What is truly alarming, aside from the fact that this riot was planned and might have turned violent, is that extremist groups like this are showing their faces. If they had rioted in a big city like Houston, Chicago, Miami, or Los Angeles, the crowd would have far outnumbered them and resisted. Why was this group converging on gays in Idaho, not in a city in their own states? I’m guessing that they expected little resistance in a deeply conservative state. But then I realized it has a larger significance, as it signifies the normalization of extremism, that is, extremists who wear uniforms and show their faces instead of lurking in the shadows and muttering to themselves. When I read it before, I decided not to post it. I saw the article in the Houston Chronicle but it was widely reported. The men arrested came from different states. The 31 were on their way to disrupt a gay pride parade in Idaho. A truck filled with 31 individuals was stopped in Idaho. This is a strange yet unsurprising story.
