A Contra Costa County man and three from Southern California suspected of being part of an organized hate group have been charged with violating a federal rioting law during the violent 2017 white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, authorities said Tuesday.

Cole Evan White, 24, of Clayton, was among the four defendants, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Charlottesville. The others were Benjamin Drake Daley, 25, and Thomas Walter Gillen, 34 — both from Redondo Beach — and Michael Paul Miselis, 29, of Lawndale.

Federal agents in California arrested the men early Tuesday morning, according to authorities, and all four were charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the federal riots statute and one count of violating the federal riots statute.

Court documents described the suspects as members of a militant racist and anti-Semitic group called Rise Above Movement and “among the most violent individuals present in Charlottesville.” It was not yet clear if the men were being represented by attorneys.

An FBI affidavit alleges White headbutted a clergyman and a female counterprotester. Photographs and video footage showed White using his tiki torch as a weapon on at least two occasions during the riot, authorities said.

Officials said in a statement that the men flew to Charlottesville for the Unite the Right Rally “with the intent to encourage, promote, incite, participate in, and commit violent acts in furtherance of a riot.”

The Aug. 12, 2017 rally gained national attention as the demonstrators — many armed with guns and bats — met opposition from community members and anti-fascist protesters, leading to violent clashes that law enforcement officers did not immediately break up.

White had been an employee at Top Dog, a popular Berkeley hot dog restaurant, until social media users circulated photos of him at the Charlottesville rally. People quickly turned to Top Dog’s Yelp pages and social media accounts, demanding that White be fired. White resigned, according to an email from Top Dog’s management sent the day after the Charlottesville rally.

“The actions of those in Charlottesville are not supported by Top Dog,” the email said at the time. “We believe in individual freedom and voluntary association for everyone.”

The Charlottesville rally organizers were focused on a public statue in the city of Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the city wants to remove. One of the protesters, self-professed neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr., now 21, allegedly drove his car into another vehicle on a crowded street, killing counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 35 other people.

President Trump asserted after the march that both sides —- the white supremacists and the counter-protesters — deserved blame. Many of the demonstrators wore “Make America Great Again” hats and voiced their support of the president.

In court documents filed Tuesday, the FBI heavily relied on video and photographic evidence placing the defendants in Charlottesville. Authorities said White and other members of RAM took part in the April 2017 Berkeley riots. RAM is a violent Southern California-based hate group which promotes “clean living,” according to court records. Its members train in street fighting and mixed martial arts techniques.

“RAM and their associates, in contrast to their purpose referenced previously, openly espouse animosity, anti-Semitism, and violence toward those who hold opposite ideologies to their own,” the affidavit said.

Staff writer Rick Hurd and the Washington Post contributed to this report.