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Patriot Front leader among those arrested near Idaho Pride
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lindsay Whitehurst And Sam Metz
Publishing date:Jun 12, 2022 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • 12 Comments
Authorities arrest members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday, June 11, 2022, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear.
Authorities arrest members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday, June 11, 2022, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. PHOTO BY GEORJI BROWN /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
After the arrest of more than two dozen members of a white supremacist group near a northern Idaho pride event, including one identified as its founder, LGBTQ advocates said Sunday that polarization and a fraught political climate are putting their community increasingly at risk.
The 31 Patriot Front members were arrested with riot gear after a tipster reported seeing people loading up into a U-Haul like “a little army” at a hotel parking lot in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, police said.
Among those booked into jail on misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot was Thomas Rousseau of Grapevine, Texas, who has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as the 23-year-old who founded the group after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. No attorney was immediately listed for him and phone numbers associated with him went unanswered Sunday.
Also among the arrestees was Mitchell F. Wagner, 24, of Florissant, Missouri, who was previously charged with defacing a mural of famous Black Americans on a college campus in St. Louis last year.
Michael Kielty, Wagner’s attorney, said Sunday that he had not been provided information about the charges. He said Patriot Front did not have a reputation for violence and that the case could be a First Amendment issue. “Even if you don’t like the speech, they have the right to make it,” he said.
Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group whose members perceive Black Americans, Jews and LGBTQ people as enemies, said Jon Lewis, a George Washington University researcher who specializes in homegrown violent extremism.
Their playbook, Lewis said, involves identifying local grievances to exploit, organizing on platforms like the messaging app Telegram and ultimately showing up to events marching in neat columns, in blue- or white-collared-shirt uniforms, in a display of strength.
Though Pride celebrations have long been picketed by counterprotesters citing religious objections, they haven’t historically been a major focus for armed extremist groups. Still, it isn’t surprising, given how anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has increasingly become a potent rallying cry in the far-right online ecosystem, Lewis said.
“That set of grievances fits into their broader narratives and shows their ability to mobilize the same folks against the enemy over and over and over again,” he said.
The arrests come amid a surge of charged rhetoric around LGBTQ issues and a wave of state legislation aimed at transgender youth, said John McCrostie, the first openly gay man elected to the Idaho Legislature. In Boise this week, dozens of Pride flags were stolen from city streets.
Thomas Rousseau, founder and leader of white nationalist group Patriot Front, is held by police officers as 31 men affiliated with group were arrested for conspiracy to riot after they were found in the rear of a U Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 11, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. (North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via REUTERS)
Thomas Rousseau, founder and leader of white nationalist group Patriot Front, is held by police officers as 31 men affiliated with group were arrested for conspiracy to riot after they were found in the rear of a U Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 11, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. (North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via REUTERS)
“Whenever we are confronted with attacks of hate, we must respond with the message from the community that we embrace all people with all of our differences,” McCrostie said in a text message.
Sunday also marked six years since the mass shooting that killed 49 people at the Orlando LGBTQ club Pulse, said Troy Williams with Equality Utah in Salt Lake City.
“Our nation is growing increasingly polarized, and the result has been tragic and deadly,” he said.
In Coeur d’Alene on Saturday, police found riot gear, one smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van after pulling it over near a park where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding a Pride in the Park event, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said.
The group came to riot around the small northern Idaho city wearing Patriot Front patches and logos on their hats and some T-shirts reading “Reclaim America” according to police and videos of the arrests posted on social media.
Those arrested came from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas.
Though there is a history of far-right extremism dating back decades in northern Idaho, White said only one of those arrested Saturday was from the state.
The six-hour Pride event generally went on as scheduled, including booths, food, live music, a drag show and a march of more than 50 people, the Idaho Statesman reported.
The group is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lindsay Whitehurst And Sam Metz
Publishing date:Jun 12, 2022 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • 12 Comments
Authorities arrest members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday, June 11, 2022, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear.
Authorities arrest members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday, June 11, 2022, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. PHOTO BY GEORJI BROWN /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
After the arrest of more than two dozen members of a white supremacist group near a northern Idaho pride event, including one identified as its founder, LGBTQ advocates said Sunday that polarization and a fraught political climate are putting their community increasingly at risk.
The 31 Patriot Front members were arrested with riot gear after a tipster reported seeing people loading up into a U-Haul like “a little army” at a hotel parking lot in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, police said.
Among those booked into jail on misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot was Thomas Rousseau of Grapevine, Texas, who has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as the 23-year-old who founded the group after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. No attorney was immediately listed for him and phone numbers associated with him went unanswered Sunday.
Also among the arrestees was Mitchell F. Wagner, 24, of Florissant, Missouri, who was previously charged with defacing a mural of famous Black Americans on a college campus in St. Louis last year.
Michael Kielty, Wagner’s attorney, said Sunday that he had not been provided information about the charges. He said Patriot Front did not have a reputation for violence and that the case could be a First Amendment issue. “Even if you don’t like the speech, they have the right to make it,” he said.
Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group whose members perceive Black Americans, Jews and LGBTQ people as enemies, said Jon Lewis, a George Washington University researcher who specializes in homegrown violent extremism.
Their playbook, Lewis said, involves identifying local grievances to exploit, organizing on platforms like the messaging app Telegram and ultimately showing up to events marching in neat columns, in blue- or white-collared-shirt uniforms, in a display of strength.
Though Pride celebrations have long been picketed by counterprotesters citing religious objections, they haven’t historically been a major focus for armed extremist groups. Still, it isn’t surprising, given how anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has increasingly become a potent rallying cry in the far-right online ecosystem, Lewis said.
“That set of grievances fits into their broader narratives and shows their ability to mobilize the same folks against the enemy over and over and over again,” he said.
The arrests come amid a surge of charged rhetoric around LGBTQ issues and a wave of state legislation aimed at transgender youth, said John McCrostie, the first openly gay man elected to the Idaho Legislature. In Boise this week, dozens of Pride flags were stolen from city streets.
Thomas Rousseau, founder and leader of white nationalist group Patriot Front, is held by police officers as 31 men affiliated with group were arrested for conspiracy to riot after they were found in the rear of a U Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 11, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. (North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via REUTERS)
Thomas Rousseau, founder and leader of white nationalist group Patriot Front, is held by police officers as 31 men affiliated with group were arrested for conspiracy to riot after they were found in the rear of a U Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 11, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. (North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via REUTERS)
“Whenever we are confronted with attacks of hate, we must respond with the message from the community that we embrace all people with all of our differences,” McCrostie said in a text message.
Sunday also marked six years since the mass shooting that killed 49 people at the Orlando LGBTQ club Pulse, said Troy Williams with Equality Utah in Salt Lake City.
“Our nation is growing increasingly polarized, and the result has been tragic and deadly,” he said.
In Coeur d’Alene on Saturday, police found riot gear, one smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van after pulling it over near a park where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding a Pride in the Park event, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said.
The group came to riot around the small northern Idaho city wearing Patriot Front patches and logos on their hats and some T-shirts reading “Reclaim America” according to police and videos of the arrests posted on social media.
Those arrested came from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas.
Though there is a history of far-right extremism dating back decades in northern Idaho, White said only one of those arrested Saturday was from the state.
The six-hour Pride event generally went on as scheduled, including booths, food, live music, a drag show and a march of more than 50 people, the Idaho Statesman reported.
The group is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
Patriot Front leader among those arrested near Idaho Pride
After the arrest of more than two dozen members of a white supremacist group near a northern Idaho pride event, including one identified as its founder, LGBTQ…
White nationalist group members face riot-planning charges in Idaho court
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Jun 13, 2022 • 18 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
A police officer holds one of a group of men, among 31 arrested for conspiracy to riot and affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front, after they were found in the rear of a U-Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Saturday, June 11, 2022.
A police officer holds one of a group of men, among 31 arrested for conspiracy to riot and affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front, after they were found in the rear of a U-Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Saturday, June 11, 2022. PHOTO BY JOHN RUDOFF /REUTERS
Thirty-one members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were expected to appear in an Idaho court on Monday for an arraignment following their weekend arrest on suspicion of plotting to violently disrupt an LGBTQ pride event.
The men, arrested on Saturday after the U-Haul rental truck they were riding in was pulled over, face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot and possibly additional offenses, according to Lee White, the police chief in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Arraignments in Kootenai County District Court begin at 2 p.m. local time. The men are expected to be arraigned at that time.
A local resident called authorities after spotting the group of men, all dressed alike with white gaiter-style masks and carrying shields, loading themselves into the truck “like a little army,” White told reporters following the arrests.
He said the truck was stopped by police about 10 minutes after the call a short distance from the “Pride in the Park” event in Coeur d’Alene, an Idaho Panhandle city about 380 miles north of the capital, Boise, and about 36 miles east of Spokane, Washington.
Video taken at the scene of the arrest and posted online showed a group of men in police custody, kneeling next to the truck with their hands bound, wearing similar khaki pants, blue shirts, white masks and baseball caps.
Police officers seized at least one smoke grenade, a collection of shields and shin guards and documents that included an “operations plan” from the truck, all of which made their intentions clear, White said.
“They came to riot downtown,” he said.
The men had come from at least 11 states across the country, White said, including Texas, Colorado and Virginia.
The Patriot Front formed in the aftermath of the 2017 white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, breaking off from another extremist group, Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Saturday’s pride event, described by organizers as the largest ever seen in North Idaho, drew a crowd of several hundred people for festivities that included a talent show and drag queen dance hour, local media reported.
KREM-TV in Spokane reported several smaller groups turned out to protest the gathering, with dozens of individuals seen carrying guns on the fringe of the park in what organizers said was an attempt to intimidate those attending the LGBTQ event.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Jun 13, 2022 • 18 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
A police officer holds one of a group of men, among 31 arrested for conspiracy to riot and affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front, after they were found in the rear of a U-Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Saturday, June 11, 2022.
A police officer holds one of a group of men, among 31 arrested for conspiracy to riot and affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front, after they were found in the rear of a U-Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Saturday, June 11, 2022. PHOTO BY JOHN RUDOFF /REUTERS
Thirty-one members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were expected to appear in an Idaho court on Monday for an arraignment following their weekend arrest on suspicion of plotting to violently disrupt an LGBTQ pride event.
The men, arrested on Saturday after the U-Haul rental truck they were riding in was pulled over, face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot and possibly additional offenses, according to Lee White, the police chief in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Arraignments in Kootenai County District Court begin at 2 p.m. local time. The men are expected to be arraigned at that time.
A local resident called authorities after spotting the group of men, all dressed alike with white gaiter-style masks and carrying shields, loading themselves into the truck “like a little army,” White told reporters following the arrests.
He said the truck was stopped by police about 10 minutes after the call a short distance from the “Pride in the Park” event in Coeur d’Alene, an Idaho Panhandle city about 380 miles north of the capital, Boise, and about 36 miles east of Spokane, Washington.
Video taken at the scene of the arrest and posted online showed a group of men in police custody, kneeling next to the truck with their hands bound, wearing similar khaki pants, blue shirts, white masks and baseball caps.
Police officers seized at least one smoke grenade, a collection of shields and shin guards and documents that included an “operations plan” from the truck, all of which made their intentions clear, White said.
“They came to riot downtown,” he said.
The men had come from at least 11 states across the country, White said, including Texas, Colorado and Virginia.
The Patriot Front formed in the aftermath of the 2017 white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, breaking off from another extremist group, Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Saturday’s pride event, described by organizers as the largest ever seen in North Idaho, drew a crowd of several hundred people for festivities that included a talent show and drag queen dance hour, local media reported.
KREM-TV in Spokane reported several smaller groups turned out to protest the gathering, with dozens of individuals seen carrying guns on the fringe of the park in what organizers said was an attempt to intimidate those attending the LGBTQ event.
White nationalist group members face riot-planning charges in Idaho court
Thirty-one members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were expected to appear in an Idaho court on Monday.
Trans and Gays make up 1% of 1% of the population..
Why does this fringe minority get so much attention..
Time to put them back into the closet
Why does this fringe minority get so much attention..
Time to put them back into the closet
The Flash actor Ezra Miller was just sued for grooming a 12-year-old Native American girl with drugs and money
Did you hear this on CNN, owned by the same company as DC Films?
poptopic.com.au
Did you hear this on CNN, owned by the same company as DC Films?
Non-Binary Ezra Miller SUED for GROOMING 12-year-old into CULT
A lawsuit accuses Ezra Miller of using drugs, booze, and pornography to groom a 12-year-old girl for a communist sex cult. The parents of a wayward girl
poptopic.com.au
You can't write this any better.. a Hollywood Elite Non-Binary Communist loving Ezra Miller tried to "groom" an eco nut job Tokata Iron Eyes into a sex cult offering drugs, money and booze when she was 12, has now kidnapped her.
There is nothing wrong with them being out of the closet. However, they don't have to be in everyone else's face about it. In reality, the pushy ones are doing the rest of them a great disservice. Much the same as the racists pushing CRT are doing minorities a great disservice.
So, you're OK with gays as long as you don't know about it? No same-sex public kisses? No walking hand in hand? That's for straights only?
I'd be ok with none of that in public by anybody myself.
How about in the movies? Is showing a man and a woman kissing "pushing the straight lifestyle?"
Nope. If the plot calls for them to kiss, then they kiss. Whatever sex.
I don't much care what they do to each other. What I don't like is being forced to support them. The lame attempts at public shaming of politicians that don't support their many publicity stunts by calling them homophobic should not be allowed. I guess the best way to put it would be like church goers. Go pray to what ever you want, but don't expect me to join you. And don't try to make laws based on your religious teachings that are contrary to my beliefs.
OK, well, first there's freedom of speech. How exactly are you being "forced to support them?"
Sounds like you support freedom of speech you agree with, and think freedom of speech you don't agree with "should not be allowed."
Some folks love their 2 stepping Rump Riders so much they have to defend them to their death.