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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
News >  Crime/Public Safety

Sheriff’s Office releases names of 31 Patriot Front members arrested in Saturday bust

June 12, 2022 Updated Mon., June 13, 2022 at 3:24 p.m.

All 31 members of a white nationalist group arrested on suspicion of conspiring to riot in Coeur d’Alene during a Pride event had bonded out of the Kootenai County Jail as of Sunday afternoon.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office released the names and photos of all suspects on Sunday, a day after the Coeur d’Alene police chief said the Patriot Front members were en route to the Pride in the Park event with riot gear, a smoke grenade and paperwork police say resembled an operations plan.

Patriot Front is a white nationalist group with branches across the country that specializes in vandalism, racist propaganda and “flash demonstrations” meant to intimidate minorities, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.

The Patriot Front members were discovered packed inside of the back of a U-Haul moving truck after a concerned citizen tipped police off about what looked like “a little army.”

Thomas R. Rousseau, the group’s founder, was among those arrested. Also arrested were Kieran P. Morris, Garret J. Garland and Mitchell F. Wagner, all of whom were documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center and activist groups as active members of hate groups, according to an April report by the center.

Wagner, who is listed in court documents to be from Florissant, Missouri, was charged with felony first-degree property damage after he was accused of defacing a Black history mural at Washington University in St. Louis in March, according to Southern Poverty Law Center and news reports from that area.

The Sheriff’s Office said the men were from all across the country, including Michigan, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, Washington, Oregon, Illinois and Arkansas. Court records indicate that at least one of the men had lived in Missouri.

Their names are:

  • Jared M. Boyce.
  • Nathan D. Brenner.
  • Colton M. Brown.
  • Josiah D. Buster.
  • Mishael J. Buster.
  • Devin W. Center.
  • Dylan C. Corio
  • Winston W. Durham.
  • Garret J. Garland.
  • Branden M. Haney.
  • Richard J. Jessop.
  • James M. Johnson.
  • James J. Johnson.
  • Kieran P. Morris.
  • Lawrence A. Norman.
  • Justin M. Oleary.
  • Cameron K. Pruitt.
  • Forrest C. Rankin.
  • Thomas R. Rousseau.
  • Conor J. Ryan.
  • Spencer T. Simpson.
  • Alexander N. Sisenstein.
  • Derek J. Smith.
  • Dakota R. Tabler.
  • Steven D. Tucker.
  • Wesley E. Van Horn.
  • Mitchell F. Wagner.
  • Nathaniel T. Whitfield.
  • Robert B. Whitted.
  • Graham J. Whitsom.
  • Connor P. Moran.

The Sheriff’s Office said it is unknown when their next court appearance would be.

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