6 Tarrant County men among white nationalist members arrested near Idaho LGBTQ Pride event
Seven North Texas residents were among 31 masked members of a white nationalist group that police in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, suspected of conspiring to riot on Saturday in the city’s downtown near a gay pride event.
The arrested Patriot Front members arrived in Coeur d’Alene inside a U-Haul truck that police pulled over. One was from Idaho. The others came from Washington, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming.
The men who live in Texas who were booked on suspicion of criminal conspiracy are Kieran Morris, 27, Steven Tucker, 30, and Graham Whitsom, 31, each of Haslet; Josiah Buster, 24, and Connor Moran, 23, both of Watauga; Thomas Rousseau, 23, of Grapevine; and Robert Whitted, 22, of Conroe, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office document.
Rousseau is the national leader of the group.
The men were jailed and are scheduled to be arraigned in court Monday, according to the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. Coeur d’Alene is in northern Idaho, about 400 miles north of Boise.
Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said the group evidently “came to riot downtown.” White said the group also had “paperwork” that appeared similar to a police or military operations plan.
The arrests became a spectacle as onlookers watched and used cell phones to take video and pictures of police officers standing by as others rolled up the rear door of the U-Haul near the Paul Bunyan restaurant to reveal more than two dozen men wearing khakis, blue shirts and coats, white balaclavas and baseball caps.
Another video showed the men on their knees with their hands behind their backs surrounded by police officers.
Police were tipped off by a person who said they saw a large group of people wearing masks and donning shields looking “like a little army” jump into a U-Haul truck Saturday afternoon at a hotel parking lot, White said. About 10 minutes later police pulled over the truck as it traveled toward downtown on Northwest Boulevard. Police also seized a smoke grenade and what White described as riot gear from the truck.
“I don’t think this would have been as successful had we not had one extremely astute citizen who saw something that looked very concerning to them and reported it to us,” White said.
The Pride in the Park event had drawn many other people to the downtown area to celebrate people who identify as LBGTQ+. White said the Patriot Front members could face more charges after prosecutors review the evidence.
“In my opinion I would gladly arrest 31 individuals who are coming to riot in our city for a misdemeanor, rather than have them participate in some sort of seriously disruptive event which is exactly what they were planning in the downtown area,” White said. He said the group planned to riot in City Park, along Sherman Avenue and possibly at other downtown locations.
Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “a white nationalist hate group” that broke off from a similar far-right group after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
“Patriot Front focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism that can be easily distributed as propaganda for its chapters across the country,” the SPLC said of the group. The group has a manifesto that calls for the formation of a “white ethnostate” in the United States. Their brand of activism often consists of posting flyers and other advertisements in public places that promote an extremist brand of patriotism, according to the SPLC. Photos show some of the men wearing shirts that read, “RECLAIM AMERICA,” while one said, “Conquerors not Thieves,” an apparent reference to the belief that white colonialists were within their rights to take Native Americans’ lands.
Several police officers had been stationed at City and McEuen parks Saturday in downtown Coeur d’Alene to ensure the Pride in the Park event ran smoothly.
The Panhandle Patriots Riding Club, which rides motorcycles to “uphold the Constitution” according to its website, planned an event at nearby McEuen Park in opposition to the Pride event. White said at least two people, both from Oregon, were arrested at City Park on disorderly conduct and trespassing charges. At least three warnings were issued to others.
The six-hour Pride event included several booths, food, live music, a drag show and a march of more than 50 people through the park.
Casiana Azzollini, a University of Idaho student who wore a “Love Wins” crown, marched while holding a sign that read, “here for every story” on one side and “Ally for all love” on the other.
She said she and her friends wanted to support members of the LGBTQ community who have been oppressed.
Patrick Runkle, Mariah Berquam and her 2-year-old daughter Aurora, sported rainbow tutus and black shirts that said “Equality” in rainbow colors across the chest. Runkle said he wanted to show Coeur d’Alene is an accepting place and that it can overcome the negative light some people place on the LGBTQ community.
A few churches planted booths at City Park in support of the Pride event. Matthew Erickson, pastor at Calvary Lutheran Church in Post Falls, wore a blue shirt that said “This Pastor Loves You” with the word Pastor in rainbow colors. Erickson said people have been demonized and intimidated by hate speech. “I’m on the side of people who God loves,” said Erickson.
Tom Meyer was part of a small group that held signs and sang hymns at City Park, protesting the Pride celebration.
“The drag queen thing, they’re preying on our children and that’s my target,” Meyer said. “I want to focus on the kids to give them a chance and give them a way out so they don’t get caught up in all this. It’s horrible. What they’re doing is they are grooming children for pedophilia in my belief.”
At McEuen Park, about 100 people, including Panhandle Patriots and former Washington state Rep. Matt Shea, walked to several downtown buildings to protest the Pride event and support freedom of speech, guns and other values.
Star-Telegram staff writer Emerson Clarridge contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 12, 2022 at 7:54 PM.
