Lee White, Coeur D’Alene police chief, told reporters that 31 members of the Patriot Front were facing charges of conspiracy to commit riots and that additional charges could be filed later. A local resident spotted the men, wearing white masks and shields, getting into a U-Haul truck and called police, telling the emergency dispatcher that it “looked like a small army,” according to White. Police pulled the truck about 10 minutes after the call. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The video, which was taken at the scene of the arrest and posted on the Internet, shows about 20 men kneeling next to the truck with their hands tied, wearing similar khaki pants, blue shirts, white masks and baseball caps. Officers with riot equipment guard a group of men who, according to police, are among the 31 arrested for riot conspiracy and connected to the Patriot Front team after being found in the back of a u haul truck near a Pride event on Coeur D ‘Alene, Idaho, USA, June 11, 2022 in a still image from video. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Patriot Front as a white nationalist group that split from a similar organization, Vanguard America, in the wake of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. ABC Affiliate KXLY via REUTERS. read more Police found at least one smoke grenade and documents containing a “business plan” from the truck, as well as shields and shin guards, which made their intentions clear, White said. “They came to revolt in the city center,” he said. The men come from at least 11 states, White said, including Texas, Colorado and Virginia. The Patriot Front was formed after white nationalist “Unite the Right” rallies in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, when it split from another extremist group, Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Joseph Ax. Edited by: Daniel Wallis Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
