Western States Center Reacts to Sentencing of Patriot Front Members a Year After Coeur D’Alene Pride Intimidation Stunt

Yesterday, a jury convicted five Patriot Front members on the misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to riot by disturbing the peace for their role in the intimidation stunt at a Pride event last year. Today they were sentenced to three days in jail plus a $1,000 fine. In response, Lindsay Schubiner, Director of Programs at Western States Center, a Portland-based civil rights group working to counter anti-democracy and bigoted forces in the Pacific Northwest and around the country, released the following statement.

“Last June, more than thirty members of the white nationalist  group Patriot Front were arrested after plotting to descend on a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene to intimidate and threaten the attendees. Yesterday, an Idaho jury rejected a defense riddled with conspiracy theories and found five members of Patriot Front guilty for their role in last year’s attempted attacks; today, they were all sentenced. While trials related to this incident are ongoing, we applaud the legal system for continuing to hold bigoted intimidators accountable for their actions that threaten LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups. 

“While legal accountability is an important part of protecting communities, we also celebrate the ways in which the entire Coeur d’Alene community– local government, business leaders, community members, allies and attendees– stepped up to bolster support for this year’s Pride event and protect it from outside anti-democracy targeting. This Pride season, we saw how, in many instances,  a community’s robust condemnation of bigoted attacks can be effective in preventing them. That’s why we continue to promote whole-of-society responses to anti-democracy and bigoted forces.” 

You can reference Western States Center’s Protecting Pride organizing guide, which provides helpful organizing tactics, here: https://www.westernstatescenter.org/protectingpride