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On Saturday, 31 people accused of being affiliated with the Patriot Front, a white nationalist group, were arrested for reportedly conspiring to disrupt an LGBTQ+ Pride event in Cour d’Alene, Idaho.
At a Saturday press conference, Coeur D’Alene Police Chief Lee White said days before the Pride event, Idaho authorities were informed that members of the Patriot Front were allegedly planning to harass members of the LGBTQ + community. The suspects were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to riot.
NBC reported that in response to numerous claims that various groups such as Patriot Front would be present at the Pride event, security was tightened, with staff and authorities surrounding the event.
By the end, the LGBTQ+ rally was deemed a success by organizers, who told Krem2 that it had experienced the largest turnout a North Idaho Pride event had ever seen.
A conspiracy to disrupt an Idaho Pride Rally
According to Chief Lee White, the Patriot Front affiliates were allegedly wearing masks and carrying shields, which prompted locals to call the authorities.
White said:
“(They had) shields, shin guards and other riot gear with them.”
He continued:
“They looked like a small army… (their plans were) similar to an operations plan that a police or military group would put together for an event."
Around 1.38 PM, officers found 31 more people traveling in a vehicle. According to White, the suspects had arrived from various States, including Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. ABC reported that among the arrested suspects was Thomas Rousseau, who is allegedly one of the group's founders.
At the press conference, White further explained their motivations. He said:
"It is clear to us based on the gear that the individuals had with them, the stuff they had in their possession, the U-Haul with them along with paperwork that was seized from them, that they came to riot downtown”
While members of the Patriot Front were arrested, Krem2 reported that many groups affiliated with right-wing radical causes were still at the perimeters of the rally with firearms, allegedly attempting to intimidate the LGBTQ+ community.
Jessica Mahuron, a North Idaho Pride Alliance member, told the outlets that the presence of armed protestors would not dissuade the LGBTQ+ community.
She said:
“We’ve been through so much, so much. Harassment, and attempts to intimidate on the psychological level, and the truth is if you allow yourself to be intimidated you let them win and what we have shown today is that you will not win.”
According to the New York Times, The Patriot Front is a neo-fascist white nationalist organization associated with the alt-right movement. Its origins lie in the Neo-Nazi faction, the Vanguard, from which it split in 2017.
As per the Anti-Defamation League, the Patriot Front allegedly generated more than 82% of racist and homophobic propaganda tracked by the ADL across the United States in 2021.
