A recently formed white nationalist group has been increasingly engaged in provocative and violent activity.
Patriot Front broke off from the white nationalist group Vanguard America six years ago following the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and while their efforts initially focused on circulating racist literature or posting stickers in public spaces, the group has started holding rallies and demonstrations that seemed aimed at stoking violence, reported The Guardian.
“I think the group is morphing from a solely propaganda-based outfit to a much more violent one, based on what we’ve seen over the past couple of years," said Stephen Piggott, a researcher at Western States Center. "They’re trending to much more violence, more in-person direct actions, versus putting up stickers under the cover of night.”
“I think it’s indicative of the movement," Piggott added. "The white nationalist movement more broadly is getting more extreme, more hardcore, more violent."
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The group has repeatedly targeted Pride events and other LGBTQ events, including drag brunches, and police arrested 31 Patriot Front members last year in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where witnesses said they had packed into a rental truck "like a little army," and counterprotesters have mocked their distinctive uniform of beige pants and blue button-up shirts.
“You wear Walmart khakis!” one bystander heckled last month at a demonstration in Washington. “You are sloppy! You are not even matching! You all have different types of pants on! Cargo pants are out! Reclaim your virginity!”
Their marches have resulted in violence, including an attack on Black artist Charles Murrell last year in Boston, and the group has marched on Indianapolis, Chattanooga and Nashville.
“Patriot Front worries me a lot more than other groups because of the amount of public activism that they commit to,” said Jeff Tischauser, a senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. “Any time you get these volatile, unhinged people coming into close contact with the public, situations can escalate. That’s what I worry about, because they’re in public space more than any other group."
