According to authorities, several members of a white supremacist group, including Thomas Rousseau, were arrested in Idaho on Saturday before they could carry out plans to riot at a local Pride event.
As a member of his high school newspaper, Thomas Rousseau began to reveal his support for white supremacy. This helped him quickly rise to the top of the racist right, first with Vanguard America and then with the formation of the Patriot Front.
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Patriot Front as “a white nationalist hate group” that split off from another far-right group following the tragic Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
Is Thomas Rousseau Arrested In Coeur d’Alene?
According to Lee White, the chief of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, the police detained and charged 31 people who belonged to a far-right group known as Patriot Front after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen.
Thomas Rousseau, the founder of Patriot Front, was among those arrested on criminal conspiracy charges, according to Kootenai County jail records.
According to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, a person reported seeing a group of people hop into a U-Haul van near the junction of Northwest Boulevard and Interstate 90 in Coeur d’Alene.
The North Idaho Pride Alliance was conducting its annual “Pride in the Park” celebration at Coeur d’Alene City Park, just a few miles away.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Patriot Front is a Texas-based white supremacist group that emerged when members of the next white supremacist group, Vanguard America, split up following the Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
Who Is Thomas Rousseau? All We Know About Founder of Patriot Front
Thomas Rousseau was born and raised in the Dallas suburbs, where he graduated from Coppell High School.
During his time at Coppell High School, he was a member of The Sidekick, the student newspaper, where he was the staff cartoonist during his senior year.
He also helped with video production and contributed to the paper’s comment pieces. This appears to be where the young white supremacist honed the propaganda-making talents that catapulted his swift rise to the top of the racist right, first with Vanguard America and then with the formation of the Patriot Front.
Rousseau routinely penned opinion letters supporting conservative causes while working for his high school newspaper, including Texas’ contentious “campus carry” law and North Carolina’s now-gutted “bathroom bill.” During the 2016 election, he was also a staunch backer of Donald Trump.
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Thomas Rousseau Charges- Is He Sentenced Jail?
Lee White claimed Thomas Rousseau, along with other involved people, was charged with conspiring to riot, a misdemeanor.
According to Chief White, those arrested were wearing khaki pants, arm patches, and caps with Patriot Front emblems. Men are shown on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs in videos circulating on social media. Many of the males are wearing blue shirts and are disguised.
According to authorities, the suspects were caught in Idaho after traveling from Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, and Virginia. According to the investigators, at least one of the members resided in Idaho.
Patriot Front routinely engages in “flash protests,” which are intended to generate viral video footage and in which members typically wear masks and “khaki slacks and a blue or white polo shirt,” as well as smoke bombs, according to the A.D.L.