- A total of 31 members of the Patriot Front White nationalist group were arrested on June 11, 2022, after the group was pulled over in a white U-haul van. The group was heading to a Pride event in Idaho.
- Police found shin guards, shields, riot gear, and a smoke grenade in the van after pulling the group over. They were near the North Idaho Pride Alliance’s event.
- Five members of the Patriot Front have been convicted of misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot at a Pride event.
Five members of the White nationalist hate group Patriot Front were convicted Thursday of misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot at a Pride event.
A Kootenai County jury found Forrest Rankin, Devin Center, Derek Smith, James Michael Johnson and Robert Whitted guilty after about an hour of deliberation, news outlets reported.
A total of 31 Patriot Front members, including one identified as its founder, were arrested June 11, 2022, after someone reported seeing people loading into a U-Haul van like “a little army” at a hotel parking lot in Coeur d’Alene, police have said.
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Police found riot gear, a smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van after pulling it over near where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding a Pride in the Park event, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White has said.
Shown above from top row from left James Michael Johnson, Forrest Rankin, and Robert Whitted are pictured. On the bottom row from left, Devin Center and Derek Smith are both shown above. A northern Idaho jury on July 20, 2023, found these five members of the White nationalist hate group Patriot Front guilty of misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot at a Pride event. (Kootenai County Sheriffs Office, via AP, File)
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Documents found with the group reportedly outlined a plan to form a column outside City Park and proceed inward, “until barriers to approach are met.” Once “an appropriate amount of confrontational dynamic had been established,” the column would disengage and head down Sherman Avenue.
Those arrested came from at least 11 states, including Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia and Arkansas.
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Rioting is generally a misdemeanor in Idaho. Conspiracy to riot is punishable by up to one year in jail, as well as a $5,000 fine and up to two years of probation. The five men are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.
