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COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Six Utah men were among a large alleged white supremacist group arrested Saturday and accused of planning to stage a riot at an LGBTQ rally in Idaho.
Police had received information over the previous two days that people planned to disrupt the pride events in Coeur D'Alene, causing officers to have a large presence at the events, Coeur D'Alene Police Chief Lee White said during a news conference streamed by channel KHQ-Q6 on Sunday.
At 1:38 p.m. on Sunday, a "concerned citizen" reported that about 20 people "jumped into a U-Haul wearing masks. They had shields and quote 'looked like a little army,'" Lee said
Police made a traffic stop about 10 minutes later and detained 31 people in the van. They were wearing shields, shin guards and other riot gear, including "at least one smoke grenade," according to the police chief.
The Utah men arrested included Jared Michael Boyce, 27, of Springville; Branden Mitchell Haney, 35, of Kaysville; Cameron Kathan Pruitt, 23, of Midway; Alexander Nicholai Sisenstein, 27, of Midvale; Dakota Ray Tabler, 29, of West Valley City; and Nathaniel Taylor Whitfield, 24, of Elk Ridge, according to an Idaho jail booking report.
Lee said those people were arrested for investigation of conspiracy to riot. Although conspiracy to riot is a misdemeanor charge, Lee told reporters he would rather arrest the group to prevent the riot than allow them to start the riot.
"At this point, they appeared to be affiliated with the group Patriot Front," he said. The group members were each wearing the same outfit, with insignia and logos, and one patch that read Patriot Front.
The group included people from numerous states including Texas, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Arkansas, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Virginia, Lee said.
Officers were expected to continue booking evidence over the next several days.
"I don't think this would have been as successful had we not had one extremely astute citizen who saw something that was very concerning to them and reported it to us. It is clear to us, based on the gear that the individuals had all with them, the stuff they had in their possession in the U-Haul with them, along with the paperwork that was seized with them, that they came to riot downtown," Lee said.
He said the paperwork "appeared to be similar" to an operations plan that would be used by the military.
When asked if the people had firearms, Lee said he did not have that information. He said he didn't personally see any firearms.
Lee did not know where they rented the U-Haul, but they loaded it up at the parking lot of a local hotel.
