Seven Texans among members of white nationalist Patriot Front group arrested in Idaho

Seven Texans were among the members of the white supremacist Patriot Front group arrested while trying to disrupt a pride event in Idaho, according to police and jail records.

Authorities in Idaho arrested 31 members of the group Saturday as they were packed into the back of a U-Haul near the event in Coeur d’Alene. Police Chief Lee White said the group “came to riot downtown.”

Police found riot gear, one smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van, White said. They wore arm patches and logos on their hats that identified them as members of Patriot Front, he said.

All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, and were expected to be arraigned Monday, White said.

Those from Texas arrested on conspiracy charges Saturday include Graham Jones Whitson, 31, of Haslet; Robert Benjamin Whitted, 22, of Conroe; Josiah Daniel Buster, 24, of Watauga; Connor Patrick Moran, 23, of Watauga; Kieran Padraig Morris, 27, of Haslet; Thomas Ryan Rousseau, 23, of Grapevine; and Steven Derrick Tucker, 30, of Haslet.

Rousseau is one of the founders of Patriot Front, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, and marched with white nationalist and separatist groups during the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Va., that ended with a white supremacist ramming his car into a crowd of people. Dozens of people were injured in the attack, and one was killed.

Only one of the people arrested with Patriot Front was from Idaho, White said.

The truck was stopped near where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding the Coeur d’Alene Pride in the Park event. Police had stepped up their presence in the area during the event.

“It appears these people did not come here to engage in peaceful events,” Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told a Coeur d’Alene Press reporter.

Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “a white nationalist hate group.” The group’s manifesto calls for the formation of a white ethnostate in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.