COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The remaining four members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front appeared in court in Kootenai County on Monday. Among those four was the founder and leader of Patriot Front, Thomas Rousseau.
Originally from an area just outside of Dallas, Texas, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League said Rousseau is a known white supremacist. The organizations also said Rousseau began showing signs of white nationalist beliefs as a teenager.
An article in the Texas Observer stated the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been monitoring Rousseau since he was in high school, where he often wrote opinion pieces in support of conservative ideas.
Shortly after he graduated, however, Rousseau emerged as a leader inside another white nationalist organization: Vanguard America, the hate group behind a deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
One woman was killed and dozens were injured after James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters attending the rally. Fields is a self-proclaimed admirer of Adolf Hitler from Maumee, Ohio, and is serving life in prison for murder and hate crimes, according to the Associated Press.
In the aftermath of the Charlottesville tragedy, the Southern Poverty Law Center says Vanguard America dissolved into chaos, and Rousseau announced his new organization, Patriot Front.
Since then, Patriot Front members have protested outside of numerous events, including anti-abortion rallies, Jewish synagogues, Black Lives Matter protests and LGBTQ pride events.
Members often chant the slogan, "Blood and Soil" -- which the Anti-Defamation League says originated in Nazi Germany, equating white European identity with inheriting American soil.
Since its creation in 2017, Patriot Front activity has expanded into dozens of states, including Idaho, where 31 members were arrested for allegedly planning to riot at a downtown Coeur d'Alene pride event.
All 31 men have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy to riot charges and trials for the men are expected to begin in the coming weeks.
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