On Saturday, June 11, officers of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department and Kootenai County (Idaho) Sheriff’s Office made a dramatic bust of a U-Haul truck filled with uniformed “white supremacists” who, reportedly, intended to cause a riot at an “LGBTQ Pride” event. However, that is only part of the story. It appears that the primary intent of those arrested (virtually all of whom were out-of-state actors) was to barge in uninvited and associate themselves with Christian groups that were carrying out a peaceful, prayerful counter-demonstration to the LGBTQ event at a different nearby park. The story of the arrests immediately went viral with sensational headlines, photos, and video footage tailored to fit the relentless media theme of red states as dangerous bastions of right-wing, racist, Trumpist, homophobic extremism. In this article we will be reporting on the story behind the headlines, the lessons that this incident provides, and the warning it signals about similar events that are likely in store for us in the future.
As the Nancy Pelosi/Liz Cheney dog-and-pony hoax known as the House Select Committee on January 6 revved up in June, patriots across the country went on alert, concerned that provocations might be cooked up to justify the committee’s ongoing “investigation” and to boost the Pelosi-Cheney narrative that “white nationalism” is running rampant in the republic. This is not the result of patriot paranoia; there is good reason to be concerned that agents provocateurs from the Antifa/BLM Left or the FBI (or both) would create violent incidents that the Fake News media would exploit to further demonize conservatives and advance the “progressive” police-state agenda. After all, it is not like this has never happened before. There is ample evidence that FBI operatives played enough key roles in the Capitol melee of January 6, 2021 to warrant the suspicion that it was a “Fedsurrection” rather than the “insurrection” the media bloviators and political hacks would have us believe it was.
Remember too that the FBI’s man in charge of its Washington, D.C., office at the time of the “insurrection” (and still serving in that capacity) is Steven D’Antuono, the same FBI official who orchestrated and oversaw the phony kidnapping plot of Michigan’s radical Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, by a “militia” group composed almost completely of the FBI’s own agents or its paid informants. That FBI operation culminated in sensational arrests just three weeks before the 2020 presidential election, conveniently timed to provide the Biden campaign and its media collaborators with ammunition to blast Donald Trump 24/7 with accusations that he was encouraging and inspiring terrorism and insurrection. It couldn’t have been more advantageously concocted to aid the Democrats if it had been scripted by the Democratic National Committee. And perhaps it was, since, as the recent history of the Trump and Biden administrations shows, the DNC and the DOJ/FBI work together seamlessly. And even though the trials of the “Whitmer kidnap plot” have, thus far, ended in acquittals for the defendants on grounds of entrapment and have exposed gross criminal abuse and conspiracy by the FBI, it has been almost completely ignored by the daily outrage lobby of the controlled media. Thus, the DNC/DOJ/FBI cabal undoubtedly feels emboldened to continue with impunity these criminal operations against the American people.
Decades of DOJ/FBI Criminality
Unfortunately, the Whitmer case and the January 6 Capitol riot represent only the tip of a very big iceberg of corruption demonstrating that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been thoroughly politicized and weaponized for decades. Going back more than thirty years, the bureau, under FBI Directors Louis Freeh (under President Bill Clinton), Robert Mueller (under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama), and James Comey (under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump), has authorized and carried out hundreds of “sting” operations that allegedly uncovered terrorist plots — usually by “Muslim extremists” or “right-wing extremists” — but later were shown to have been FBI entrapments of misfits that likely never would have engaged in any of the activities of which they were accused without incitement (including planning, financing, and encouragement) by the FBI. The New American has reported on this in depth over the years (see, for example, here, here, here, here, and here.)
Lest you think this is the result of perfervid right-wing imaginings, it should be noted that liberal-left academics and media outlets such as Rolling Stone, Salon, The Daily Beast, The Intercept, and BuzzFeedNews have also reported extensively on this phenomenon of the FBI creating the various terror threats it claims to be exposing and fighting.
With all of the above in mind, political conservatives in northern Idaho warily eyed the LGBTQ “Pride in the Park” extravaganza scheduled for June 11 at Coeur d’Alene City Park as an event that was very likely to turn into an FBI false flag operation like the Whitmer case or the January 6 provocation.
A telephone call from a person at a local hotel in Coeur d’Alene reportedly prompted the bust of the U-Haul truck. According to Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White, the caller saw a large group of people wearing masks and wielding shields “like a little army” jump into a U-Haul truck in the hotel parking lot. Dozens of law enforcement officers converged on the truck as it approached the much-publicized event at City Park. Multiple citizen journalists with video cameras were on hand to chronicle the opening of the truck’s cargo doors, revealing that the cargo hold was jam-packed with 31 members of the neo-Nazi Patriot Front, including the group’s national leader. Oliver Dingman of NorthIdahoNews was on the scene when the Patriot Front vehicle was stopped, and caught the action as the truck’s doors were opened and the occupants filed out and were arrested.
Independent video journalists Casey Whelan of NorthIdahoExposed, and Chad Catron of North Country Off Grid,who were covering the “Pride in the Park” event, also captured the arrests on video, as did many tourists and passersby, with some quickly posting video and photos online or even livestreaming the arrests as they were happening. Within minutes the story went viral, and within hours national and global media were posting sensational stories about police stopping a “little army” of “white nationalists.” The stories served (and continue to serve) to reinforce several prevailing narratives of the Fake News media: 1) That “white nationalists,” “white supremacists,” “Christian nationalists,” and other designated “right-wing extremists” were at the heart of the “January 6 insurrection” and continue to pose an existential threat to America; 2) That Donald Trump and other proponents of an America First agenda are motivated by hate and racism; 3) That the widespread opposition to transgenderism, Drag Queen Story Hours, and other programs of the militant LGBTQIA(LMNOPXYZ) mob is a manifestation of neo-Nazi bigotry; and 4) That Idaho — and especially the conservative northern Idaho panhandle — is a hotbed of violent, gun-toting, redneck racists.
In addition to all of the above, another controversial aspect of the “Pride” event was its official co-sponsorship by the Temple of Satan Idaho, which announced that it would be “performing unbaptisms for those interested.” Only several weeks prior to the event, the Temple of Satan Idaho had raised local ire by acquiring the official adopt-a-highway signs on U.S. Interstate 90 entering and exiting the east end of the city of Coeur d’Alene (see photos).
Equally concerning, if not more so, were announcements by various Antifa thugs from across the country that they were coming to Coeur d’Alene to “defend Pride” and “push back against the fash” (i.e., “fascists” — which means anyone whom they oppose).
The facts and circumstances surrounding the Patriot Front arrests raised many troubling questions and suspicions. This writer attended the Coeur d’Alene (CdA) “Pride in the Park” spectacle, and was also on hand for the Patriot Front arrests. Along with others, I had concerns that outside groups and agents provocateurs would attempt to create a violent confrontation and turn the event into a cause celebre to smear conservatives/Christians/patriots and to promote sympathy for the LGBTQ militants and drag queens who were grooming children at their X-rated, “family friendly” burlesque.
Moreover, a sufficiently violent event certainly would be exploited by the Biden-Pelosi forces and their media allies to advance the push for more federal gun control laws and expansion of federal police-state surveillance and prosecution of whoever they might designate a “domestic extremist.”
On Friday, June 10, the evening before the Pride gathering, I had seen what appeared to be a party of 15-20 Antifa activists at a WinCo supermarket parking lot a little over 2 miles from City Park. They were with vehicles with Oregon license plates, including a large van pulling a loaded flatbed trailer covered with a tarp. While most of them were attired and coifed like typical LGBTQ activists (multi-colored hair, garish clothing, piercings, and tattoos) and of ambiguous gender, what stuck out was that five of them were uncharacteristically dressed in olive drab or camouflage Army Surplus fatigues. It suggested that the uniformed members of the group might be planning to pose as local “militia” members to “discredit from within,” a tactic promoted by Saul Alinsky and other radical leftists. This was the same parking lot from which an out-of-state Antifa/BLM mob had launched their failed invasion of Coeur d’Alene in June of 2020. While Portland, Seattle, Spokane, and dozens of other cities across the United States were going up in flames and suffering devastating riots, hundreds of armed citizens of Coeur d’Alene turned out to protect their town and send a message that rioters and looters were not welcome. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Antifa/BLM mob opted, on that occasion, for a nonviolent protest in the park. The peaceful and successful showdown, which became known as “Gun d’Alene”, put Coeur d’Alene in the crosshairs of leftwing politicians and the Fake News media, as well as Antifa/BLM and the Biden FBI/DOJ.
What to Know About Patriot Front
The most important fact to know about Patriot Front is that its founder and leader, Thomas Rousseau, was one of the leaders of the deadly, neo-Nazi “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August of 2017. He and other extremists at that event carried out a coordinated plan to associate their racist beliefs with President Donald Trump. The anti-Trump/anti-America media was only too happy to oblige, and have been ever since smearing Trump and all Americans concerned about our open borders with the racist label and imagery from the violent “Unite the Right” event. Rousseau had participated in that mayhem as a leader of Vanguard America. Shortly thereafter, Rousseau had a public spat with Vanguard America “Commander” Dillon Irizarry and split to form Patriot Front.
It is worth noting that Patriot Front’s “little army” arrested in Idaho was not from Idaho. Thomas Rousseau and the 30 additional Patriot Front members arrested in Idaho came from Washington, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Wyoming, and Arkansas. The same can be said for much of the LGBTQ contingent at the “Pride in the Park.” A survey by this reporter of the parking areas around the park showed that many of the rainbow-festooned participants had come from Washington, Oregon, Montana, California, and Nevada. What Coeur d’Alene faced on June 11 was two opposing groups, both of which were made up of out-of-state activists.
The Real Target
While the ostensible target of Rousseau’s Patriot Front was the Pride in the Park event, the evidence points to the likelihood that Rousseau’s real objective was to discredit the Christian patriot groups that were opposing the LGBTQ/Drag Queen/Satanist freak fest. Led by Pastor Warren Mark Campbell of Lordship Church (formerly in Coeur d’Alene, now in Bonners Ferry, Idaho); Pastors Matt Shea and Gabe Blomgren of On Fire Ministries in Spokane, Washington; and other pastors, about 200 Christians — including many military veterans — conducted a “prayer walk” through downtown Coeur d’Alene and continued their witness with prayers and speeches at McEuen Park, about a block away from the LGBTQ event. The Pride affair had been scheduled from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., while the Christian counter-event had been scheduled for 3:00 p.m. – 6 p.m., with the spacing and timing arranged to avoid conflict between the two groups. This reporter was at the McEuen Park prayer event at 3:35 p.m. when I was notified of the then-occurring Patriot Front bust, and ran back to City Park to witness the arrests. Of particular interest is that Patriot Front had parked a second U-Haul truck in the parking lot of McEuen Park as their extraction vehicle, which is their modus operandi, as evidenced by news stories of their recent exploits and propaganda videos on Patriot Front’s own website. With many other possible places to park it, why would Patriot Front choose to park their vehicle so close by the pavilion where the Christian prayer groups were meeting, except to implicate the Christians in Patriot Front’s planned disruptions?
Having interviewed people who took part in the Christian prayer walk and McEuen Park event, it appears that they narrowly avoided being victimized by Rousseau’s Patriot Front, which intended to take over their prayer walk and brand them with the racist label. In addition to placing their getaway truck in close proximity to the Christians, the Patriot Front interlopers had “spotters” tracking the prayer walk, with the apparent intention of crashing the walk as it wound through Coeur d’Alene city streets. “We were Providentially saved from the Patriot Front’s plan to wreck our peaceful prayer walk because we repeatedly changed our route from our previously scheduled itinerary,” Pastor Matt Shea told The New American. “Those changes, together with local law enforcement taking the Patriot Front down, saved us from being falsely tied to the Patriot Front, with which we have no connection.”
Nonetheless, Pastor Shea, a former Washington State representative who has been the target of vicious attacks by leftwing groups and the media for several years, did not escape the smear machine unscathed. Local and national media jumped on the fact that Mishael Buster, a former attendee of the On Fire Ministries church, and his brother, Josiah Buster, were among the Patriot Front members arrested in Coeur d’Alene.
Pastor Gabe Blomgren of On Fire Ministries, a multi-racial church community, strongly denounced the Patriot Front and its racist ideology, and also hinted at the pagan roots Patriot Front shares with associated neo-Nazi and “Alt-right” groups.
“The organization Patriot Front has nothing to say about the Lord Jesus Christ — not one exalting word in their garbage manifestos, which frankly make me sick,” Blomgren said at a pro-life worship service a Spokane’s Riverfront Park on June 18. “I’ll say publicly that Patriot Front needs to have the word ‘patriot’ scrubbed from it, because there’s nothing patriotic about hating other races, and they are clearly a racist organization. We denounce everything they stand for.”
Since the Unite the Right fiasco, Patriot Front and other similar groups have rebranded themselves as “patriot” groups and decided to soft-sell their racism and national socialism. At the same time they have adopted patriotic symbols and Christian-sounding, pro-family rhetoric, along with co-opting hot-button issues that will resonate with conservatives: border control, anti-gun-control, anti-CRT, anti-Drag Queen Story Hour, etc. These moves make it easier to disguise their true character and make it easy for lazy or partisan journalists to portray Christian patriots and neo-Nazis as cut from the same cloth.
Responding to the media attacks, Matt Shea denounced Patriot Front in a Facebook podcast in which he reiterated On Fire Ministries’ position that “we are all created in the image of God” and that their church is concerned with “spiritual purity, not racial purity.” Joining him on the podcast were two elders of the church, Willie Green and Alonzo Hardy, both of whom are black. Willie Green told listeners that in his opinion the Patriot Front involvement at the Pride event “was a setup” intended to reflect negatively on their church in particular and Christian conservatives in general. Alonzo Hardy dittoed those remarks, and pointed out that the church shouldn’t be held responsible for people they try to help who go off the rails, like Mishael Buster. Matt Shea noted that On Fire Ministries “ministers to many troubled people” who have drug or alcohol addictions or other personal problems, and sometimes these people end up leaving the church to follow the false paths and lies of the world.
Troubling Questions
Following their arrests, the Patriot Front members were booked into the Kootenai County Jail on charges of “conspiracy to riot,” a misdemeanor under Idaho law. They were bonded out on the following Monday for $300 apiece.
Here are a few of the many still-unanswered questions concerning the Patriot Front/Pride in the Park event:
- Why did Patriot Front founder Thomas Rousseau personally come to Idaho to lead the group’s planned activities in little Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, when he had similar operations going on the same day in major venues such as Chicago and Washington, D.C.?
- Who has been paying for Patriot Front’s uniforms, travel expenses, lodging, meals, jail bail, fines, and other expenses for its Coeur d’Alene excursion and its many similar operations across the country?
- Why did Rousseau, who runs the most visible and most highly disciplined white nationalist group and who prides himself on operational security and the precision of his logistics, have a detailed plan of his entire operation on hand to be taken by authorities?
- If Rousseau’s purpose was simply to confront the LGBTQ activists in the park, why did he have spotters on bicycles shadowing the Christian prayer walk?
- Why did Rousseau have his getaway U-Haul positioned very close to the scheduled Christian prayer event at McEuen Park?
- Is Thomas Rousseau, like many other “white nationalists,” an operative for the FBI?
One thing is for sure: we are not going to get an answer to that last question from the current FBI, which has become a primary enforcement tool of the Deep State. Recall the ludicrous stonewalling by FBI officials to questioning by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) of FBI officials during a hearing this past January. To repeated questions asking if the FBI had agents or confidential informants actively involved in the January 6 “insurrection” or if they had actively encouraged or incited violence, the FBI officials repeatedly provided the stock response, “I can’t answer that.”
If the November midterm elections are allowed to take place without the fraud and manipulation so prevalent in the 2020 election, we may get a Congress that will tackle these questions — and so many more troubling questions like them. However, if that does not happen, if we experience another election steal, America will continue its rapid slide into an Orwellian police state.
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