Idaho police in the town of Coeur d’Alene arrested 31 people Saturday linked to the white nationalist group Patriot Front. The arrested men were spotted gathering where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding its annual Pride in the Park event to celebrate gay and lesbian people. A bystander reportedly saw the men entering a U-Haul truck and called the police, saying that “it looked like a little army was loading up into the vehicle.” According to the local police officials, officers intercepted the truck and arrested the men inside. They have been charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor charge. They were also found with shin guards, shields, riot gear and at least one smoke grenade.
The plans were reportedly found on Thomas Rousseau, the founder and leader of Patriot Front, which broke away from the neo-Nazi Vanguard America after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Rousseau led a group of Vanguard America members during the Charlottesville rally, which included Alex Fields Jr., the man convicted of killing counter-protester Heather Heyer by ramming the crowd opposed to the neo-Nazis with his car.
— source wsws.org | 12 Jun 2022