Authorities arrested 31 members of the white advocacy group Patriot Front near a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Saturday after they were spotted in the back of a U-Haul truck with equipment rioted.
The men were standing inside the van wearing long pants, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white backpacks covering their faces when police officer Coeur d’Alene stopped the U-Haul and arrested them. roadside.
Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said at a news conference: “They came to riot in the city centre.
All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, White said. The men checked in for reservations on Saturday afternoon and are expected to be arranged on Monday, he said.
Based on the evidence and documents collected, authorities discovered that the group was planning to cause riots in several areas of downtown, not just the park, White said.
Police found riot gear, a smoke grenade, shins and shield inside the vehicle, White said. They wear arm patches and emblems on their hats that identify them as members of the Patriotic Front, he said.
Police learned about U-Haul from a tip, who reported that “it looked like a small army was loading up” in the parking lot of a hotel, White said. Officials discovered the truck shortly after and towed it over, he said.
Video of the arrest posted on social media shows the men kneeling on the grass with their hands tied behind their backs.
“Reclaim America” is written on the back of a shirt.
The police in turn led the men to the front of the patrol car, removed their masks, and then loaded them into the police vehicle.
White said those arrested come from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia and Arkansas.
He said only one came from Idaho. Coeur d’Alene is located about 30 kilometers east of Idaho’s western border with Washington.
The truck was stopped near where the Northern Idaho Pride Alliance was holding its Coeur d’Alene Pride in the Park event. Police increased their presence in the area during the event.
“It doesn’t appear that these people are here to participate in peaceful events,” Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told a reporter for the Coeur d’Alene Press.
The Patriotic Front was described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “a white nationalist hate group” that was formed after the deadly Right-wing Solidarity protest in Charlottesville, Va., on 2017.
“The Patriotic Front focuses on rhetoric and activities 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 called for the creation of a white people in the United States, said the Southern Poverty Law Center.
