Police have arrested 31 people who were found inside a U-Haul truck near a pride event in Coeur d’Alene in Idaho on Saturday. Police said they believed they were linked to a white supremacist group and intended to cause riots.
“Based on the gear the individuals had with them … with the documents we seized from them, it is clear to us that they came to the city riot,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White told a news conference Saturday. .
According to White, a concerned citizen who alerted police about the U-Hall around 1:38 pm said he saw members of the group climbing into the back of the truck. About 10 minutes later the group was confronted by police, White said.
In the videos posted on social media all the men were wearing khaki clothes, blue shirts, brown hats and cloth masks. This dress is like wearing a patriotic front Southern Poverty Law Center Describes the white supremacist group. White said at least one of the men had a hand attachment that read “Patriotic Front” and the others had “standard” hats with logos used by the group.
White said police also found shields and at least one smoke grenade inside the U-Haul.
All 31 men have been charged with conspiracy to commit riot, a misdemeanor and further charges may be “pending,” White said.
“In my opinion, I would gladly arrest 31 people who come to riot in our city for a wrongdoing, but instead they should take part in some serious disorder event, which is what they are planning in the city,” White said.
White said the group did not plan to disrupt a nearby park where a proud event would take place, but that police had information that they would try to riot in other areas as well.
He did not elaborate on the documents recovered by the police from the group, but said it “looks very similar to the action plan that the police or military team put together for an event”.
White said the men came from different states. They all met in the parking lot of a hotel, where they loaded themselves into the U-Haul.
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