So What’s Going On With Patriot Front Defendants?

It was nine months ago when Patriot Front became Patriot Fail when their members were arrested for trying to crash a Pride event in Idaho. Here’s what’s been going on since and when we can expect them to see trial.

COEUR d’ALENE, ID – In June, 31 members of the neo-fascist group Patriot Front were embarrassed in spectacular fashion when they were arrested on charges of conspiracy to riot after being prevented from crashing a LGBTQ event being held in an area park. Since then one member has pled guilty, three generated bench warrants after failing to appear and the rest have upcoming court dates both pre-trial and trial.

Today was supposed to be when Patriot Front founder and leader Thomas Rousseau was to have his pre-trial appearance but his date has been rescheduled until May. Rousseau founded the group after breaking away from another group, Vanguard America, the organization he was representing when he attended the tragic 2017 “Unite the Right” Rally in Charlottesville, Va. Still scheduled for today James Julius Johnson of Concrete, Washington, who on Patriot Front chats went by the name “Tyler WA” and has a reputation for creating ghost guns and participating in Patriot Front actions while armed, a violation of the group’s rules concerning their rallies and marches.

Another member, Alexander N. Sisenstein of Midvale, Utah, pleaded guilty in November to disturbing the peace. He paid a $500 fine with two years of unsupervised probation.

Graham Whitson, Devin Center, and Forrest Rankin will be facing a jury Mar. 13 and the trial is expected to last about three days. Whitson, who goes by “Mason TX” in Patriot Front chats, and Center, who calls himself “Nathan AR” on those chats, were both identified as two persons who in 2021 defaced the Black Lives Matter / Stop Asian Hate Mural in Atlanta. Whitson, who is also one of the prominent associates in the neo-fascist media group Media 2 Rise, has had other run-ins with the law, most notably a 2017 arrest in Maryland along with fellow Patriot Front member Jeffrey Whittington, another for possession of LSD with intent to distribute. Rankin arrest cost him his position with an engineering firm. His Linkedin page has since been deleted.

Three Patriot Front members failed to appear in court for preliminary proceedings, so a judge issued a warrant for their arrests. A $2,500 arrest warrant has been issued for Derek Smith, and $1,000 warrants for Connor Moran and Jared Boyce, whose mother threw him out of her Utah home after his arrest.

Although the Pride in the Park event has been held without incident in past years, white supremacists and right wing militia groups threatened to protest last year’s outing in a park that once hosted events put on by the white supremacist Aryan Nations, which was once headquartered in Coeur d’ Alene. In the end, the event went on unabated and those who attempted to march in the park were prevented from doing so.

List of court proceedings (H/T, KHQ.com)

• Kieran P. Morris – pre-trial Mar. 17 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial Apr. 3 at 8:30 a.m.
• Dylan C. Corio – pre-trial Mar. 31 at 1:15 p.m. – jury trial Apr. 17 at 8:30 a.m.
• Thomas R. Rousseau – pre-trial May. 5 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial May. 22 at 8:30 a.m.
• Derek J. Smith – trial canceled. Bench warrant issued for $2,500. Failed to appear.  
• Dakota R. Tabler – pre-trial Apr. 6 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial – May. 1 at 8:30 a.m.
• Steven D. Tucker – pre-trial Mar. 31 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial Apr. 17 at 8:30 a.m.
• Robert B. Whitted – pre-trial Apr. 6 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial May. 1 at 8:30 a.m.
• Josiah D. Buster – pre-trial Mar. 31 at 1:15 p.m. – jury trial Apr. 17 at 8:30 a.m.
• Branden M. Haney – pre-trial Jul. 7 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial Jul. 24 at 8:30 a.m.
• James M. Johnson – pre-trial Apr. 6 at 9 a.m. – jury trial May. 1 at 8:30 a.m.
• James J. Johnson – pre-trial Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m. – jury trial Mar. 20 at 8:30 a.m. 
• Justin M. Oleary – pre-trial Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. – jury trial Mar. 27 at 8:30 a.m.
• Forrest C. Rankin – pre-trial was held on Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial Mar. 13 at 8:30 a.m.
• Spencer T. Simpson – pre-trial Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. – jury trial Mar. 27 at 8:30 a.m.
• Devin W. Center – pre-trial WAS Feb. 24 at 10:30a – jury trial Mar. 13 at 8:30 a.m.
• Winston W. Durham – pre-trial Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. – jury trial Mar. 27 at 8:30 a.m.
• Garret J. Garland – pre-trial over Zoom on Mar. 21 at 9 a.m. – jury trial Mar. 24 at 1:30 p.m.
• Nathaniel T. Whitfield – pre-trial Apr. 21 at 1:30 p.m. –  jury trial May. 8 at 8:30 a.m.
• Nathan D. Brenner – pre-trial Apr. 21 at 1:30 p.m. – jury trial May. 8 at 8:30 a.m. 
• Mishael J. Buster – pre-trial Mar. 24 at 1:30 p.m. – no jury trial scheduled yet 
• Richard J. Jessop – pre-trial Apr. 7 at 9 a.m. – jury trial Apr. 24 at 8:30 a.m. 
• Cameron K. Pruitt – pre-trial Apr. 28 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial May. 15 at 8:30 a.m.
• Conor J. Ryan – pre-trial Apr. 6 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial May. 1 at 8:30 a.m. 
• Mitchell F. Wagner – pre-trial Apr. 21 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial May. 8 at 8:30 a.m.
• Colton M. Brown – pre-trial Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. – evidentiary hearing Mar. 20 at 9 a.m. – jury trial Mar. 27 at 8:30 a.m.
• Connor P. Moran – failed to appear. Jury trial canceled. Bench warrant issued. 
• Alexander N. Sisenstein – plead guilty on Nov. 17, 2022 
• Graham J. Whitson – pre-trial was held on Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial Mar. 13 at 8:30 a.m. 
• Lawerence A. Norman – pre-trial Mar. 24 at 1:30 p.m. – jury trial not yet scheduled. 
• Jared M. Boyce – failed to appear. Jury canceled. Bench warrant issued for $1,000 
• Wesley E. Van Horn – pre-trial Mar. 17 at 10:30 a.m. – jury trial Apr. 3 at 8:30 a.m.