Patriot Front members buried over lawsuit complaint they lost their jobs after their identities were exposed

The editors of the Idaho Statesman have very little sympathy for several members of the Patriot Front who are suing because someone infiltrated their ranks and then exposed their names, leading them to lose their jobs and be shunned by their families.

As the editors wrote, the five who are suing are experiencing the consequences of their actions that they know are so reprehensible that they choose to wear masks when they appear in public.

At the center of the lawsuit filed against Alan Capito, 37, also known as Vyacheslav Arkhangelskiy, is a claim that "Plaintiffs, by this complaint, seek redress for the particular and severe harms Defendant Capito has inflicted on them. At a deeper level, this complaint seeks to vindicate the rule of law and basic principles of free expression for persons who espouse unpopular opinions."

According to the editors, the complainants should have the courage of their convictions and not hide their identities.

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Getting right to the point, the editors began, "What they’re really upset about is suffering the consequences of their abhorrent views — views that they feel so strongly about, they don’t want anyone to know."

Pointing out that Capito took pictures and recorded conversations which he later made public, the editors took note of what followed for the exposed Patriot Front members.

"The five plaintiffs say they were fired from their jobs, have been threatened at their homes and have had their tires slashed, among other things, according to the lawsuit. While those latter two things certainly go way across the line, the first is a result of actions having consequences," they wrote.

"It’s a warped view of freedom of expression when Patriot Front members attempt to completely conceal their ownership of said expression," the editors wrote before adding, "Hiding behind anonymity has become an all-too-common feature of white nationalist and extremist trolls who lurk in the shadows of social media, hiding behind bogus accounts and fake avatars, spewing hate, sowing division, and threatening and intimidating others. It’s that anonymity that allows their putrescent views to grow and spread like a flesh-eating bacteria — except in this case, it’s more like a brain-eating disease."

"The fact the Patriot Front members’ main complaint is that they’ve suffered for being associated with these views is telling. The fact that employers — even their own relatives, in the case of Brown — want nothing to do with them tells you all you need to know," the editorial continued before concluding, "If Patriot Front members believe that they are right and just, why not attach their names to their beliefs and putrid goals? Otherwise, they’re just behaving in a cowardly fashion, hiding behind ridiculous masks, fake social media accounts and in the darkness of the back of a U-Haul van."

You can read more here.