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Among the seven Texans who were among the members of the white supremacist Patriot Front group arrested while trying to disrupt a pride event in Idaho, one hhas a pending felony case in Dallas County and another is a founder of the group, according to court and police records and research by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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, 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. Whitted was the only one arrested not from Tarrant County.
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.
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.
Tucker has a pending felony case out of Dallas County.
He was arrested in August 2021 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a fight he had with his roommates at a house in Mesquite, according to court records.
A Mesquite police report says Tcker threatened to kill one of his roommates with a knife after the two argued about washing the dishes. When the other roommate intervened, Tucker fought with him, the report said. Tucker was released on a $25,000 bond and currently awaits trial on the charge, according to court records.
His attorney could not be reached on Monday for comment.
Patriot Front members have been involved in public demonstrations, disturbances and skirmishes across Texas in recent years, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and published reports.
One such encounter occurred in November 2017 on the University of Texas at Austin campus where about 30 members gathered around a George Washington statue with torches and flares while Rousseau spoke of an “existential threat” against America, the SPLC said.
And about a dozen members marched to an “Occupy ICE” protest encampment in San Antonio in July 2018 while chanting, “Strong nations, strong borders” and then vandalized tents and signs, according to the SPLC.
Patriot Front members held a demonstration outside a Denton business in August 2019 while carrying flares and chanting “Reclaim America!”
And the group has been known to place hate-speech posters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Fort Worth police in late 2018 issued a misdemeanor citation to Rousseau for distributing such posters in downtown Fort Worth, according to published reports.
Rousseau was cited for placing signs, banners, stickers and other objects on public property without permission, police said. The fliers proclaimed such things as “Reclaim America” and “Better dead than Red” above a communist symbol. Rousseau was caught on surveillance video posting the fliers in October 2018.
In Idaho, 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, White said.