Idaho police officers receiving death threats after arresting Patriot Front members

Police officers in Coeur d’Alene arrested 31 members of the white supremacist group

(via REUTERS)

Police officers in Idaho say they are facing numerous death threats after they arrested 31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front near an annual Pride event in Coeur d’Alene over the weekend.

Coeur d’Alene police chief Lee White told reporters on Monday that his department has recieved numerous calls since its officers arrested Patriot Front members on Saturday following a 911 call on Saturday, many in praise of the department’s operation.

But Mr White estimated that half the calls, which he believes are largely coming from outside Coeur d’Alene, have been threats.

“The other 50 per cent — who are completely anonymous, who want nothing more than to scream and yell at us and use some really choice words — offer death threats against myself and other members of the police department merely for doing our jobs,” Mr White said. “Those people obviously remain anonymous.”

Officers have also been threatened with doxxing — the release of personal information on a public platform — in response to the arrests.

Law enforcement’s swift action on Saturday stands in stark contrast to how other regional police departments, notably Portland’s, have handled far right demonstrations in recent years. The arrests, made after the 911 caller said they saw a “little army” of people equipped with masks and shields in a U-Haul, likely averted a conflict at the city’s annual Pride event.

Pride in the Park, which is held in Coeur d’Alene City Park, features a parade and a series of musical, dance, and drag performances. Local law enforcement, which was assisted by Idaho State Police and the FBI, found a smoke grenade and said that Patriot Front was preparing to riot both at the park and in the city’s downtown.

At press conference on Saturday, Mr White said that Patriot Front members arrived with documents “similar to an operations plan that a police or military group would put together for an event.”

Among the 31 individuals arrested in connection with the planned riot on Saturday was the founder of Patriot Front Thomas Rousseau — a former member of another white supremacist organization called Vanguard America. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Dallas native has been involved with hate groups since he was a teenager.

Police said that members of the group arrested in the city came from at least ten different states, including Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Virginia. All of the names of the arrestees have been released, and all have been charged with intent to riot, a misdemenour.

Organisers with The North Idaho Pride Alliance, meanwhile, said that the annual Pride event was ultimately a success.

On Sunday, the Alliance said in a statement that its members were resting following “a momentous, joyful, and SAFE Pride in the Park community celebration under the most challenging of circumstances.”