Saturday brought some rare news in the world of racist extremism: A U-Haul box truck full of white nationalists was pulled over by police in Idaho, and its passengers were arrested on misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot. The men — members of the well-known neo-fascist group Patriot Front — were allegedly on their way to a pride event in Coeur d’Alene, where police say they planned to riot.
The men — members of the well-known neo-fascist group Patriot Front — were allegedly on their way to a pride event in Coeur d’Alene, where police say they planned to riot.
Often I feel like I am part of the same culture as Coeur d’Alene. My wife works in Post falls, Idaho. I live less than 20 miles from Coeur d’Alene, and 13 miles from Spokane.
But the culture of Spokane, especially the city of Spokane which I don’t live in, is significantly more progressive. My wife took my daughter, and several of her friends, to their first pride parade in Spokane on Saturday. They had a great time. My wife says that they were looking at the window, pointing at gay people and giggling, with joy. These queer kids don’t see a lot of other gay people in Spokane Valley.
Before she left she said, we’re going to the Spokane one not the Coeur d’Alene one, Coeur d’Alene one doesn’t appear safe.
It is shocking how different the cultures of these two neighbors are, and it’s all due to differences in statewide culture, and specifically differences in education.
And CdA markets itself as a conservative place to retire. So it’s like a little northern Sarasota—lots of rich Trumpers from other states re-home there.
I found it interesting that in a “live-tweet” thread during the arrest, the writer heard officers saying that the arrests happened because the FBI had been monitoring their chat group. Now we’re told that some random citizen called it in. I’m kind of skeptical of that, the police were pretty well prepared for these idiots if it was just a random “hey check out this u-haul” call.
I sort of feel for the people of North Idaho, getting a reputation of being a beacon for white nationalist, but then I find myself having a conversation with someone in CD’A (anyone), and I don’t think the slander is really that far off…