Patriot Front Members Allegedly Detained on Way Crashing Pride Event: Video

A clip making the rounds on social media appears to show members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front being detained by police, foiling plans to crash a Pride Festival event on Saturday.

The clip was initially posted to Twitter by Syrian journalist Alissa Azar, who claimed that it showed numerous Patriot Front members being detained and arrested by police. According to her account bio, Azar covers right-wing violence in the Pacific Northwest. As of Saturday evening, the clip had been viewed over 290,000 times and been shared by prominent left-wing commentator Ron Filipkowski.

“Oh look, white nationalist ‘Patriot Front’ tried to crash a Pride event in Idaho today using their patented U-Haul box truck transport system and got busted,” Filipkowski wrote. “Sad.”

Around 20 members of the group were arrested at the event, according to local CBS affiliate KREM. They were found in a U-Haul stopped by local police and detained. As can be seen in the video, they wore matching outfits consisting of dark blue shirts, beige pants, hats, sunglasses, and white masks covering the bottoms of their faces.

The individuals found in the truck were detained with zip ties and arrested one by one. KREM noted that homemade riot shields and other pieces of protective equipment could be seen amongst other evidence taken from the truck.

Members of the white nationalist Patriot Front group were allegedly arrested Saturday while attempting to disrupt an Idaho LGBT Pride event. Above, a representational image of a pride flag. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Patriot Front is, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a Neo-nazi group founded in Texas in 2017 in the aftermath of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The group is described as “staunchly white nationalist” and committed to “the formation of a white ethnostate.” It is known for spreading its messages through theatrical public displays, such as hanging banners, or disrupting public events.

“When PF orchestrates protests or public appearances, they are typically tightly choreographed and scripted to maximize propaganda value,” the SPLC post on the group explains. “Virtually all its activities are undertaken with propaganda value in mind.”

According to Twitter users responding to the clip, the incident took place in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, at its Pride in the Park event. On Friday, the Spokesman-Review newspaper reported that organizers of the eventwere planning to move ahead despite plans for a counter-event being planned by the group, Panhandle Patriots, to “go head-to-head” with the Pride festival.

It is unclear if the alleged Patriot Front members from Azar’s clip were in any way associated with the Panhandle Patriots event. Newsweek reached out to law enforcement for comment.