Thomas Rousseau, founder of the fascist group Patriot Front, was was arrested in Texas on a Virginia warrant on a charge of burning an object with intent to intimidate.
The burning object in question is apparently a Tiki torch. The case is linked to the 2017 Charlottesville hate rallies known as Unite the Right, in which white nationalist protesters flooded the University of Virginia campus holding torches and chanting Nazi slogans such as “blood and soil” as well as anti-Semitic chants such as ” Jews will not replace us.”
Rousseau was a prominent participant in the Unite the Right events, in which he participated as the leader of a fascist group called Vanguard America. In a court of 2020 depositRousseau recalled holding a torch at the tiki rally “for a while until I put it out after — after a while.”
Rousseau was reservation at the McLennan County Jail in Waco, Texas and had his own mug shot Taken on February 23rd. Jail records show he is still in custody on a charge called “BURN AN OBJECT FOR INTIMIDATION.” A telegram Position by Patriot Front reports that Patriot Front “leader” Rousseau was arrested on a “felony warrant out of Charlottesville, Virginia.” It claims Rousseau's arrest is the product of a “seven-year witch hunt by politically motivated prosecutors, stemming from the events that occurred at the 2017 Unite the Right rally.” The post calls the charge against Rousseau “fabricated.”
Under Virginia law, burning an object for the purpose of intimidation is a Class 6 feloniespunished by up to five years In prison. The Commonwealth's Attorney for Albemarle County, Virginia – where UVA is located – made similar accusations against a crowd of torch-bearing protesters last August. A message seeking confirmation that the same commonwealth's attorney is behind the new charge against Rousseau was not immediately returned.
A Texas attorney who has represented Rousseau in other legal cases says Rolling rock “will not represent him in connection with this charge” and added that he is not authorized to make statements on Rousseau's behalf.
Vanguard America, the organization that Rousseau represented at the Unite the Right rally, is classified as “Neo-Nazi” group from the Anti-Defamation League. Vanguard America's black and white logos included the faces — a bundle of wood and an ax — whence the word fascist comes from. Members also sometimes used the Nazi Sonnenrad as a symbol, according to the ADL.
Vanguard America became radioactive after Unite the Right because of its public relationship with James Fields, who is now who is serving a life sentence for plowing a car into a crowd of anti-racist counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer. Fields According to reports rallied, earlier that day, with Vanguard America, and was even photographed holding a signature Vanguard America shield. In the wake of Fields' deadly attack, which injured 30, a Vanguard America spokesperson he flatly refused Shields was an official member of the team.
The organization soon disbanded, with Rousseau forming the Patriot Front as a successor group, using some of Vanguard America's digital assets. Vanguard America used to run a website called bloodandsoil.org, for example, which now forwards visitors to the Patriot Front website.
The Patriot Front promotes an almost identical white nationalist agenda, but adds a patriotic veneer to fascism, seeking to make its far-right ideas more palatable to young recruits. “Patriot Front simply turned a black-and-white face logo into a red-white-and-blue face logo,” says Kris Goldsmith, founder of the veteran anti-fascist research nonprofit Project Butler. Rolling rock. “That's the only real difference. He still leads Rousseau. He still has the same ideology.” Butler's team issued a 238-page version report to the Patriot Front in 2022, intended as a road map for law enforcement and prosecutors to bring charges against the group, notorious for public vandalism and targeting of minority groups.
Rousseau in particular has proven difficult to pin down, legally. The founder of the Patriot Front, for example, was arrested on “conspiracy to riot” charges in June 2022 after dozens of Patriot Front members riding in the back of a U-Haul truck were pulled over by police. The police action reportedly interrupted the group's plan to descend on an LGBT Pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. While many foot soldiers of the Patriot Front were doomed last summer, the case against Rousseau dragged on, until finally a local judge he was fired the charges against him in November.
The current path for Rousseau is uncertain. Virginia authorities will likely seek his extradition to the commonwealth — where even more trouble awaits. Rousseau reportedly failed to contest a lawsuit against him and the Patriot Front, accusing the group defaced a statue of tennis great Arthur Ashe in Richmond in late 2021. A civil court order is pending, against which Rousseau is no longer allowed to defend. “I expect the costs associated with a default,” says Goldsmith, “are not going to go well for him.”
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/patriot-front-leader-thomas-rousseau-arrested-intimidation-charges-1234976041/