COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Five members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front are expected to stand trial this week for allegedly planning to violently disrupt a Pride celebration in Coeur d’Alene City Park.
The five men — Devin W. Center, James J. Johnson, Forrest C. Rankin, Derek J. Smith and Robert B. Whitted — have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor.
Prosecutors estimate the trial, which begins today, will last through Thursday or Friday. The state plans to call more than 20 witnesses.
The charges stem from last June, when a tipster reported seeing a “little army” with metal shields and other gear piling into the back of a U-Haul truck.
Area law enforcement stopped the truck just blocks from City Park, where a Pride celebration was ongoing, and arrested the 31 men crammed inside the vehicle. The men carried what police described as “tactical” medical kits, as well as radios, cameras, homemade shields and “abnormally long” metal flag poles.
To read the full story, visit our news partner the Coeur d'Alene Press.
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