“It is clear to us, based on the equipment the people had with them… along with the papers we confiscated, that they came to riot in the city center,” Coeur d’Alene police chief Lee White said on Saturday. at a press conference. . According to White, police were alerted to U-Haul around 1:38 p.m. by an interested citizen who said he saw members of the group getting into the back of the truck. The group was confronted by police about 10 minutes later, White said. The men were seen in videos posted on social media wearing khaki, blue shirts, beige hats and fabric face masks. The outfit is similar to that worn by the Patriot Front, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a white supremacist group. White said at least one of the men had a patch on his hand that read “Patriot Front” and others wore hats with logos “consistent” with those used by the team. Police also found shields inside the U-Haul and at least one smoke grenade, White said. All 31 men are charged with conspiracy to commit riot, misdemeanor and other charges “may be pending,” White said. “In my opinion, I would be happy to arrest 31 people who come to our city to protest against a misdemeanor, instead of forcing them to take part in some kind of subversive event, which they were planning in the center of the city,” White said. he said. White also said the group was not planning to disrupt a nearby park where a pride rally was taking place, but that police had information indicating that they would try to riot in other areas. He did not elaborate on the documents the police found from the group, but said it “looked a lot like a business plan that a police or military team would draw up for an event”. White said the men came from many different states. Apparently they all met in the parking lot of a hotel, where they were loaded into the U-Haul.
