Idaho police getting death threats after arresting members of white nationalist group

Authorities in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, say they have been receiving death threats after arresting 31 members of Patriot Front, a purported white nationalist group, near a local Pride event.

There was a “50/50 split” on calls that expressed support for officials and those who have reached out with anger and threats, said Coeur d’Alene Police Chief at a press conference Monday.

The first half “are happy to give us their name and tell us that they’re proud of the work that we did and they’re happy to be a part of this community,” White said.

“The other 50 percent, 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.”

Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group that believes Blacks, Jews and LGBT people are enemies, according to Jon Lewis, a George Washington University researcher who specializes in extremism.

Their modus operandi is to show up at events for these groups marching in neat columns in a display of strength, said Lewis.

Couer d’Alene police responded to a call on Sunday from a concerned citizen reporting around 20 people loading up into a UHAUL truck.

“They had shields and ‘looked like a little army,’” White said of how the caller described the group.

Officers pulled the truck over near a park where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding an event and arrested a total 31 people, many of whom were wearing Patriot Front patches and logos on their hats. Some wore T-shirts reading “Reclaim America,” according to police.

Police also found shields, riot gear and least one smoke grenade, along with a plan to use it to spark a confrontation in the park.

Those arrested came from at least 13 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas.