The men were standing in the truck wearing khaki, blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces when Coeur d’Alene police stopped U-Haul and began arresting them on the side of the road. “They came to revolt in the city center,” Coeur d’Alene police chief Lee White told a news conference. All 31 were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, a misdemeanor, White said. The men were being held in custody on Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to stand trial on Monday, he said. Based on data collected and documents, authorities determined that the group planned to riot in many areas of downtown, not just the park, White said. Police found riot gear, a smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van, White said. They wore patches on their hands and logos on their hats that recognized them as members of the Patriot Front, he said. Police learned about U-Haul from a tipster, who said it “looked like a small army loading into the vehicle” in a hotel car park, White said. Officials located the truck shortly afterwards and pulled it over, he said. Videos of the arrest posted on social media show the men kneeling on the grass with their hands tied with zippers behind their backs. “Reclaim America” was written on the back of a shirt. Police led the men, one by one, in front of patrol cars, took off their masks and then drove them into a police van. The detainees came from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia and Arkansas, White said. Only one was from Idaho, he said. The truck stopped near the spot where the North Idaho Pride Alliance hosted the Coeur d’Alene Pride in the Park event. Police had intensified their presence in the area during the event. “It seems these people did not come here to take part in peaceful events,” Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told the Coeur d’Alene Press. The Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “a white nationalist hate group” created after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. “The Patriot Front focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism that can easily be disseminated as propaganda for its funds across the country,” the Southern Poverty Law Center told the group. The group’s manifesto calls for the creation of a white nation in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center said. ——— Bellisle reported from Seattle.
