31 White Supremacist Homophobes Were Arrested in Idaho. 29 Came From Out-Of-State.


     With the January 6th hearings in full swing, I'm taking some time taking advantage of the momentum against the right to highlight the domestic terrorism the GOP is responsible for across our country, from threats against election workers and elected officials to the continued fallout from the January 6th insurrection. On that latter point, there are a few things I have to say. On July 1st, I will launch Insurrection Detection, a website dedicated to systematically documenting, tracking, and providing commentary on the nearly 900 Capitol insurrectionists and any more who have yet to be arrested.

     Also on the Capitol note, one man who may or may not have broken the law that day by being on Capitol grounds is Derrick Van Orden, who is currently the likely Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 3rd District, which encompasses virtually the entire western half of my home state, including La Crosse and Eau Claire. Van Orden has made national news by storming a library and harassing an underaged girl working there for the fact that the library had a book display featuring LGBT2SQIA+ characters. His pattern of behavior is not unusual: this Pride Month, numerous groups of Proud Boys, in particular, raided libraries and schools and harassed children who were there to have a book read to them. In one location in Indiana, a group of LGBT2SQIA+ rights activists formed a human shield to protect the kids from the violent extremists.

     The most notable event was in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. The state has a long history with far-right militia groups, but the surprise here was that, of the 31 men who were pulled from the back of a U-Haul while wearing military and police gear, forced to their knees, and arrested for conspiracy to riot at the local pride event, 29 came from out of the state. That is because they were all members of the right-wing terrorist group Patriot Front, headed by white supremacist Thomas Ryan Rousseau of Grapevine, Texas, as well as of Charlottesville fame. Their names and home states will be included below. I'll be focusing mostly on the seven men from Texas as part of my "Texas Terrorists" series, which has ranged from the firebombing of the Austin Democratic Party headquarters to the attack on the Biden bus prior to the 2020 election to armed assaults against civilians by GOP megadonors and much more:

Texas:
  1. Josiah Daniel Buster, 24, of Watauga
  2. Connor Patrick Moran, 23, of Watauga
  3. Kieran Padraig Morris, 27, of Haslet
  4. Thomas Ryan Rousseau, 23, of Grapevine
  5. Steven Derrick Tucker, 30, of Haslet
  6. Graham Jones Whitsom, 31, of Haslet
  7. Robert Benjamin Whitted, 22, of Conroe (GUILTY)
Idaho:
  1. Winston North Durham, 21, of Genesse
  2. Richard Jacob Jessop, 21, of Idaho Falls
Utah:
  1. Jared Michael Boyce, 27, of Soringville
  2. Branden Mitchel Haney, 35, of Kaysville
  3. Cameron Kathan Pruitt, 23, of Midway
  4. Alexander Nicholai Sisenstein, 27, of Midvale
  5. Dakota Ray Tabler, 29, of West Valley City
  6. Nathaniel Taylor Whitfield, 24, of Elk Ridge
Colorado:
  1. Nathan David Brenner, 26, of Lewisville
  2. Forrest Clark Rankin, 28, of Wheat Ridge (GUILTY) 
  3. Conor James Ryan, 23, of Thornton
Alabama:
  1. Wesley Evan Van Horn, 34, of Lexington (GUILTY)
Washington:
  1. Colton Michael Brown, 23, of Rovendale
  2. Mishael Joshua Buster, 22, of Spokane
  3. James Michael Johnson, 36, of Concrete (GUILTY)
  4. Justin Michael Oleary, 27, of Des Moines
  5. Spencer Thomas Simpson, 20, of Ellensburg
Arkansas:
  1. Devin Wayne Center, 22, of Fayetteville (GUILTY)
Wyoming:
  1. Dylan Carter Corio, 21, of Cheyenne
Illinois:
  1. Joseph Garret Garland, 23, of Freeburg
South Dakota:
  1. James Julius Johnson, 40, of Sioux Falls (GUILTY)
  2. Derek Joseph Smith, 24, of Sioux Falls (GUILTY)
Oregon:
  1. Lawrence Alexander Norman, 32, of Prospect
Missouri:
  1. Mitchell Frederick Wagner, 24, of Florissant

Comments

Post a Comment