HREI combats 'disturbing messages'
Love Lives Here signs are posted near the Higher Education Campus sign off Northwest Boulevard.
The Human Rights Education Institute said Friday a white supremacist group has been "spreading disturbing messages" in North Idaho and eastern Washington.
HREI said in a press release that Patriot Front members have targeted busy, lighted intersections and park properties in Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Hauser, Spokane Valley and areas in Spokane.
There have been a dozen incidents in the last five weeks, targeting areas "where racial justice community art pieces are located, parts of the Centennial Trail and along railway intersections," HREI said.
The Institute said individuals representing Patriot Front, a white supremacy group, left posters and stickers around the area in a "perceived patriotic theme."
"Patriot Front is active online and uses social media to promote racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance, but they are also part of a broader effort by white supremacists to move from their longtime roles as online provocateurs to real-world activists," the release said.
HREI said the recent incidents are part of a national wave of Patriot Front vandalism against racial justice-themed art and sculptures across the country.
In May, North Idaho College was the target of "extremist sticker distribution."
"North Idaho is no stranger to countering hate,” said Jeanette Laster, executive director of the Human Rights Education Institution. “We remain vigilant to safeguard our communities as welcoming and inclusive."
The Love Lives Here CDA team will be distributing "Frisbee Flyers" with their kindness campaign messaging across local beaches during the Labor Day weekend. They also put a display of flowers and positive messaging at the entrance to the North Idaho higher education sector, a location that received the white supremacy posters three times.
"We wanted to create a beautiful, loving image for our community to see as they drive by the location where signs that promote bigotry were found,” said Ali Orjala, Love Lives Here CDA program coordinator.
Love Lives Here CDA, a program of the HREI, seeks to engage and educate the community "in upholding and protecting the civil and human rights of all individuals," the release said.