“Based on the equipment that people had with them, the things they had, the U-Haul with them, along with the documents that were confiscated from them, it is clear that they came to riots in the city center “, Coeur d. “Alain Police Chief Lee White told a news conference.
The FBI is assisting local police in their investigation, according to FBI Public Affairs Specialist Sandra Yi Barker. Barker said the Coeur d’Alene police is the leading law enforcement agency investigating the situation.
All the detainees were dressed in similar clothes related to the Patriotic Front, including identical insignia, and there was at least one smoke grenade in them, police said. They were still being processed during the press conference and have not yet been identified.
White said the group was equipped with “shields, shin guards and other anti-riot equipment”, along with documents he described as “similar to an operational plan that a police or military group will draw up for the event”.
The 31 people have been arrested for plotting a riot, a crime said White, adding that the suspects came from at least 11 states.
The operation in Coeur d’Alene began when a concerned citizen informed police that “approximately 20 people jumped into U-Haul. They had shields and looked like a small army,” White said.
There was no violence or significant disruption before the arrests were made, White said, adding: “Today has been relatively uninterrupted.
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