Idaho police arrested 31 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, on Saturday after they were discovered packed into a U-Haul truck with riot gear near an LGBTQ Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, AP reported.
Driving the news: All 31 members were arrested and charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, after being found in the truck when it was pulled aside in a traffic stop, the Idaho Statesman reported.
- “They came to riot downtown,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said at a press conference Saturday, per AP.
The big picture: Only one of the men in the truck was actually from Idaho, with the others hailing from South Dakota, Wyoming, Texas and Oregon, among other states, per the Idaho Statesman.
- The group's national leader, Tom Rosseau, was among those arrested, the Idaho Statesman reported.
- The men were wearing white balaclavas to cover their faces, as well as khaki pants and navy blue shirts, when Coeur d’Alene police discovered them in the truck, per AP. The words “Reclaim America” were written on the back of one shirt.
- Evidence collected indicated the group had plans to riot in several places in the city's downtown area. Inside the U-Haul, police found shields, shin guards, riot gear and even a smoke grenade.
- Police spotted the truck after a tipster warned them that “it looked like a little army was loading up into the vehicle” in the parking lot of a hotel, White said at the press conference.
What's next: The men are set to be arraigned on Monday.
