Authorities arrested members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near the Idahopride event on June 11, 2022. (Photo: via Associated Press)
later Arrest of more than 20 members of the white supremacist group LGBTQ supporters said the community was increasingly at risk due to polarization and worsening political conditions, including the event identified as the founder, near the pride event in northern Idaho. rice field.
31 Patriot Front Members Arrested With riot gear Police said after a tipster reported that he saw people loaded into the U Hall like a “small army” in the parking lot of a hotel in Kodalane, Idaho.
Among those imprisoned for the misdemeanor of the riot plot was Thomas Ryan Rousseau of Grapevine, Texas. He was identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as 23, who founded the group after the deadly “Unite the Right”. Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. His lawyer wasn’t immediately listed and the phone number associated with him was unanswered on Sunday.
Also among the arrests was Mitchell F. Wagner, 24, in Florissant, Missouri. He was charged last year with smearing a famous black-American mural on a college campus in St. Louis.
Wagner’s lawyer, Michael Keelty, said on Sunday that no information was provided regarding the indictment. He said Patriot Front had no reputation for violence and the case could be a matter of the First Amendment. “Even if you don’t like the speech, they have the right to do it,” he said.
The Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group whose members consider black Americans, Jews, and LGBTQ people to be enemies, George Washington University researcher John Lewis said in his country’s violent extremism. Specializes in.
According to Lewis, their playbook identifies dissatisfaction with the area of abuse, organizes it on platforms such as the messaging app Telegram, and ultimately wears a blue or white collared shirt uniform to power. It involves attending an event that marches in a neat line.
Pride celebrations have long been picketed by rebels because of religious opposition, but have not been the main focus of historically armed militant groups. Still, it’s not surprising given that anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is becoming an increasingly powerful rally cry in the far-right online ecosystem, Lewis said.
“The series of complaints fits into their broader story and shows the ability to mobilize the same people over and over again against the’enemy’,” he said.
Arrests come in a surge Charged rhetoric The LGBTQ issue and the wave of state law for transgender youth, said John McCrostie, the first publicly gay elected to the Idaho State Parliament. Dozens of pride flags were stolen from the streets of the city this week in Boise.
“Whenever we face an attack of hatred, we must respond with a message from the community that we accept all people with all our differences,” McCrostie said in a text message. Told.
Troy Williams of Utah Equality in Salt Lake City said Sunday was also six years after the shootings that killed 49 people at the Orlando LGBTQ Club Pulse.
“Our country is becoming more and more polarized, and the consequences are tragic and deadly,” he said.
San Francisco Bay Area authorities are investigating Possibility of hate crime After a group of men shouted homosexual aversion and anti-LGBTQ slurs during a weekend drag queen story hour at the San Lorenzo Library on Saturday. No arrests have been made and no one has been physically harmed, and authorities are investigating the case as a possible harassment of the child.
On Saturday, police pulled a van near the park where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was hosting the Pride in the Park event, Code Lane, and then riot gear, one smoke grenade, and a shin guard in the van. , Said Lee White, the police chief who found the shield.
According to police and social media arrest videos, the group rioted around a small city in northern Idaho, wearing a Patriot front patch and logo on a hat and a T-shirt with the words “Reclaim America.” Woke up.
Arrests were from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas.
Northern Idaho has a history of far-right extremists dating back decades, but White said that only one of the people arrested on Saturday was from the state.
This article was originally HuffPost It has been updated.