Joseph Ax

(Reuters) – Police in Idaho, northwest Idaho have arrested over two dozen people belonging to a white nationalist organization and charged them with plotting to hold a riot close to a LGBTQ pride celebration.

Lee White (police chief for the City of Coeur D’Alene) told reporters 31 Patriot Front members are facing misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to Riot and that additional charges may be filed later.

White says a resident saw two men wearing masks with shields who were getting into a U-Haul truck. White told White that it looked like a small army. The truck was seized by police about 10 minutes following the 911 call.

A video taken at the site of the arrest was posted online and showed 20 men kneeling beside the truck wearing the same khaki pants, blue shirt, and baseball cap.

White claimed that police recovered at most one smoke grenade, documents that contained an “operations Plan” and shields and protections from the truck. This made it clear what their motives were.

He said, “They came downtown to riot.”

White stated that the men are from at most 11 different states including Texas, Colorado, and Virginia.

The Patriot Front was created in the wake of the “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, Virginia. It then split from Vanguard America. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (which tracks hate groups),