BOISE, Idaho — North Idaho was pushed to the forefront of the nation’s attention Saturday when 31 members of a white nationalist group were arrested in Coeur d’Alene.
Members of the Patriot Front, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center described as a “white nationalist hate group,” were arrested downtown near a Pride in the Park event when police pulled over a U-Haul truck and found the members inside, with riot gear and at least one smoke grenade.
In the aftermath of the arrests, Coeur d’Alene Mayor Jim Hammond referenced the city’s history with hate groups and extremism, particularly a neo-Nazi compound that existed in Hayden Lake, a suburb just north of Coeur d’Alene. Hammond also said that Coeur d’Alene had become a place that “respects and welcomes everyone,” according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
