Charlottesville, VA — Two hardcore members of the California-based white supremacist group Rise Above Movement (RAM), Benjamin Drake Daley, 26, of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Michael Paul Miselis, 30, of Lawndale, Calif., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to riot in connection with the violent 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally. The pair, now the final defendants in the federal crackdown on RAM, admitted to planning and executing a campaign of premeditated violence at political rallies across Virginia and California.
Daley, one of the founding architects of RAM, orchestrated the group’s mobilization for Charlottesville, where their mission wasn’t protest — it was combat. According to court filings, RAM members trained in hand-to-hand combat and street-fighting tactics, specifically preparing for physical confrontations with counter-protesters. Their goal: incite chaos, provoke reactions, and then justify brutal retaliation under the thin veil of self-defense.
The violence wasn’t incidental — it was the point. On March 25, 2017, Daley and Miselis led RAM members into a melee at a Huntington Beach, Calif., rally, where they hunted down and assaulted demonstrators. Footage and photos of the beatings went viral across neo-Nazi forums, celebrated as propaganda victories. The group treated the media coverage like trophies, using it to recruit and radicalize.
U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen didn’t mince words: ‘These avowed white supremacists traveled to Charlottesville to incite and commit acts of violence, not to engage in peaceful First Amendment expression.’ He emphasized that while hate speech is protected, organized violence in pursuit of a racist agenda is not. ‘The First Amendment does not authorize senseless violence.’
FBI Richmond Division Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey confirmed that RAM didn’t just show up — they trained, coordinated, and arrived expecting bloodshed. ‘They attended with the expectation of provoking physical conflict,’ Archey said. The FBI, Virginia State Police, and U.S. Attorney’s Office have spent years dismantling the network, with Cole White and Thomas Gillen already pleading guilty in the same conspiracy.
Virginia State Police Superintendent Colonel Gary T. Settle called the convictions a long-overdue reckoning. ‘Pursuing and bringing these violent individuals to justice have been of priority since that fateful day in August 2017.’ With Daley and Miselis now convicted, authorities say the militant, combat-ready threat posed by RAM has been eradicated — a violent chapter closed, but not forgotten.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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