Last year, 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front were arrested en route to an LGBTQ Pride event in Idaho. Police claim the members, including leader Thomas Rousseau, were planning to riot. They were apprehended carrying shields, helmets, and spears.
Five of the 31 have since skipped court and had warrants issued for their arrest. They are Graham J. Whitson, James Julius Johnson, Connor P. Moran, Derek Joseph Smith, and Jared Michal Boyce. All are charged with misdemeanor conspiracy to riot. They’ve pled not guilty.
Jeff Tischauser, senior researcher with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), first reported on the warrants.
Records show that the court issued a warrant for Whitson last month. According to Tischauser, Whitson is a high-ranking member of Patriot Front. The SPLC reports that he is also a camera operator for Media2Rise, a propaganda operation affiliated with the group.
Records show that the court issued warrants for the other four men after they skipped court dates in the last several months. Johnson and Smith have hearings scheduled later this month to quash those warrants.
According to the SPLC, Patriot Front is one of the most active white nationalist hate groups in the United States.
“Since 2018, Patriot Front has outpaced by 10 to one other groups posting racist propaganda,” SPLC reports.
The group formed in 2017 after the racist Unite the Right rally. It’s mostly known for minor vandalism and rallies, but has become increasingly aggressive over the last few years. The SPLC reports that Patriot Front members have destroyed murals, statues, and other symbols celebrating both Black and LGBTQ people. The alleged plot to attack the Pride event in Idaho represents a significant escalation.
More recently, Patriot Front has adopted language similar to that of QAnon conspiracy theorists. In December, it wrote on its website that it targeted the Coeur d’Alene Pride event after learning that it was “a cabal of pedophiles, perverts, and deranged internationalists [bringing] their chosen malediction to a relatively small and isolated community in northern Idaho.” QAnon followers are obsessed with a supposed elite group of cannibalistic pedophiles they refer to as the cabal.
Patriot Front’s statement also claimed it was merely planning to protest the Pride event with speech, fliers, and flags. It did not explain why members needed the helmets and spears police say they were carrying at the time for these activities.
The charges against Patriot Front members and leadership haven’t stopped it from continuing to spread its white supremacist message. According to its Telegram channel, the group has distributed fliers, placed stickers, and sprayed graffiti in states all over the country in recent weeks. It says it has conducted activities in Coeur d’Alene multiple times in recent months, including placing banners and training members in hand-to-hand combat.
While some of his compatriots allegedly duck the charges against them, records show that Patriot Front leader Rousseau has continued participating in his case. His trial is scheduled for May. He’s pled not guilty.
