Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Spokane Spokesman-Review reports:
All 31 members of a white nationalist group arrested on suspicion of conspiring to riot in Coeur d’Alene during a Pride event had bonded out of the Kootenai County Jail as of Sunday afternoon.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office released the names and photos of all suspects on Sunday, a day after the Coeur d’Alene police chief said the Patriot Front members were en route to the Pride in the Park event with riot gear, a smoke grenade and paperwork police say resembled an operations plan.
Patriot Front is a white nationalist group with branches across the country that specializes in vandalism, racist propaganda and “flash demonstrations” meant to intimidate minorities, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.
The LaCrosse Tribune reports:
Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group whose members perceive Black Americans, Jews and LGBTQ people as enemies, said Jon Lewis, a George Washington University researcher who specializes in homegrown violent extremism.
Their playbook, Lewis said, involves identifying local grievances to exploit, organizing on platforms like the messaging app Telegram and ultimately showing up to events marching in neat columns, in blue- or white-collared-shirt uniforms, in a display of strength.
Though Pride celebrations have long been picketed by counterprotesters citing religious objections, they haven’t historically been a major focus for armed extremist groups. Still, it isn’t surprising, given how anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has increasingly become a potent rallying cry in the far-right online ecosystem, Lewis said.
Ladies and gentlemen, the master race.https://t.co/Skgfn1xv9z
— Marsha Warfield (@MarshaWarfield) June 13, 2022