EXCLUSIVE: Will Patriot Front Face Federal Charges For Violation Of The Ku Klux Klan Act In North Dakota?
A recent lawsuit claims leader of Patriot Front Thomas Rousseau and associate responsible for insighting fear, potentially expanding use of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871
A federal civil lawsuit was filed on September 1, 2023, in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota Eastern Division.
The Plaintiffs, North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, a local non-profit promoting LGBTQ ideology, Immigrant Development Center, and Jane Doe. filed a lawsuit against the leader of Patriot Front, Thomas Rousseau, along with Trevor Valescu, a network director for the organization in the region. The Plaintiff is represented by Jon Greenbaum, Washington D.C., Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco, and Robins Kaplan, Bismark, ND.
Patriot Front is an organization comprised of young, physically fit white men who promote American ideals and family values through literature and actions assisting communities affected by natural disasters where help is needed across the country.
The outline of the complaint states on September 3, 2022, a window at the International Market Plaza in Fargo, North Dakota, home to multiple immigrant businesses, including the Immigrant Development Center (IDC), was spray painted with a stencil in the words of PATRIOTFRONT.US. The lawsuit claims members of the market became concerned for their safety.
Two days later, on Monday, September 5, 2022, more graffiti was found on murals, comprising a value of $45,000 and affixed to the building, vandalized with spray paint promoting the Patriot Front organization.
Earlier that day, fliers were reported on vehicles at the Woodrow Wilson Appartments in Fargo.
A police report was filed with Fargo PD by tenants of the International Market Plaza, citing that the recent graffiti was racially motivated. The report stated the incident was an isolated event. Further investigations revealed a few persons of interest who were followed up on with no successful leads. One included a Fargo North High School student, whom investigators ultimately deemed not responsible for the graffiti after interviewing him at school.
The allegations claimed in the lawsuit are as follows:
Count I - 42 U.S.C. §1985(3) Conspiracy to violate civil rights under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which “makes it unlawful for two or more persons to conspire for the purpose of depriving, either directly or indirectly, any person or class of persons of the equal protection of the laws of equal privileges and immunities under the laws…” That some racial or perhaps otherwise class-based, invidious discriminatory animus lay behind the conspirators. Aimed at interfering with rights.
Count II - 42 U.S.C. §1986 Action for neglect to prevent interference with civil rights under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, establishing liability for any person who knows that the wrongs conspired to be done as part of a section 1985 conspiracy is about to be committed, has the power to prevent or aid in preventing those wrongs, yet neglects or refuses to help prevent them.
Other potential charges include Count III 42 U.S.C. §1981 Action to make and enforce contracts, Count IV Conversion, Count V Trespass, Count VI - Trespass to Chattel, and Count VII - Civil Conspiracy.
Although the lawsuit claims there are four John Does privy to the graffiti, none have thus far been named or identified via public records, police reports, or any local media since the incident.
Section 18 of the complaint states that Plaintiff Jane Doe is the Executive Director of the Immigrant Development Center, which owns the International Market Building. Plaintiff Doe is a Muslim Somalian immigrant who came to the United States in 1997 and gained citizenship in 2003.
Since that portion was worded so that the media could identify Jane Doe, let’s do a quick internet search and find out more.
Who is Fowzia Adde?
Fowzia Adde has been a fixture in the Fargo community for many years as Director of the Immigrant Development Center since 2003, helping immigrants, aka new Americans, adjust to the environment in North Dakota, Minnesota, and assisting new businesses. And owner of the International Market Plaza. Adde holds close ties with the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, the Fargo Human Rights Commission, United Way, and Lion’s Club International.
One of the tenants in the International Market Plaza building is Jihan Brifki. Brifki is the director of Hanasa, with Adde listed as a board member. This environmentally green-friendly organization promotes Agenda 2030, 17 Sustainable Development goals, and policies in Kurdistan, Iraq, and the U.S., which the United Nations heavily influences. In fact, the Hanasa website profile of Brifki and Adde reveals ties to the United Nations.
Ironically, days after the reported vandalism at the International Market Plaza, Jihan Brifki received certification of human rights education training from the US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights.
Brifki even directly participated in a United Nations webinar representing Hanasa entitled ‘Leveraging Human Mobility to Rescue the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Acceleration.’ Hosted, July 2023.
According to a Hanasa Facebook post, Brifki commented, “Together, we will continue to pave the way for a brighter and more sustainable future, one in which the 2030 Agenda is not only achieved but surpassed.”
Why this is important is a topic for another story...
According to Texas Lawyer Jason Lee Van Dyke, representing Defendants Thomas Rousseau and Trevor Valescu on the premise of the lawsuit, stated the following.
“This case, like many others, has brought claims under the Ku Klux Klan Act as though it is a general federal tort intended to allow any person who has been the victim of any actual or perceived racism to bring suit in federal court. The Court’s have been clear that this is an improper use of the act: the act only applies to conspiracies aimed at the right of interstate travel or the 13th Amendment right to be free from involuntary servitude (including the “badges” of slavery). No court has ever held that there is a constitutional right to be free from entirely subjective feelings of “fear” or “intimidation on account of race” in places of public accommodation."
“The strategy employed by Plaintiffs and their counsel in this case is simple: their complaint first attempts to paint my clients as individuals whose First Amendment rights are unworthy of protection and then, indirectly of course, attempts to establish a “hate speech exception” to the First Amendment. The Ku Klux Klan Act does not, and was not intended to, create such an exception to the First Amendment. If it does purport to create such an exception, it’s unconstitutional.”
“I did not have to get involved in this case. I did so because, beneath the surface of this case, I saw a real danger. If these Plaintiffs succeed in establishing a 13th Amendment right to be feel from subjective feeling of “fear” or “intimidation on account of race” in places of public accommodation, it means that every place of public accommodation in the country will be closed to those wishing to exercise their right to express certain views – even if they wish to do so in a completely peaceful and law abiding manner. People in this country have gotten super soft, their mindsets are weak, and they are making an ongoing choice to be perpetually offended by everything. Do we really want to live in a nation where these pansies can file a federal lawsuit every time they feel afraid or intimidated?
I have a better idea: how about they grow up.”
»Read the AMENDED MOTION TO DISMISS«
Follow Jason Lee Van Dyke at: https://twitter.com/AttorneyJlvd
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