The mother of a member of white supremacist group Patriot Front kicked her son out of her home after he was shown rioiting at an Idaho Pride march online even though he told her not to 'believe the media, mom. We were there to stop them grooming kids.'
Karen Amsden, mother of Patriot Front member Jared Michael Boyce, 27, who lives in Springfield, Utah, made her mind up after 31 Patriot Front members were arrested with riot gear at the LGBTQ+ event after a tipster reported seeing people loading up into a U-Haul like 'a little army' at a hotel parking lot in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, police said.
Among one of the arrestees was Boyce, who has struggled to fill 'a void' in his life following his father's departure from his family after he came out as gay, his mother Karen Amsden told the Daily Beast.
The mother-of-one, who is a licensed clinical social worker, admitted that she is going public with her coup to sabotage of her son's standing in the group after previous attempts to persuade him to leave the far-right group have failed.
'I would love to do whatever I can to out him [as a Patriot Front member] so that he can't be a part of it,' Amsden said. 'And that they don't want him to be a part of their group because his mom has loose lips and a big mouth and he's never going to get away with anything.'
She confessed that ever since her son was released from jail, he told her that he would stay on with the group and therefore provided him with one final warning.
'I told him, 'Well, then you can't live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.' And he's like, 'Well, I can't quit Patriot Front.' I'm like, 'Well, then you've just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house,'' Amsden said.
Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group whose members perceive Black Americans, Jews and LGBTQ people as enemies, Jon Lewis, a George Washington University researcher who specializes in homegrown violent extremism, told the Associated Press.
Their playbook, Lewis said, involves identifying local grievances to exploit, organizing on platforms like the messaging app Telegram and ultimately showing up to events marching in neat columns, in blue- or white-collared-shirt uniforms, in a display of strength.
Though Pride celebrations have long been picketed by counter protesters citing religious objections, they haven't historically been a major focus for armed extremist groups. Still, it isn't surprising, given how anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has increasingly become a potent rallying cry in the far-right online ecosystem, Lewis said.
'That set of grievances fits into their broader narratives and shows their ability to mobilize the same folks against 'the enemy' over and over and over again,' he told the AP.