laube was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
Federal prosecutors have said the defendants engaged in training sessions ahead of political rallies throughout 2017 as they prepared for violent physical conflicts. They had organized these training sessions through social media activity, calls and texts, according to prosecutors.
Multiple members of RAM attended a March 2017 rally in Huntington Beach rally, prosecutors have alleged, pursuing and assaulting other people at the protest. Rundo was accused of tackling and punching a protester at the rally several times, and prosecutors said he and his co-conspirators had posted photos and videos online celebrating the violent assaults.
At an another rally, in Berkeley in April 2017, prosecutors said members of RAM had crossed a police barrier that was put up to separate opposing groups and then went on to punch and kick several people. According to prosecutors, they again celebrated the attacks later in social media posts, and two months later, again confronted and pursued protesters at a rally in San Bernardino.