CONSEQUENCES

Founder, Member of White Supremacist Movement Plead Guilty to Riot Charges for Charlottesville Violence

Founder Benjamin Drake Daley and member Michael Miselis pleaded guilty for their role in inciting violence at the 2017 Unite the Right rally.

The founder and a member of the white nationalist Rise Above Movement, which sparked violence in 2017's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, reportedly pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to riot. According to the Los Angeles Times, founder Benjamin Drake Daley and member Michael Miselis entered their pleas in a Charlottesville courtroom and now face five years in prison. They will both be sentenced in July. The group, which gained national attention for their actions at the Unite the Right rally, have a history of causing unrest in demonstrations across California, where they are based. Its members would reportedly meet in parks to practice “street-fighting techniques” and would employ them against protesters, often with their faces covered and their fists taped.