Police in Idaho arrested 31 members of the extremist Patriot Front group Saturday outside a Pride event after a concerned citizen reported masked men who “looked like a little army” were loading riot gear into a U-Haul.
“They were all wearing similar attire. They had shields, shin guards, and other riot gear with them, including at least one smoke grenade,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said in a press conference.
Each of the men was charged with a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to riot, White said.
The men wore insignias for Patriot Front, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “a white nationalist hate group that formed in the aftermath of the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, of August 12, 2017.”
White said the police department received information over several days indicating hate groups would be in attendance during the Pride in the Park event hosted by the North Idaho Pride Alliance. An increased presence of uniformed officers was prepared in response.
Videos of the arrest quickly circulated on social media, as local journalists were prepared to cover possible clashes between hate groups and people gathered for the annual Pride in the Park event. Idaho, a state which boasts a House representative belonging to the Oath Keepers, has seen an increase in far-right extremism in recent years.
Representatives from the North Idaho Pride Alliance did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.
Only one of the men who was arrested and had completed the booking process at the time of the press conference was from Idaho, White said. Others were from Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Arkansas, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, and Virginia.
He also confirmed the Coeur d’Alene police department was in contact with the FBI regarding the incident.
“It is clear to us, based on the gear that the individuals had all with them, the stuff they had in their possession and in the U-Haul with them, along with paperwork that we seized from them, that they came to riot downtown,” White said in the press conference.
The Coeur d’Alene police department declined to answer Insider’s questions regarding the incident.
Why can’t Normal Straight People, have a say in all of the Anti-America, crap that is being forced on us?
Normal straight people can have a say. Just don’t dress up in police riot gear, carry smoke bombs and other weapons, you know like black jacks, bear sprays, etc. Carry signs with bible verses that address the issue! God’s word has more power!
OH you are speaking of BLM and ANTIFA. Makes sense.
We are speaking of normal citizens just people with morals.
We have all seen the perverted animals attack the innocent and the police stand by and watch.
Gods word is powerful and people are to be HIS hands and Feet, His Voice and when the opposition is beating your brains out, stabbing you, hitting you with bike chains its really hard to be heard
Because we live in a communist country under the false leadership of a senile and corrupt man.
I am sick of the TWISTING and Manipulating of the truth and your spin on it.
WHERE WERE THE POLICE WHEN ANTIFA STRUCK?
WHERE WERE THE THOUGHT POLICE WHEN BLM STRUCK?
IF THEY DID NOTHING, SHOULD THEY NOT PREPARE THEIR OWN BODIES FROM ASSAULT FROM THOSE THE POLICE DONT BOTHER CARRYING THEIR PIPES AND CHAINS AND KNIVES?
YOU ARE PUKES – Try telling the truth.
1Patriot Forever, U R Completely CORRECT !
I agree with you! Since the police stand down to the Antifa and BLM folks, any preparation is better than getting hurt or killed when you try to march for the truth!
The Only Ones that should have been ARRESTED is the QUEEN’S Themselves. That a START & END to that Story ! 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗