The Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office has made local law enforcement agencies aware of a so-called White Lives Matter group that is recruiting members in north central Idaho.
Nick Woods, an investigator with the office, compiled information about the group and sent it to the Lewiston Police Department, Nez Perce Sheriff’s Office and Idaho State Police last week. His efforts were prompted by two masked individuals displaying a banner with the message “It’s great to be white” at the corner of 21st and Main streets in Lewiston. Similar displays were made in Moscow, according to social media posts. Both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League consider the anonymous organization a white supremacist movement with neo-Nazi ties.
The group promotes white pride and the “great replacement theory” — the idea that there is a conspiracy to bring people of color to the United States and European nations through immigration with the goal of replacing or suppressing majority white voters. The theory was cited by the 18-year-old white man who shot and killed 10 people and wounded three others in a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket Saturday. The victims included 11 people of color.
Lewiston Police Captain Rick Fuentes said officers from the department made contact with the masked individuals during their May 11 display but said they did not observe any illegal activity. (Lewiston Tribune)
