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3 sentenced for violence at Virginia white nationalist rally

The men pleaded guilty to conspiring to riot in connection with a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville and political rallies in California.
Credit: AP
FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2017 file photo, white nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va. Federal prosecutors say a “hate crime motivation” should result in stricter sentences for three members of a white supremacist group who pleaded guilty to attacking counterprotesters at the rally in Virginia for far-right extremists. In a court filing Tuesday, July 17, 2019, Justice Department prosecutors recommend prison sentences ranging from 30 months to 46 months for Rise Above Movement members Benjamin Daley, Michael Miselis and Thomas Gillen. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Three members of a white supremacist group have been sentenced to between two and three years in prison for punching, kicking and choking anti-racism protesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia and political rallies in California.

Members of the now-defunct Rise Above Movement were caught on camera assaulting counterprotesters before a planned "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in August 2017.

RELATED: Man sentenced to 2nd life term in Charlottesville car attack

Benjamin Daley, Michael Miselis and Thomas Gillen each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to riot.

The men were sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville.

Daley, of Torrance, California, was sentenced to 37 months in prison. Gillen, of Redondo Beach, California, received a sentence of 33 months. Miselis, of Lawndale, California, received 27 months.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said the men were motivated by "hateful ideology."

RELATED: A black man now leads a neo-Nazi group and he's vowing to dismantle it

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