SPOKANE — The second trial of Patriot Front defendants started in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday with defense attorneys using the same arguments to defend the white nationalist members : focusing on the right to protest versus conspiracy to riot.
Wesley Van Horn, Kieran Morris and 29 other members of the far-right group are accused of piling into a U-Haul moving truck bound for downtown Coeur d’Alene with plans of disrupting the Pride in the Park event last year.
A citizen witnessed the “little army,” dressed alike with tight white masks and some with shields, getting into the truck. The citizen called 911 to report the odd behavior, allowing law enforcement agencies to intercept the men on Northwest Boulevard, just north of City Park where hundreds of people were attending the LGBTQ+-friendly gathering.
Van Horn and Morris are facing trial this week on the charge of conspiracy to commit riot by disturbing the peace.
A jury convicted five of the 31 members of the same charge last month. Devin Center, James J. Johnson, Forrest Rankin, Robert Whitted and Derek Smith were sentenced to five days in jail, including two days credit for time served, and one year of probation.
Another member, Alexander Sisenstein, was sentenced in November to two years of probation and a $500 fine after pleading guilty to disturbing the peace.
Ryan Hunter, deputy city attorney, said in opening arguments Tuesday the men traveled across the country not to peacefully protest, but to “willfully and maliciously” disturb the Pride attendees.
“No one has the right to interfere with another person’s peaceful, lawful exercise of their First Amendment right to freedom of speech and assembly,” Hunter said.
Rick Baughman, Van Horn’s attorney, said the members have the right to free speech and to assemble. He said they did not intend violence and did not carry weapons.
Hunter argued the metal shields some of the men had could be used as a weapon.
Baughman said the jury will see a video in which the members reminded each other to be quiet and nonviolent at the protest.
“They wanted to protest. That’s what they intended to do,” Baughman said.
Hunter said the concerned resident, Keith, whose last name was not released, was walking his dog and charging his electric vehicle the afternoon of June 11, 2022, at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott on Seltice Way when he noticed suspicious activity in the hotel parking lot.
Keith testified Tuesday that about six vehicles, including the U-Haul truck, pulled into the back of the hotel parking lot, but no one exited the vehicles for a few minutes, which he deemed strange.
The men, dressed in blue shirts, khaki pants and white face masks, eventually exited the vehicles and loaded into the back of the U-Haul, Keith said.
Keith, who served seven years in the Army, described the men as “pretty buff” and like a “well-disciplined military group.”
“They looked like a little army,” Keith said on the 911 call audio, which was played in court Tuesday.
Keith told the 911 operator the men left in the truck and it headed toward downtown Coeur d’Alene on Northwest Boulevard.
Law enforcement officers stopped the U-Haul on Northwest Boulevard near Garden Avenue, a short walk from where Van Horn and Morris sat behind their attorneys Tuesday at the courthouse.
The officers found 28 men in the back of the U-Haul and three in the cab, including the driver. Thomas Rousseau, Patriot Front’s leader, was one of the passengers in the cab.
Several men had shields, knee pads and shin guards, Hunter said. They also had medical kits, and Morris had a smoke deployment device.
Hunter said police also found an operations plan that said the group planned to storm out of the U-Haul, proceed into the park until members met “barriers of entry.”
Once they met the barriers, the group planned to use bullhorns and deploy the smoke bomb to create a “spectacle” and interfere with Pride in the Park, he said.
Center testified last month that Rousseau intended to give a speech at the park while members planned to hand out the group’s flyers.
Hunter said police found the speech, which contained “insulting” language, on Rousseau.
Baughman said the men disagreed with the messaging at the Pride event, which Baughman said included men dressed as women and “dancing extremely provocatively” to songs like, “I Kissed a Girl” with children watching.
The members wanted to express their opposition to those acts.
“That’s their intent,” Baughman said. “Our society’s corrupted. That’s their intent, to voice their opinion, which we all have the right to do, especially in a public place.”
Baughman said Patriot Front presents in a “specific fashion,” with members in front kneeling with shields and members in the back carrying American flags.
As for the U-Haul truck, he said it would not make sense for 31 people to drive separately and find parking spots on a busy Saturday afternoon in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
Baughman argued officers pulled over the truck for no legal reason, claiming no law had been violated.
The officers then proceeded to point rifles and pistols at them, ordering the men to lay down on the street, “zip tying them like a loaf of bread,” Baughman said.
Morris’ attorney, Christian Phelps, said the men complied with police and were respectful.
“What had they done wrong?” Baughman said.
The trial resumes Wednesday morning.
