31 Members of Far-Right Group Arrested at Idaho Pride Event
The Facts
31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front, including their national leader, were arrested on Sat. for allegedly attempting to start a riot at a Pride march in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
Members of the group were found in the back of a U-Haul truck that contained riot gear. The city's Police Chief alleged at a press conference that the group was planning to riot in multiple areas of the city's downtown.
The Spin
Right narrative
Patriot Front is a bonafide hate group, and its members deserve to be arrested for planning to disrupt a peaceful event for transgender people and their families. But are they dangerous? Probably no more so than Antifa and elements of BLM - these groups are also comprised of radicals whose actions often fall short of their grandiose rhetoric.
Left narrative
Idaho is becoming a ground zero for the far-right in America. The state has become a magnet for extremists who work in lockstep with elements of the GOP to assume control of governance, and cruelly target all opposition. Abuse of LGBTQ+ and minority communities is increasingly prevalent in the state, and the entire country needs to pay close attention to what this means for the evolution of America's right-wing.
