31 members of the white nationalist Patriot Front arrested in Idaho

Meridian ID

Description

Law enforcement arrested 31 members of a white nationalist organization known as the Patriot Front near a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho by Coeur d'Alene and Idaho State Police, on Saturday, on a charge of conspiracy to riot. The men were packed into a U-Haul truck and detained a short distance away from the gathering, which was being held at public park. The arrests are NOT a false flag operation as our rezident (spelling on purpose) so blindly says it is (his usual Russian propoganda). The men, who traveled from at least 10 outside states, are expected to be arraigned Monday on the misdemeanor count. Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "a white nationalist hate group" that formed after the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. "Patriot Front focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism that can be easily distributed as propaganda for its chapters across the country," the Southern Poverty Law Center said of the group. The group's manifesto calls for the formation of a white ethnostate in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center said. "It is clear to us based on the gear that the individuals had with them, the stuff they had in their possession and in the U-Haul with them, along with paperwork that was seized from them, that they came to riot downtown," said Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White. Authorities said they were alerted to the group by a concerned citizen who called to report seeing approximately 20 men jump into a U-Haul truck at a hotel parking lot wearing masks, carrying shields and that they "looked like a little army," said White. Police found at least one smoke grenade in the truck, White said, and paperwork that appeared to show a master plan to riot both at the Pride event and along the main commercial strip of downtown Coeur d'Alene. He credited the Coeur d'Alene Police Department, Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, Idaho State Police and FBI with assisting in the operation.