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A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 13 June 2022
Patriot Front leader among those arrested near Idaho Pride

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST by counterprotesters citing
and SAM METZ religious objections, they
Associated Press haven't historically been a
After the arrest of more major focus for armed ex-
than two dozen mem- tremist groups. Still, it isn't
bers of a white suprema- surprising, given how anti-
cist group near a northern LGBTQ rhetoric has increas-
Idaho pride event, includ- ingly become a potent ral-
ing one identified as its lying cry in the far-right on-
founder, LGBTQ advocates line ecosystem, Lewis said.
said Sunday that polariza- "That set of grievances fits
tion and a fraught political into their broader narra-
climate are putting their tives and shows their ability
community increasingly at to mobilize the same folks
risk. against the enemy over
The 31 Patriot Front mem- and over and over again,"
bers were arrested with riot he said.
gear after a tipster report- The arrests come amid a
ed seeing people loading surge of charged rhetoric
up into a U-Haul like "a little around LGBTQ issues and
army" at a hotel parking lot a wave of state legisla-
in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, tion aimed at transgender
police said. youth, said John McCrostie,
Among those booked into the first openly gay man
jail on misdemeanor charg- Authorities arrest members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event elected to the Idaho Leg-
es of conspiracy to riot was Saturday, June 11, 2022, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot islature. In Boise this week,
Thomas Ryan Rousseau gear. dozens of Pride flags were
of Grapevine, Texas, who Associated Press stolen from city streets.
has been identified by the "Whenever we are con-
Southern Poverty Law Cen- was previously charged ment issue. "Even if you tremism. fronted with attacks of
ter as the 23-year-old who with defacing a mural of don't like the speech, they Their playbook, Lewis said, hate, we must respond with
founded the group after famous Black Americans have the right to make it," involves identifying local the message from the com-
the deadly "Unite the Right" on a college campus in St. he said. grievances to exploit, orga- munity that we embrace all
rally in Charlottesville, Vir- Louis last year. Patriot Front is a white su- nizing on platforms like the people with all of our differ-
ginia, in 2017. No attorney Michael Kielty, Wagner's at- premacist neo-Nazi group messaging app Telegram ences," McCrostie said in a
was immediately listed for torney, said Sunday that he whose members perceive and ultimately showing up text message. Sunday also
him and phone numbers had not been provided in- Black Americans, Jews and to events marching in neat marked six years since the
associated with him went formation about the charg- LGBTQ people as enemies, columns, in blue- or white- mass shooting that killed
unanswered Sunday. es. He said Patriot Front did said Jon Lewis, a George collared-shirt uniforms, in a 49 people at the Orlando
Also among the arrestees not have a reputation for Washington University re- display of strength. LGBTQ club Pulse, said Troy
was Mitchell F. Wagner, 24, violence and that the case searcher who specializes Though Pride celebrations Williams with Equality Utah
of Florissant, Missouri, who could be a First Amend- in homegrown violent ex- have long been picketed in Salt Lake City.q

Tundra wildfire creeps closer toward Alaska Native community

Even though it had moved nearby communities of conditions are also expect-
1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) Pitkas Point and Mountain ed, including increased
closer to the Yup'ik com- Village and properties, in- cloud cover, higher humid-
munity since Saturday, fire cluding cabins, between ity and cooler tempera-
managers said the prog- them. No structures have tures. Officials also said the
ress has slowed somewhat been lost in the fire. front may switch the wind
because of favorable The fire is also 10 miles (16 direction to the southwest,
weather conditions. The kilometers) from another which would help push the
temperatures were slightly community, Pilot Station. fire away from villages.
cooler with rising humidity, Firefighters were expect- Even though there are no
which could help moder- ed to evaluate options of mandatory evacuations,
ate fire conditions. How- opening a preexisting fire the combined 700 resi-
ever, winds are expected line around that communi- dents of St. Mary's and Pit-
to remain steady out of the ty. Another fire northwest of kas Point, located about 10
north, helping move the fire the East Fork fire is growing, miles (16 kilometers) south,
This June 10, 2022, aerial photo provided by the Bureau of Land toward populated areas. but it still about 25 miles (40 have been on alert since
Management Alaska Fire Service shows a tundra fire burning
near the community of St. Mary's, Alaska. The fire is burning in dry kilometers) north of Moun- Friday to prepare for pos-
Associated Press grass and shrubs like alder tain Village. sible evacuation.
and willow in the mostly There are 204 personnel Nearly 150 residents from
By MARK THIESSEN not been ordered, fire offi- treeless tundra in southwest working the East Fork fire, the affected communities
Associated Press cials said Sunday. Alaska. The fire was started which has grown to 190 have already temporarily
A tundra wildfire continued The East Fork fire was within by lightning May 31. square miles (492 square relocated to the southwest
to creep closer to an Alas- 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) of Firefighters are working to kilometers). Additional per- Alaska hub community of
ka Native community in St. Mary's, a statement from strengthen primary and sonnel are expected to ar- Bethel. St. Mary's is located
southwest Alaska, but man- Alaska Wildland Fire Infor- secondary fire lines pro- rive Monday, when even about 450 miles (724 kilome-
datory evacuations have mation said. tecting St. Mary's and the more favorable weather ters) west of Anchorage.q