Patriot Front Meetings Spell Out Racist Network’s Plans & Hateful Operations
22 audio files obtained by Unicorn Riot reveal the inner workings and deeply bigoted shared mindset of members of Patriot Front, the largest fascist organization currently operating in the United States. Roughly 17 hours of regional network chapter meetings, national meetings, and informal hangouts in late 2021 show how the fascists rally one another and plaster the Pacific Northwest with “promat” or promotional materials. Megalomaniacal leader Thomas Rousseau’s tight fist of control is exemplified by how he micromanages group activities, like the destruction of a large LGBT-themed mural in Olympia, WA.
This release follows more than 400 gigabytes of leaked media from inside Patriot Front and 7 months of RocketChat group chat logs Unicorn Riot obtained and released in January 2022.
Among many themes in these recordings: prominent members share tips on avoiding trouble with authorities and set up interstate trips to recruit, practice field group maneuvers and try to intimidate the public by attacking symbols of tolerance like community murals. Less formal voice chat sessions dwell on racist, antisemitic and homophobic themes. Florida Network Director Stephen Trimboli (‘ND – ‘Lawrence FL‘) encourages members to take their girlfriends along on racist vandalism missions so they can create “blackmail” leverage against them.
What’s in this release? 22 recorded meetings of members’ organizing activity show how the group operates, and illustrate the bigoted preoccupations of its (mostly) young membership. This release has been added to Unicorn Riot’s Vault file stash, alongside the previous 400 gigabytes leak.
Additional resources: Guide to leaked media files • Chat records on our DiscordLeaks platform • Our Far-right Investigations Desk page • 2018 Report on Patriot Front
Clandestine, centrally organized fascist cells plan vandalism
Patriot Front’s main project besides self-promotion is a centrally-directed campaign of intimidation through local ‘Network’ chapters as the units. They’re all directed to go to leadership (Rousseau and the Network Directors) for instruction, timing and clearance.
Rousseau’s program of regimentation aims to take young internet racists and bring their hate offline into the real world through regular quotas of acts of fascist “activism.” Patriot Front wants to mold impressionable youth into cadres preparing for future racially-motivated conflict, training in military marching formations, boxing and intimidation tactics.
Patriot Front operates more clandestinely than a regular right-wing group, tending towards underground patterns of activity, sporting masks at events and trying to conceal their identities. Trimboli (Florida Network Director ‘Lawrence’) once mused that the group is “a criminal organization in some respects.” Members and leadership know there’s a serious legal vulnerability in how their strictly managed, often interstate “actions” could possibly be considered hate crimes.
Members may put up the groups’ official stickers and flyers on a self-directed basis, but for illegal actions such as “mural cover-ups” Rousseau requires members to consult himself or a Network Director directly for personal permission, the recorded audio shows. Network Directors also keep fastidious spreadsheets logging members’ activities.
17+ hours of discussions show members planning and carrying out actions at the direction of leadership. Members are mainly directed at stickering, banner drops, wheatpasting, stenciling graffiti, and vandalizing pro-diversity murals. All these acts serve to promote Patriot Front’s brand and entice young racists nearby to apply to join online.
When placing “promat” (promotional materials) bearing Patriot Front’s message, members often go on road trips to multiple towns and cities, sometimes to other states where they have no members in order to create the illusion of a local presence.
Patriot Front’s recruitment is often merely a stop-gap measure to replace members who often quit due to frustrations with the group. However, its plan for member intake also seeks to empower and organize young racists who aren’t yet actively implementing neo-nazi agendas offline.
Audio recordings show organization strategies
Recordings show how members seek to valorize their brand amidst the domestic ‘nationalist’ movement, which has remolded since the ‘alt-right’ peaked and crashed in Charlottesville in 2017. Splintering from Vanguard America in the deadly rally’s aftermath, Rousseau has sought to build a reputation for Patriot Front as a tightly-organized vanguard, the tip of the spear of the online neo-nazi, white supremacist scene. Internally this is described as turning “nationalists” into “activists,” with the implicit understanding that “nationalism” firmly includes traditional features of fascism like racist and antisemitic beliefs.
Members focus on propagating the organization’s name, website URL, and stentorian slogans with the goal of showing their audience they can generate media coverage and disturb LGBTQ people, Jews, and people of color. Chapters strive to intimidate and trigger controversies in local communities around them and recruit sympathizers.
The group seeks to normalize and encourage acts of hate at a larger scale beyond themselves. Particularly, Patriot Front’s repeated defacing of pro-Black, pro-gay and pro-transgender murals is intended to “show people that you can do something like this, and you can get away with it“, according to one leaked recording.
In these recordings it’s clear a cultivated camaraderie holds members within the organization; they craft a shared identity through frequent group “activism”, camping trips, “hate hikes” and combat drill training. Patriot Front’s camping trips and “hate hikes” aren’t just about encouraging “brotherhood” and physical fitness – they serve as logistical training which can be turned towards more militant purposes in the future.
The audio files also reflect dismissiveness or hostility between members who sometimes see each other as mere instruments to use towards their bigoted political ambitions. Thomas Rousseau often exudes a passive-aggressive and condescending attitude towards Network Directors and rank-and-file members who report in to him over Mumble calls.
Rousseau’s persona alternates between self-abasing and vainglorious, eager to present himself as the first among the ranks, a salt of the earth hard-working leader, not an elitist. He also enjoys rambling through soliloquies, waxing poetic about his personal life and cultivating a cult of personality around himself.
Rousseau’s Cells: The Network Chapters
These leaked voice meetings are a helpful case study into the local chapter “Network” model that is the nucleus of Patriot Front. Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), the Pacific Northwest ‘Network 8’ Director who leads most of the leaked meetings, is a prototypical middle manager in Rousseau’s neo-fascist cell organizing system. Brown is eager to please Rousseau, and keen to break records inside the organization for things like the most racist stickers put up in a day. Many members of Brown’s Pacific Northwest fascist cadre have already been thoroughly profiled with deep open-source research by WA Nazi Watch, Rose City Antifa, and other antifascist groups in PNW states.
In the leaked voice meetings Brown repeatedly tries to drag a minor into participating in his chapter’s activities, encouraging him to lie to his teachers and parents in order to do so. He comes off as hard-pressed to recruit to expand Network 8 (mostly via Telegram), and often pushes members to commit what he calls “illegal” acts such as vandalizing murals and stealing pro-tolerance yard signs. He fixates on operational details like planning parking spots and routes for Patriot Front “actions” such as banner drops and spray painting. According to antifascists in Washington state who profiled him, “[Colton] Brown uses the chat to teach members how to commit hate crimes without getting caught.”
Nationally, the group suffers from high turnover and a lot of Patriot Front’s membership is relatively new. Several ‘Networks’ have previously dissolved due to members quitting en masse only to be re-formed later with new recruits.
Fresh initiates often quickly get assigned logistical responsibilities in order for struggling chapters to meet their assigned goals. Jacob Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘) entered the organization and promptly became entrusted by Network 8 Director Colton Brown to plan vandalism missions, run meetings and direct/check in on other members. Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘) became Network 8’s official ‘Quartermaster’ shortly after joining.
Patriot Front’s members often privately discuss their shared antisemitic and racist views, as well as their admiration for figures like Hitler and Mussolini. Rousseau corrals followers into sticking to his plan for expressing fascist politics within more restrained messaging about “reclaiming America” for “[pure] blooded Americans”.
Some in the racist Internet subcultures close to Patriot Front see the group as cowards for not being publicly racist and antisemitic. Members are encouraged to privately reassure their friends that everyone in Patriot Front embraces “the Jewish Question“ but are committed to what Rousseau believes is a more effective, less counter-productive messaging strategy.
Patriot Front wants to take young, white male Internet posters who already share ‘alt-right’ ‘deep memetic frames’ and turn them into racist activists who operate strategically and become seasoned with real-world experience.
Leaked 2021 Patriot Front Audio Recordings
2021.08.22 Mumble Call
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Casey James Knuteson (‘Leo OR‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘), ‘Travis CA‘, Alexi Michael Guthrie (‘Brandon CA‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Pacific Northwest Network of Patriot Front (which includes members from Northern California and Idaho). Network Director Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting. Members report back on “actions” they took during the previous week, which mostly involve putting up Patriot Front stickers and spray painting stencils.
According to Brown, a former area member using the alias ‘Eric WA’ “left Patriot Front because he does a lot of stuff with Asatru Folk Assembly and he invested his time into that” (24:30). (Asatru Folk Assembly is a Norse neo-pagan ‘heathen’ religious group heavily associated with neo-nazism.)
Brown collects money from local members to buy stickers, posters and other “promat” from Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau, who makes his living selling stickers to group members who are then required to put them up weekly (34:45).
Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘) mentions plans to go to Vancouver, WA to interview an applicant seeking to join Patriot Front (27:26).
Brown complains about a member ‘Grant WA’ being inactive, whose most recent “action” was reportedly putting up a Patriot Front sticker in Idaho which Brown says “got the cops on his ass” (33:50). Brown refers to having previously met with ‘Grant WA’ in Enumclaw, WA to “vet” him before he joined.
Much of the meeting involves planning an upcoming group hike as well as initial coordination of the group’s December 4, 2021 mobilization in Washington, D.C.
Members of Patriot Front are told to stop asking for event details as the group’s “need to know” policy keeps them in the dark by design, ostensibly for security purposes.
“You’ll never know the details. The only people that are ever going to know the details are Network Directors, Thomas and cluster leaders and other important points of contact.” – ‘Brandon CA‘ (Alexi Michael Guthrie), August 22, 2021 Patriot Front Mumble Meeting, (44:41)
Colton Brown and others pressure a local member who is a minor to attend the December 4, 2021 D.C. march after the minor says he can’t attend because he can’t legally cross state lines without his parents’ permission. Brown and others encourage the youth to lie to his parents and attend the fascist mobilization anyway (45:19).
2021.08.26 Mumble Call
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Lawrence Alexander Norman (‘Frederick OR‘), ‘Andrew WY‘, Winston Worth Durham (‘Marcus WA/ID’), ‘Johnny ID‘
Audio recording of a short meeting of the Pacific Northwest Network of Patriot Front to finalize logistics of the next day’s group camping trip and hike on Mount Rainier. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting. The group plans to meet at Ravensdale Park and proceed to the campsite from there. Plans for the “hate hike” camping trip include making banners with Patriot Front’s official leadership-approved slogans. They also discuss Patriot Front’s policy on drinking alcohol at events (21:23).
One member from Idaho, ‘Johnny ID‘, calls into the meeting while on duty from inside his private security guard patrol vehicle, with radio chatter audible in the background.
‘Johnny ID‘ relates how another member known as ‘George WA’ caught COVID-19 (“the coof“) from him after telling ‘Johnny’ not to wear a mask around him despite his being sick and contagious at the time (33:05).
2021.08.31 Mumble Call (Until 8:30 p.m.)
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Thomas Rousseau, Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘) Graham Jones Whitson (‘Mason TX‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘)
Audio recording of the first half of a weekly meeting of the Pacific Northwest Network of Patriot Front. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) and Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau lead the meeting. The discussion consists primarily of reflection upon the recent group hike up Mount Rainier, which is seen as training in logistics and complex group coordination.
Members who went on the hike go over details of the trip with Rousseau, who did not attend, and Rousseau critiques members for their adherence to group standards for discipline, punctuality, preparation and fitness.
Stephen Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘) briefly metionss a Florida member of Patriot Front using the moniker ‘Phillip FL‘, who he says is located in Naples, FL (07:11).
2021.08.31 Mumble Call (9 p.m. and Later)
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Thomas Rousseau, Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Graham Jones Whitson (‘Mason TX‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘)
Audio recording of the second half of the weekly meeting of the Pacific Northwest Network of Patriot Front. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting after Thomas Rousseau leaves.
The group cryptically discusses the upcoming December 4 march in Washington, D.C. Some of them additionally plan to attend an upcoming Southwest regional hike. An underage member expresses concern about missing school to attend and Brown pressures him to go (27:30). The minor expresses concern about flying because he’s never flown without his parents before (10:06 ; 15:36).
Members consider flyering and stickering in advance of right-wing protests to target Patriot Front’s messaging to conservatives who oppose COVID restrictions. While some members want to attend these events to hand out flyers in person, they are told not to go in order to avoid drawing scrutiny from anti-racists and law enforcement.
2021.09.02 National Mumble Call
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Thomas Rousseau, Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), ‘Johnny ID‘, ‘Sean KS‘, Ian Michael Elliott (‘Norman AL‘), ‘Leo LA‘, ‘John NC’, ‘Matthew MN‘, ‘ND – Alan MI‘, Jon-Paul Struys (‘Johnny MI‘), Riley Johnson (‘Tyler SD‘), Mitchell Frederick Wagner (‘Kyle MO‘), Garret Garland (‘Randolph IL‘), ‘Don WA’, ‘Michael IN‘, ‘Joseph MS’, ‘ND – Christopher AL‘, Winston Worth Durham (‘Marcus WA/ID’), ‘Phillip FL‘, Luke Paule (‘ND – Carter MO‘)
Audio recording of a national meeting of Patriot Front members from across the country. The meeting is run by Thomas Rousseau, who calls on each member in turn and asks them to report on their activities since the last meeting. Most report participating in distributing Patriot Front propaganda materials, group events such as hikes, and working out to meet required fitness standards.
Stephen Trimboli ‘ND – Lawrence FL‘ talks about interviewing with a local TRS pool party after meeting “some of them at the NJP [National Justice Party] event” (8:28).
‘Michael IN‘ reported that in addition to putting up Patriot Front’s official stickers, he and other members in his areas “did the George Floyd mural” in Lafayette, IN (13:00). Rousseau’s response was to tell ‘Michael’ that he and his compatriots did “very good” by vandalizing the mural despite a quick response by the fire department to spray off the paint used to cover up the mural.
An AP news bulletin about vandalism of a George Floyd mural in Lafayette, IN dated Sept. 1, 2021 seems to match the verbal report that ‘Michael IN‘ made to Rousseau the next day in the official Patriot Front meeting on Sept. 2. (Leaked RocketChat messages between Rousseau and ‘Michael IN’ show that over two months later on November 18, ‘Michael’ was continuing to target the same George Floyd/“BLM” mural in Lafayette, IN. ‘Michael’ asked Rousseau for permission to destroy the mural using “roofing tar” and Rousseau replied by telling him to continue “research and practice with this substance” and wait for official “orders” to vandalize the mural.)
‘Don WA’ proudly announced he’s been putting Patriot Front stickers up “around a very diverse neighborhood” (15:24).
Rousseau then asks group members if they have any questions or concerns they want to bring to his attention. A Kansas member using the alias ‘Sean KS‘ raises a concern over Patriot Front messaging (25:08), which, according to him, fails to precisely name who the group’s enemies are. This leads to a lengthy response from Rousseau and others who articulate the group’s propaganda and messaging strategy. One member comments, “I haven’t met a single person here who doesn’t know the JQ [Jewish Question], literally every one here does,” indicating that all Patriot Front members are antisemitic (53:40).
Member ‘Alan MI‘ made a revealing comment that further solidifies the fact that literally all members of Patriot Front adhere to fascist and Nazi ideology (38:20):
“Many people in the movement will make this assumption that if it doesn’t look like the NSDAP [Hitler’s German Nazi Party], right. It’s not in our interest… I think it’s a good thing to make the point that fascism displays itself or manifests itself in different ways in different nations, and therefore the American nations representation of its national interests might be different than other Germans, and that’s fine.”
– ‘Alan MI‘, Sept. 2, 2021 Patriot Front Mumble Meeting, (38:20)
Others sought to reassure ‘Sean KS‘ that PF members share his bigoted anti-Jewish views but temper their messaging because “the direct approach has not worked” (1:05:24).
Paule suggested that ‘Sean KS‘ might see Patriot Front in a different light if he had attended their violent July 3, 2021 nighttime flash mob in Philadelphia, during which several members assaulted people of color they encountered while marching.
‘Sean KS‘ replied to the discussion of his comments with a frank takeaway:
“I should just tell my friends, I suppose, that Patriot Front is opposed to Jewish control of the United States, we’re just not big on talking about it much.”
– ‘Sean KS‘, Sept. 2, 2021 Patriot Front Mumble Meeting, (39:01)
Another unidentified Patriot Fronter sought to reassure ‘Sean KS‘ and his friend that their group was in fact deeply committed to antisemitism. “I haven’t met a single person here who doesn’t know the JQ, literally every one here does” (53:40). The same member praised Patriot Front’s restrained messaging in comparison to the traveling neo-nazi harassment club Goyim Defense League (GDL) who he said appeared to not be “professional” by driving around in a van with Holocaust denial slogans scribbled on it. However, while criticizing GDL, he still conceded that in his view, GDL’s Holocaust denial statements were “all true.“
When discussing white nationalist messaging strategies one member revealingly refers to those in Patriot Front as “fascist or NatSocs [National Socialists/Nazis]” (58:01).
Comments by Stephen Trimboli (‘ND -Lawrence FL‘) further illustrated the non-ambiguity of Patriot Front’s neo-nazism and antisemitism. He told ‘Sean KS‘ that “everyone on here knows that the Jewish question is true” (56:35), referred to his desire for a whites-only “ethnostate” in the USA, and spoke of “Nazis” in the same breath as saying “we” when referring to Patriot Front members (1:07:17).
2021.09.06 Montana Road Trip Mumble
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), ‘Johnny ID‘, Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘)
Audio recording of a Pacific Northwest Regional meeting (which includes members from Idaho and Utah). Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting. The group brainstorms a potential future trip to Montana where Patriot Front is trying to recruit new members. They discuss putting up Patriot Front propaganda in Montana, especially in Missoula, where they also plan to steal Black Lives Matter signs and other left-wing materials.
‘Johnny ID‘ says he has been reviewing US census demographic data in order to find cities and towns with a very high white majority population to then visit on road trips and target with Patriot Front stickers, flyers and other propaganda (5:30).
Colton Brown, ‘Johnny ID‘ and others talk about stealing gay pride and Black Lives Matter signs from yards outside homes. Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) says that because stealing yard signs is “illegal… it’s “something you want to do late at night” (25:47) “with like, two members driving around” as opposed to during a larger travel caravan trip. ‘Johnny ID‘ proposes offering a monetary “bounty reward” to members who successfully steal pro-diversity yard signs (24:48).
Richard Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘) chimed in with suggestions for getting away with yard sign theft, apparently speaking from personal experience: “Whenever I do stuff like that, I’m usually doing it at like 2 in the morning” (26:14).
Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) shares more detail about his extended campaign of racially-motivated vandalism across the Pacific Northwest, some of which is apparently planned casually on short notice. “If I have my stencils with me and I see a big George Floyd mural, I might take an hour out of our day to check it out and do it” (29:40).
Brown complains about Patriot Front members in Idaho, saying that the “Idaho guys… aren’t the most reliable” (31:51).
2021.09.12 NW8 Mumble
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), ‘Johnny ID‘, Winston Worth Durham (‘Marcus WA/ID’), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘), Thomas Rousseau
Audio recording of a Network 8 Regional meeting. This is the first meeting of the newly formed Network 8, which includes Washington but not Oregon or Idaho. Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) is the Director of Network 8 and runs the meeting. Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau joins the meeting briefly and welcomes Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘) to the group.
Network 8 members discuss planning vandalism and banner drops around Washington state, listing various locations and campuses to target as well as how to arrange transportation when “hitting” areas around the state.
Members banter about how they “only marry whites” (5:19) and reference Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws when speculating about which ethnicities (such as white Latinas) may or may not be acceptable for them to date/marry (6:46).
Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) proposes “another mural cover-up” (24:38). Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘) replies by suggesting they target a George Floyd mural by Spokane Street in Seattle (25:41). Brown then contemplates vandalizing the African Heritage Museum in Seattle (28:50).
‘Johnny ID’ asks for leadership guidance re spray painting on buildings (29:27). Brown answers:
“There’s in the stencil guide, we need to only put up our stencils over where there’s already graffiti so we can argue that there’s plausible deniability if we ever do get in trouble and the court case will get dropped… The only artwork we cover up is anti-American artwork and that’s when it’s extensively planned with the help of said network director or Thomas.”
– Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Sept. 12 Patriot Front Mumble Meeting, (30:06)
Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘) discusses dropping banners over highways in “pretty white” areas to try to garner recruits (35:57).
An underage teen still in high school, is pressured by Brown to lie to his parents and teachers in order to skip school to travel to another state to attend a PF meetup (45:35).
Brown tells ‘Alexander OR‘ (Richard Flannery) to “go do another mural.” Flannery, audibly enthused, asks in response, “I have full approval to do whatever I want when it comes to murals?” (53:53). Brown answers, “as long as you plan it good and run it by me… Don’t get caught.” (54:01).
2021.09.19 NW8 Mumble Call
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘)
Audio recording of a Network 8 Regional weekly meeting. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) runs the meeting. Members discuss recent stickering and how to improve their banner drops.
Brown criticizes a 17-year-old member for being 10 minutes late to the meeting because he was eating dinner with his family (11:32), and goes on to discourage him from continuing to have close relationships with them.
Brown mentions that another member (‘Grant WA’) recently dropped out of the group because he was only 16, which is technically too young to be in the group (37:12).
Other topics include Patriot Front fitness standards, the possibility of future hikes and their distaste for coronavirus mask mandates.
2021.10.03 Casual Chat with Lawrence FL et al
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘), ‘Matthew MN‘
Audio recording of a casual, unscheduled chat between Stephen Trimboli, ‘ND -Lawrence FL‘ and various members of the Patriot Front’s Pacific Northwest Regional Network.
PF members believed that their vandalism campaigns targeting racial justice and pro-LGBTQ murals encourage others to carry out similar hateful acts (7:03).
“You show people that you can do something like this, and you can get away with it, it encourages other people to do something.”
-Patriot Front member Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘) on the group’s campaign of racially motivated vandalism. From leaked Patriot Front Mumble call, Oct. 3, 2021 (8:02)
PF members state that they believe Jews, who they compare to “Lucifer” (10:03), control America and are “all…going to hell” (11:30).
This casual chat contains more uncensored racist comments than usually comes up during official Patriot Front meetings, with members repeatedly using racial slurs (33:30), 49:44, etc.) and participating in a lengthy antisemitic diatribe (08:52), a misogynist rant (01:06:27) and joking about the Holocaust being a hoax (32:06).
Stephen Trimboli ‘ND -Lawrence FL‘ recalls a trip to Australia where he networked with Australian fascists, including members of the National Socialist Network connected to prominent Australian neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell.
Trimboli lucidly reflects that Patriot Front “is a criminal organization in some respects” while speculating about how the group hasn’t caught RICO charges despite nationally organizing what he referred to as “illegal” racist graffiti (23:04).
Trimboli tells a long story about when Patriot Front’s Network 8 “collapsed” in Washington state after he moved away to Florida and how all the current Washington members of PF are new recruits (35:36). This illustrates a larger trend of high membership turnover.
Trimboli advises Patriot Front members to not tell their girlfriends about their involvement with the group. For those who do reveal their neo-nazi “activism” to their partners, he suggests finding ways to blackmail women, such as involving them in neo-nazi propaganda activities in order to discourage them from exposing Patriot Front members they become involved with (1:06:11).
2021.10.04 NW8 Mumble (Drill and Event Planning)
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Thomas Rousseau, Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), ‘Johnny ID‘, Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Lawrence Alexander Norman (‘Frederick OR‘), ‘Travis CA‘, Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Casey James Knuteson (‘Leo OR‘), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Pacific Northwest Network of Patriot Front including members from Utah, Oregon and Idaho. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) and Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau lead the meeting.
Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) refers to as part of his extensive campaign of racially motivated vandalism in the Pacific Northwest (23:08).
Members discuss recent stickering and banner-making and Brown mentions wanting to vandalize a George Floyd mural in downtown Olympia (25:13). Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) plans a drilling event, in the lead up to Patriot Front’s upcoming December 4 march in Washington D.C. Rousseau sits in on the call and lectures the group on the mechanics and importance of drilling (1:12:00).
2021.10.07 Mumble and Chill with Alex OR, Thomas
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Thomas Rousseau, Alexi Michael Guthrie (‘Brandon CA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), Kyle Morelli (‘Vincent TX/PA’), Graham Jones Whitson (‘Mason TX‘)
Audio recording of a casual, unscheduled chat between Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau and various members from across the country, including several from the Patriot Front’s Pacific Northwest Regional Network. This recording probably offers the clearest insights into what Rousseau’s position is on various matters.
Rousseau says that Patriot Front cannot have sticker production operations anywhere except in his own home, or otherwise, “I can’t pay rent anymore. And then I have to get a job” (40:20).
Rousseau suggests that members steal American flags from bridges or other public places so that the group can carry them upside down during marches (41:30). “Snag me a bunch of those…I want a duffel bag full of flags by December” (46:27).
Rousseau recounts an argument he had with former neo-nazi Traditionalist Worker Party leader Matthew Heimbach over the importance of convincing Americans to admire Adolf Hitler and deny the Holocaust (which Rousseau believes is unnecessary and un-strategic) (1:17:54-01:19:48).
Rousseau pontificates the importance of security within organizations and asserts that encryption won’t protect anyone dumb enough to allow an infiltrator to join their organization and have access to chat servers (1:27:56).
The would-be cowboy Führer recalls how few Patriot Front members are left who were in the original founding group that broke away from Vanguard America (26:51). According to Rousseau’s recollections, ‘Nathan TX’ and ‘Billy’ (likely ‘Billy Merse TX’) are the only remaining Vanguard America members who were still active in Patriot Front at the time of his comments.
Rousseau explains his position on Patriot Front’s need to avoid militias and the use of firearms (01:27:10). He tells a lengthy story about a past infiltration within Patriot Front (leading to March 2018 reporting by Unicorn Riot) which included the leaking of comments made by members about forming “ethnostate rape gangs.”
2021.10.08 Olympia, WA Mural Defacement Planning
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Thomas Rousseau, Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘)
Audio recording of a meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter to plan the vandalism of a gay pride mural in downtown Olympia, Washington. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting and Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau briefly joins the call to help plan and dictate the specifics of the vandalism.
Patriot Front Member Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), who lives in Olympia near the mural, takes a large role in planning the vandalism.
“Obviously the objective is to mess up as much of it as possible.”
-Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau summarizing his group’s official plan to vandalize the Olympia, WA gay pride mural during Oct. 3, 2021 Patriot Front Mumble meeting (24:41)
Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) suggests having a getaway car parked near the mural with the license plate “pulled off” (12:08).
Brown and Rousseau discuss using bolt cutters to cut the lock on the fence in front of the mural (20:28). After describing an “escape route” (21:17) with Rousseau, Brown said he planned to place a “false phone call” to 911 reporting a made-up shooting to ensure that police are distracted while Patriot Front hit the mural (42:17). Jacob Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘) suggested that a fake shooting report to dispatchers would likely not work as shootings often lead to multiple witnesses/calls, He proposed that that the fake 911 call should instead mention a car accident, which he believed would divert even more emergency resources, such as EMTs, away from the mural area (42:40).
During the planning conversation, Brown mentions a previous incident where he and other Patriot Front members apparently defaced a George Floyd mural elsewhere in the past (26:14).
Brown says he’s been using public records databases to look up the personal information of workers that he believes were responsible for removing Patriot Front stickers that he put up in Maple Valley, WA (35:59).
The PNW group briefly discusses a Network 8 Patriot Front member ‘Jack WA‘ (Matthew Allen Clement) who they say is “chaotic” and has mentioned “wanting to attack the power grid” (43:21-46:45). Despite this, Patriot Front’s Network 8 has repeatedly trusted ‘Jack WA‘/Clement to conduct membership interviews to vet applicants seeking to become members.
2021.10.10 NW8 Mumble (Mural and Holiday Plans)
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), ‘Johnny ID‘, Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘), Lawrence Alexander Norman (‘Frederick OR‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter which includes continued planning of the vandalism of a gay pride mural in downtown Olympia, Washington. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting.
The group plans a weekend of events, which centers around their meticulously planned mission to vandalize and destroy a large gay pride mural in Olympia, WA.
Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) tells the group that for the planned mural destruction Patriot Front members must be wearing “black bloc” so will need to wear their “most antifa looking uniforms” (15:20). Brown instructs the group’s “biggest guys” that if anyone pulls out a cell phone to record them defacing the mural, they should try to destroy the person’s phone (16:16). For the second meeting in a row, Brown says he plans to cover his truck’s license plate with duct tape while transporting Patriot Front members to and from the planned vandalism of the pride mural (17:47).
The group discusses their holiday plans, including the first of many times Brown desperately tries to get other Patriot Front members to agree to go to “a pumpkin patch” with him despite their obvious disinterest (53:00).
2021.10.17 PNW Regional Mumble
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter which includes reflection on the group’s recent vandalism of a gay pride mural in downtown Olympia, Washington (03:17-11:08). Patriot Front member Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘) leads the meeting because Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) is absent.
Members brainstorm a variety of ways they believe the mural defacement could have gone better. Members raise the criticism that the parking spot was too close to the mural location, risking identification of the vehicle upon exit.
The group discusses banner drops and messaging, including the recent dissemination by some Patriot Front members of a photo of a banner reading “Deport Them All,” which is not an approved group slogan. They also get into finer points of Patriot Front’s messaging strategy (17:36 onward) which they say aims at “professionalism.”
2021.10.24 PNW Mumble Call
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), ‘ND – Eric PA‘, Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), Casey James Knuteson (‘Leo OR‘), ‘Johnny ID‘, Spencer Thomas Simpson (‘David WA‘), Lawrence Alexander Norman (‘Frederick OR‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter. Group members discuss the logistics of the upcoming December 4 march in Washington, D.C. with a Pennsylvania member using the moniker ‘Eric PA‘ who joins the meeting to help them coordinate trip logistics. Most Patriot Front members do not at this point know the location of the December 4 march, but plan to fly into an airport several hours away and be shuttled to an, at that point, undisclosed city.
Stephen Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘) congratulates the Pacific Northwest members for their recent successful destruction of the Olympia, WA pride mural, which he says “couldn’t have gone better” and “was awesome.” Matthew Clement (‘Jack WA‘) replies – “Thanks man, I was there. I’m glad you liked that! We won in the end where they took it down for good.” Jacob Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘) chimes in to declare his involvement in the act praised by Trimboli: “Yeah, that was a lot of fun.”
The group then goes over the logistics of an upcoming regional drilling meet, as well as fitness goals, banners and stencils.
2021.11.14 PNW Mumble
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), Lawrence Alexander Norman (‘Frederick OR‘), ‘Walter ID‘, Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting. Brown discusses the week’s propaganda efforts, saying “Ethan and Clarke and I stenciled up the walls across the street from the City Hall in downtown Seattle,” (23:35). He gloats about putting up Patriot Front stickers in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. (Brown mentions scouting locations for “big actions” planned for the coming weeks).
Brown directs James Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘) to make stencils for all Network 8 members on his 3D printer.
Brown instructs members to steal political yard signs so they can be repurposed as Patriot Front propaganda, a recurring theme throughout Network 8’s meetings (53:01).
2021.11.17 National Photography Call
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Thomas Rousseau, ‘Logan CA‘, ‘PC – Jesse CO‘, ‘Peter CT‘, ‘Norman WI‘
Audio recording of a national meeting with Patriot Front photographers and videographers led by leader Thomas Rousseau. The call is in preparation for the upcoming December 4, 2021 march in Washington D.C.
Rousseau, who fancies himself an auteur with a keen eye for fascist propaganda, directs the team on how best to capture the upcoming march, including ways of trying to make the march look bigger than it actually is.
Rousseau mentions that the media team can expect assistance from neo-nazi Robert Rundo‘s online propaganda outlet Media2Rise and Rundo’s lackey underling Alan Goff (alias ‘Lucca Corgiat’), with whom Patriot Front has a cozy relationship.
(Media2Rise had recently made a documentary glamorizing Patriot Front. Media2Rise videographer Graham Jones Whitson (‘Mason TX‘) is a Patriot Front member who lives with Rousseau in Haslet, TX. Whitson also often produces Patriot Front’s official propaganda videos.)
2021.11.23 NW8 Casual Planning Meeting
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Kendra Cass (‘Martha WA’), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter. The goal of the meeting is primarily to plan the group’s upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) leads the meeting, which includes a lengthy rant in which he articulates the breadth of his ongoing racially motivated vandalism campaign throughout Washington state (all of which says he keeps documented in detailed notes on his phone) (24:18).
During the planning of the Thanksgiving dinner, and elsewhere, the group spends a lot of time agonizing over the cost of things and trying to pressure each other to pay for group activities. These conversations reveal a major weakness of Patriot Front nationally – its lack of funding. The group’s scarcity of resources makes it particularly vulnerable to economic damage inflicted upon it by opponents.
2021.11.24 Casual Mumble with Lawrence FL, Matt MN
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Stephen James Trimboli (‘ND – Lawrence FL‘), ‘Matthew MN‘
Audio recording of a casual, unscheduled chat between Patriot Front members using the monikers ‘Matthew MN‘ and ‘ND -Lawrence FL‘ They discuss the civil suit against leaders of the fascist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia which had reached a verdict the day before, including their belief that the trial is a Jewish conspiracy (11:49) and that the fascist leaders charged are too broke to pay the damages ordered (8:56).
‘Matthew MN‘ talks about connections between Minnesota Patriot Front members and members of the fascist podcast network The Right Stuff (TRS) and their “Pool Party” events (20:02). Stephen Trimboli ‘ND -Lawrence FL‘ talks about how Patriot Front hasn’t had any problems with leaks in a long time since “incompetent people” who allowed leaks to occur were removed from the group (36:24).
2021.11.28 Last Mumble Before December’s Public Event
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Colton Michael Brown (‘ND – John WA‘), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘), Richard James Flannery (‘Alexander OR‘), Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘), Jacob Stephen Sundt (‘Clarke WA‘), James Julius Johnson (‘Tyler WA‘)
Audio recording of a weekly meeting of the Patriot Front’s Network 8 chapter to discuss last minute preparations for the group’s December 4 march in Washington, D.C and continued planning for their Christmas regional meet-up on December 18. The group also goes over the previous week’s efforts at spreading group propaganda, including postering in Seattle.
Network Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) becomes unusually agitated as he recounts at length an argument he got in with his father, who does not share his “racial politics” (52:50). After Brown goes on a racist rant about Native Americans, ‘Alexander OR‘ (Richard Flannery) articulates a revisionist narrative of the genocide of indigenous peoples, arguing that “white dudes just wanted to peaceably live” (53:53). ‘Alexander OR‘ (Richard Flannery) also talks about meeting up with a “White Lives Matter” organizer for drinks to try to build connections between different white supremacist movements (01:01:32).
2021.12.10 National Meeting Post-D.C. Demo
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Thomas Rousseau, ‘ND – James TX‘, Ryan Roy (‘Rex VT‘), Cameron Pruitt ‘ND – John UT‘, Wesley Evan Van Horn (‘ND – Christopher AL‘), Kyle Morelli (‘Vincent TX/PA’), Graham Jones Whitson (‘Mason TX‘), Trevor Valescu (‘ND – Johnny MN‘)
Audio recording of a national call for all Patriot Front members led by group leader Thomas Rousseau. The purpose of the call is for Rousseau to give a speech trying to convince members that their recent march in Washington, D.C., which was marked by failures, was actually a great success.
Rousseau briefly mentions upcoming plans for Patriot Front to attend the yearly right-wing anti-abortion March For Life in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2022. Patriot Front doesn’t really discuss abortion much amongst themselves; the topic is deliberately chosen as an ‘entryism’ tactic to get their foot in the door of more mainstream militant right-wing politics.
Rousseau’s megalomania is on full display as he gives a vainglorious prepared speech, punctuated by aggressively ordering people to mute their mics. He appoints various members to new leadership positions, bestowing new titles upon them ordering the rest of the group to clap after each appointment.
Rousseau orders all members to go through their phones and scrub any evidence of the Dec. 4, 2021 D.C. event, including deleting and chat logs and photos about the march/rally (41:37). Rousseau reminds members that all large-scale actions such as mural vandalism need to be planned in coordination with himself or other group leaders (56:05).
August 22, 2021- Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘) Patriot Front In-Person Membership Interview
- Files: .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
Confirmed Participants: Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘) (Interviewer), Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘) (Interviewee)
This recording documents an in-person membership interview conducted by Patriot Front in a park near the SeaTac airport in Washington state on August 13, 2021. The applicant being interviewed, Justin O’Leary, would receive the official Patriot Front alias and RocketChat username ‘Ethan WA‘ and soon became the official ‘Quartermaster’ of Patriot Front’s Network 8.
O’Leary went on to be involved in several acts of racially motivated vandalism officially planned and condoned by Patriot Front’s Network 8 Director Colton Brown (‘ND – John WA‘) as well as PF’s Texas-based founder/leader Thomas Rousseau.
The in-person membership interview of Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA‘) was conducted by Patriot Front Network 8 member Matthew Allen Clement (‘Jack WA‘). (According to other Network 8 members, Clement was known for talking about wanting to plan attacks on power grids and essential infrastructure.)
In his interview, O’Leary tells Clement that he was led to join Patriot Front after following far-right and fascist content creators such as Steven Crowder, Gavin McInnes, Owen Benjamin, Nick Fuentes, and others from the worldwide reactionary movement.
O’Leary tells his Patriot Front interviewer that his wife Kendra Cass shares his white supremacist views. Cass would later become an unofficial Patriot Front affiliate using the alias ‘Martha WA’ and helped organize gatherings for members. (Patriot Front does not allow women, Jews, or non-whites to officially join its ranks.)
Material in this Release
All leaked Patriot Front recordings and transcripts in chronological order – now added to Unicorn Riot’s Vault file stash:
- August 13, 2021 – Justin O’Leary (‘Ethan WA’) Patriot Front In-Person Membership Interview
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - August 22, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - August 26, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - August 31, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting (Part 1 – ‘Until 8:30 p.m.’)
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - August 31, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting (Part 2 – ‘9 p.m. and later’)
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - September 2, 2021 – Patriot Front National Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - September 6, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - September 12, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - September 19, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 3, 2021 – Patriot Front Casual Mumble Chat
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 4, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 7, 2021 – Patriot Front Casual Mumble Chat
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 8, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 10, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 17, 2021 – Patriot Front Pacific Northwest Regional Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - October 24, 2021 – Patriot Front Pacific Northwest Regional Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - November 14, 2021 – Patriot Front Pacific Northwest Regional Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - November 17, 2021 – Patriot Front National-Level Photographers Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - November 23, 2021 – Patriot Front Network 8 Casual Mumble Chat
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - November 24, 2021 – Patriot Front Casual Mumble Chat
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - November 28, 2021 – Patriot Front Pacific Northwest Regional Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript - December 10, 2021 – Patriot Front National All-Hands Mumble Meeting
– .mp3 | YouTube | .pdf Transcript
