Patriot Front is led by Thomas Ryan Rousseau, a teenager living in the United States at the time he founded the group. Rousseau had previously taken control of Vanguard's web server and Discord channel several weeks prior to the Unite the Right rally, which Rousseau had participated in as the leader of Vanguard America's contingent. Following bad press associated with the rally, Rousseau left Vanguard and used the group's domain name to form Patriot Front as an ostensibly new group, although most members were former Vanguard members and rally participants. As with Vanguard America, Patriot Front supports white supremacy, antisemitism, fascism, and a white supremacist version of American nationalism. It also promotes the Zionist Occupied Governmentconspiracy theory. The group uses a combination of patriotic and fascist imagery, such as a fasces surrounded by thirteen stars, and attention-grabbing techniques such as setting off smoke bombs during demonstrations and protests and chanting slogans, such as "blood and soil", and "Strong Borders, Strong Nations".
Activities
Patriot Front's activities, such as distributing propaganda organizing demonstrations, or "doing miscellaneous acts of public service", have been seen in at least 25 states. Members have also been known to hand out flyers at Trump rallies and leave them in books. In 2017, the organization planned to attend an alt-right "March Against Communism" in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 28 alongside members of Anti-Communist Action, Richard B. Spencer, Billy Roper of The Shield Wall Network and Augustus Sol Invictus but the march was cancelled due to "security concerns". On July 10, 2018, a local anti-white supremacist group in Tacoma, Washington, "Tacoma Against Nazis", erected a billboard reading "There are NAZIS in our neighborhood". On July 19, Patriot Front members "climbed up the structure at Pacific Avenue and South 72nd Street and pasted over 'Nazis' with 'Illegal Aliens.'" On January 21, 2019, Patriot Front flyers were found on home driveways in Edmonds, Washington, sparking a small demonstration of around 50 citizens and a statement by the mayor which condemned the flyers and their message of intolerance and exclusion. On February 13, 2019, Patriot Front flyers were spotted in Boston, Massachusetts in the Eastern section of the city. The flyers said "Keep America American", "Better Dead Than Red", and "Will Your Speech Be Hate Speech?" The flyers were denounced by Marty Walsh, the mayor of Boston. Two days later on February 15, three Patriot Front members were arrested for putting up the flyers and one of the men slapped a police officer's hand when the officer was reaching for his identification via wallet. One was found to have a spring-loaded 5-inch knife and another was found to have a wood-handled trowel and brass knuckles. A lawyer for one of the men stated that this was an incident of "youthful stupidity" and he also stated that the three men met while playing Xbox and other video games. The three men later appeared in court. In March 2019, a man was charged in connection with posting Patriot Front posters in Vienna, Virginia. In July 2019, Downtown Indiana, Pennsylvania was littered with stickers from the group. Police are investigating the matter and considering charges for a hate crime. In November 2019, areas in Massachusetts had stickers posted on telephone poles, including Middleboro, Bridgewater and West Bridgewater. On Saturday, February 8, 2020, at around 4:00 pm, approximately 100 members of the Patriot Front held a march in Washington DC along the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the US Capitol grounds, and then headed north ending at a Walmart located near Washington Union Station at 1st and H Streets NW. Those marching all wore similar clothing - khakis, matching dark blue jackets with flag patches on the left sleeve, with hats, full white face masks, and dark sunglasses - and all carried various modified versions of the American flag with the Patriot Front logo of a fasces in a circle of 13 stars replacing the normal 50 stars and differing numbers of red and white stripes, The marchers shouted "Reclaim America!" and "Life, liberty, victory!" and were trailed and surrounded by a phalanx of MPD police officers on bicycle and foot, ostensibly to prevent interaction with local citizens, some of whom shouted at and taunted the marchers calling them "Neo-Nazis" and "Do not let these people into DC!" as they passed by.
