PF is similar to its predecessor Vanguard America in that both focus on white nationalism, but PF places a greater emphasis on professionalism, publicity, and growth, while publicly avoiding more overt expressions of racism and hate. Rousseau describes PF as a representation of “extra-political organizing,” where people frustrated that tenets of white nationalism do not exist in the traditional body politic can hold court. The group was founded by Thomas Ryan Rousseau, who left the neo-Nazi group Vanguard America following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017. In June, Simpson and Brown were arrested along with 29 alleged Patriot Front members in connection with a plot to disrupt a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.Patriot Front (PF) is a white nationalist group that aims to establish the United States as a nation of people linked by white, European-American identity and traditional values. In addition to acting as lookouts, Brown also ordered group members to intimidate passersby who noticed the group painting over the mural and to steal and smash any cell phones onlookers may have used to capture the vandalism, according to the site. He reportedly told group members to leave their phones at home so that the geolocation tracking data wouldn’t place them at the crime scene. Brown said a fence would protect the mural because “people don’t like fa***try.”īrown allegedly told Patriot Front members to serve as lookouts, intimidating passersby and smashing phones of anyone trying to record their actions. “You show people that you can do something like this, and you can get away with it, it encourages other people to do something,” he says.ĭuring a second chat between Brown and others, Brown allegedly described a plan to deface the Olympia mural. Several other Patriot Front members have been investigated concerning the vandalism, including Jacob Sundt, Richard Flannery, Justin O’Leary, and Lawrence Norman, the site reports.Īccording to a leaked audio chat obtained by Unicorn Riot, Simpson and other Patriot Front members discussed vandalism of the George Floyd statue in New York City on October 3. Two masked men patrolled the area while the Patriot Front vandals spray-painted the mural white. The video shows six men defacing a rainbow-colored mural painted on the side of a city-owned building and emblazoned with “Respect & Love Olympia.” After antigay hate crimes took place in 2014, community leaders installed the mural, the paper reports.

We will always investigate these kinds of incidents, and we will always work to hold those responsible to account in a court of law.” “I appreciate the work of the investigators, and the community members who stepped forward to assist in the investigation,” Olympia Police Chief Rich Allen said in a news release. “Acts like these have no place in Olympia. The men have been charged with the misdemeanor crime of aiding and abetting graffiti.

The organization is a white nationalist hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Authorities say both men are known members of the Patriot Front. Ī video of the vandalism taken October 16 led police to identify 20-year-old Spencer Thomas Simpson and 23-year-old Colton Michael Brown as suspects. The men have been charged with defacing a community mural in Olympia, and other arrests are expected, The News Tribune reports. Prosecutors say that hate-crime charges could be on the way. Two white supremacists who were arrested in Idaho last month are now charged with a crime in neighboring Washington relating to vandalism. Respect and Love mural on rainbow background in Olympia, Washington.

Patriot front