COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — A Coeur d’Alene police captain told a jury Wednesday how a traffic stop that was supposed to end with “20 no seatbelt tickets” ended in the arrest of 31 members of a white nationalist group.
At the end of all law enforcement testimony, the state rested its case and the defense requested the charges be dropped. The defense’s request was ultimately denied.
Five members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front appeared in Kootenai County District Court on Wednesday for the second day of their trial. All five men, along with 26 others, are accused of conspiring to riot at a downtown Coeur d’Alene Pride event last June. During the second day of witness testimony, law enforcement officers described what they saw during the initial confrontation and why the group members were ultimately arrested.
However, the group’s defense attorney argued that none of their behavior constituted them as a threat nor constituted an arrest.
The five men, Devin Center, Forrest Rankin, Robert Whitted, James J. Johnson and Derek Smith, have all previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.
Day two of the trial consisted of testimony from law enforcement officers who were involved in the group’s arrest. First to testify was Coeur d’Alene Police Captain David Hagar, a responding officer who was wearing a body camera at the time of the arrests. During his testimony, he talked about law enforcement’s operation plan for the 2022 Pride event as well as what he witnessed during the incident.
According to Hagar, law enforcement knew that a lot of people would be present in downtown Coeur d’Alene on June 11, 2022. They knew that all kinds of people were going to be present, and they heard through social media or otherwise that several groups had planned some kind of protest during the Pride event.
While monitoring activity going on downtown, Hagar was eventually told about a call that came in stating that someone had seen a U-Haul truck “loading up with a small army of people” before heading southbound on Northwest Boulevard. Based on that information, Hagar said he believed the U-Haul was coming to the downtown Pride event.
While driving northbound on Northwest Boulevard, Hagar observed the U-Haul and saw three people in the cab of the truck dressed in “regular street clothes.” In his opinion, this was so they wouldn’t attract any attention to themselves.
This and several other factors created reasonable suspicion to stop the U-Haul. Hagar said the decision was made to stop them so the group wouldn’t have a chance to get to the City Park without law enforcement knowing their intentions.
During Hagar’s testimony, the prosecution played the body camera footage taken from Hagar’s camera during the confrontation. In the video, Hagar is seen approaching the U-Haul from the back corner of the passenger side. He and several other officers backed away from the U-Haul. Using information from the initial 911 call, Hagar started talking with other officers about issuing “20 no-seatbelt tickets.”
As this conversation was happening, one of the officers pulled the back hatch of the truck up, revealing 28 men in the back.
“It’s not common to have 31 people in a traffic stop,” he explained. “I wasn’t expecting to see 28-plus people in the back of a U-Haul dressed alike.”
Inside the U-Haul, Hagar said officers found approximately 15 metal shields, two plastic shields, two 10-foot poles with what appeared to be American flags at the top, six handheld two-way radios, individual first aid kits and other protective equipment.
Hagar explained that the metal shields, which were approximately three feet long and one and a half feet wide, “could cause some serious damage” if they were used. He also observed rust and scratches on the shield shown in court, which indicated to him that it had been used and practiced with.
When asked about the flag poles, Hagar said they were approximately two feet taller than an average pole. He said he has seen videos in which people use shields to protect themselves and use a pole to engage with other people. To that, Johnson and Rankin began laughing.
The defense for the five men asked Hagar, as well as the other officers, about the group’s demeanor and actions during their arrest. Hagar said the group was compliant, non-violent and not challenging anyone to a fight. The defense argued that police made up their mind that the group was going to be arrested before the vehicle stopped simply because of their clothing, which Hagar denied.
“No one else had two-way radios. No one had shin guards. No one had reinforced baseball hats,” Hagar told the defense. “You can’t portray them as other citizens who were downtown just walking in the park.”
Coeur d’Alene Police Lieutenant Johann Schmitz, the officer who ultimately decided to arrest the group members, took the stand after Hagar. He was assigned as the commander of the uniformed patrol division on June 11, 2022, which means he was responsible for responding to calls around the city.
Schmitz said he was monitoring the basic patrol channel as well as the channel designated for officers working downtown that day. Prior to the event, he said he was aware that there were a lot of people downtown.
“A lot of different people, a lot of different opinions, a lot of tension,” Schmitz said. “It was pretty tense.”
While monitoring calls for service, Schmitz said he heard the report of a “small army” getting into the back of a U-Haul. He didn’t have any indication of who the “small army” could have been but knew law enforcement needed to respond.
“I didn’t know what their intent was, but it warranted our attention,” he explained. “A U-Haul is not a normal mode of transport for people trying to get from Point A to Point B.”
Although he was not assigned to monitor downtown, Schmitz admitted that his curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to see what was happening. Once he arrived, he described seeing the U-Haul and the group members being detained, along with other factors mentioned by the 911 caller.
During cross-examination, he told the defense that he was not aware of Patriot Front’s ideology or beliefs at that time. He said their beliefs had nothing to do with the arrests; rather, the “totality of the circumstances” helped make that decision. This included the mode of transportation, the equipment found in the back of the U-Haul and the matching outfits worn by the group.
The defense argued that reasonable suspicion of what the group might do is enough of a reason to stop them, but probable cause needs to be established in order to make an arrest. Schmitz agreed but argued that law enforcement had more than enough probable cause to arrest them.
“We don’t have to wait for someone to commit a crime,” Schmitz said. “I believe we had probable cause and the fact that we’re here today is proof of that.”
Following testimony from multiple law enforcement officers, the state rested its case. After the state rested, the defense asked the judge to drop the charges against the five men, stating there was a lack of evidence to convict them of conspiracy.
The defense stated that all witnesses called by the prosecution said that the Patriot Front members did not attempt to fight, did not disturb the peace and did not actually engage in a riot. All law enforcement officers who testified said that all 31 men complied with orders while being arrested. According to the defense, that goes against the definition of a riot.
The state rebutted, stating simply that the five men are not charged with rioting but conspiracy to riot. That means there needs to be some indication that the men had plans to riot or were prepared to riot. According to one of the detectives, the group’s plan essentially said they were ready to riot but did not go to downtown Coeur d’Alene in order to do so.
The judge ultimately denied the defense’s request, stating there is sufficient evidence to convict the five men of conspiracy to riot.
The trial is expected to continue through Thursday or Friday.
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