Dozens arrested for ‘conspiracy to riot’ — Analysis
A U-Haul truck was taken by 31 far-right Patriot Front members near an Idaho Pride event.
Authorities in Coeur d’Alene, northwest Idaho, announced they have prevented a mass turmoil on Saturday, following a tip from a concerned citizen who had informed them about a truck full of masked armed thugs looking “like a little army.”
Near Coeur d’Alene City Park was a suspicious U-Haul truck. This was just a few blocks from a Pride celebration that was about to take place. Inside police found a group of men wearing similar khakis, navy blue shirts, balaclavas and hats – with arm patches and logos identifying them as members of the far-right Patriot Front organization.
Masked men are seen standing in front of the truck, while the police open the door. Others captured them sitting on grass while their hands were tied behind their backs, as the police detained the group.
“They came to riot downtown,”A news conference was held by Chief Lee White, Police Officer.
Police also found in the truck riot gear including shields and shinguards as well as a document detailing their alleged activities. “operations plan.”
According to authorities, the suspects are from at most 11 states.
In 2017, the Patriot Front emerged from Vanguard America when an alleged member of the group drove his car into the vehicle of a number of protesters at the Unite the Right rally. This killed a woman, and injured many more. The Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center describe the Patriot Front as a racist, neo-fascist hate group, which, among other things, espouses the preservation of white Americans’ racial purity and the dismantling of the “American democracy system is in disarray” To date, the group’s main areas of activity have been the distribution of its messages, both online and in the street, as well as the holding of marches and the staging of flash mobs.
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