COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Dozens of members of a white supremacy group were arrested Saturday in Idaho before working on plans to revolt at a local Pride event, police said.
After receiving a signal from a concerned citizen, police detained and charged 31 people belonging to a far-right group known as the Patriotic Front, Lee White, head of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, told a news conference.
They are accused of conspiracy to revolt, a crime, he said.
Bob Norris, the sheriff of Kutenai County, said the man reported seeing a group of people jump into a U-Haul van near the intersection of Northwest Boulevard and Interstate 90 in Coeur d’Alen.
“And they were all dressed as a small army,” said Sheriff Norris. “We had units in their area and we were able to intercept them fairly quickly.
A few miles away, the Northern Idaho Pride Alliance held the Pride in the Park, an annual event in the Coeur d’Alene city park.
The Defamation League, which tracks extremist organizations and hate crimes, describes the Patriot Front as a Texas-based white supremacy group that formed when members of another white supremacy group, Vanguard America, split after Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. ., in 2017
The arrested members came to Idaho from several states, police said, including Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Virginia. At least one member lived in Idaho, authorities said.
According to the ADL, the Patriot Front often participates in “flash demonstrations” designed to create viral video content, for which members typically wear masks and “khaki pants and a blue or white polo shirt,” and sometimes use smoke bombs.
Chief White said the detainees wore khaki pants, as well as armbands and hats decorated with the Patriot Front logo. Videos of the arrest, which are spread on social networks, show men on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. Many men are masked and dressed in blue shirts.
“If you go online, look for the Patriot Front, that’s how these people are dressed,” said Chief White.
Many of the men also had shields and shields, and police found a smoke grenade, they said. They did not mention other weapons.
“I have no doubt they came to the center to revolt,” said Chief White.
Chief White has denied online rumors that the arrests stemmed from the work of informants.
“It all comes from a concerned citizen,” he said.
The group’s apparent leader had a seven-page document detailing an operational plan, the chief said.
After pulling out a digital image of the document, Chief White read short selections for The New York Times detailing how the smoke should be used: “And” once the proper dynamics of the confrontation have been established, the column will separate and head for Sherman. “
Sherman Avenue passes through the center of the center of Coeur d’Alene.
Kutenai County Prison files reveal that Thomas Rousseau, the founder of the Patriot Front, is among those accused of criminal conspiracy.
In the weeks leading up to the Pride event, Sheriff Norris said, “there was a lot of chatter” from both far-right and far-left sources about potential confrontations at the rally.
Some of this comes from local groups, including the Panhandle Patriots, a far-right motorcycle club in northern Idaho. But several of these groups have publicly changed their plans as fears of violent confrontation have increased. The Panhandle Patriots renamed the planned Gun d’Alene anniversary event “Northern Idaho Day of Prayer.”
Chief White said he did not have information at the moment to suggest that local members of the al-right or other far-right groups were linked to the Patriotic Front’s plans.
Chief White said members of the antifa group attended the Pride event. But Pride in the Park participants “felt relatively safe, at least the event organizer,” said Chief White.
“There were people walking around the event with long pistols and pistols, bear spray and all sorts of things,” he said. But, he added, “it’s legal in Idaho.”
Sheriff Norris described the arrests as a victory for the community and for law enforcement in Kutenai County. Without the actions of the police and the call of the person, he said, “we will talk about a different situation.”
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