White supremacist group Patriot Front accused of violating KKK Act

The hate group that calls itself Patriot Front is being sued by the non-profits Human Rights Foundation and Immigrant Development Center for allegedly engaging in "racial discrimination" and "anti-immigrant propaganda" in Fargo, North Dakota, the Associated Press' Jack Dura reports.

"The lawsuit filed against Patriot Front in federal court on Friday alleges that the group, two of the group's leaders and 10 others violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which the complaint says 'was designed to prevent precisely the kind of conspiratorial racist activity that Defendants perpetrated in this case,'" Dura writes.

The complaint states that Patriot Front "posted 'anti-immigrant propaganda' days after a man of Syrian descent fatally shot a Fargo police officer and wounded two others in July. The suit seeks a jury trial and damages of an amount to be determined at trial, as well as attorneys' fees and other relief," Dura explains.

It further "alleges that Patriot Front members vandalized businesses and public property in the summer and fall of 2022. It specifically cites Patriot Front logos and designs spray-painted on the International Market Plaza, an indoor market area for immigrant business owners, and defaced murals, including one depicting Black women wearing hijabs."

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The local economy and quality of life took a hit, according to the filing, which asserts that Patriot Front's actions "were intended to cause fear and deprive others — especially immigrants of color — of their rights. Unfortunately, Patriot Front achieved that result."

Meanwhile, Dura notes, "Other lawsuits in recent years have cited the Ku Klux Klan Act, including casesbrought against former President Donald Trump and others in connection with the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A Black teacher and musician cited the law last month in his federal lawsuit alleging that Patriot Front members surrounded and assaulted him in a coordinated and racially motivated attack last year in Boston."

Dura recalls, "The Reconstruction-era law seeks to protect the civil rights of marginalized groups of people. The statute has been cited in employment-law cases and in contract-dispute cases between corporations, and also in lawsuits alleging violence and terroristic fear since the 2017 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, said Ayesha Bell Hardaway, professor of law at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law and director of the school’s Social Justice Law Center."

Bell stressed to the Associated Press, "Terrorism related to white supremacy isn't a relic of the past"

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Dura's full report continues at this link.