COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Authorities arrested 31 members of the Patriot Front white supremacy group near a pride event in Idaho on Saturday after they were found packed in the back of a U-Haul truck with anti-riot equipment .
The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces when Coeur d’Alene police stopped U-Haul and began arresting them on the side of the road.
“They came to revolt in the center,” Coir police chief Lee White told a news conference.
All 31 are charged with conspiracy to revolt, a crime, White said. The men are going through the booking process on Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to face charges on Monday, he said.
Based on the evidence and documents gathered, authorities determined that the group planned to revolt in several areas of the center, not just the park, White said.
Police found riot gear, a smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van, White said. They wore stickers on their hands and logos on their hats, which identified them as members of the Patriotic Front, he said.
Police learned of U-Haul from Tipster, who said it “looked like a small army getting into a vehicle” in a hotel parking lot, White said. Officials spotted the truck soon after and stopped it, he said.
Arrest videos posted on social media show the men kneeling on the grass with their hands zipped behind their backs.
“Take America Back” was written on the back of one shirt.
Police took the men one by one to the front of the patrol cars, removed their masks and then took them to a police van.
The detainees come from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia and Arkansas, White said.
Only one is from Idaho, he said.
The truck was stopped near the site where the Northern Idaho Pride Alliance hosted the Coeur d’Alene Pride in the Park. Police have stepped up their presence in the area during the event.
“These people don’t seem to have come here to take part in peaceful events,” Cooteur d’Alene Press Sheriff Bob Norris told Coeur d’Alene Press.
The Patriotic Front has been described by the Southern Legal Center for Poverty as a “white nationalist hate group” formed after the deadly Unite Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
“The Patriotic Front focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism, which can easily be spread as propaganda for its heads across the country,” the Southern Legal Center for Poverty told the group.
The group’s manifesto called for the formation of a white ethnic state in the United States, the Southern Legal Center for Poverty said.
———
Beliselle reported from Seattle.
Add Comment