Boston lawsuit against Patriot Front highlights white supremacist group's rising legal tests

On Tuesday, Charles M. Murrell III, a Black musician, teacher and civil rights activist from Massachusetts, filed a federal lawsuit against the white supremacist organization Patriot Front, alleging the group’s members attacked him on the streets of Boston last year.

The lawsuit stems from a confrontation between Murrell and members of the Texas-headquartered white supremacist group in downtown Boston last July. Murrell claims he was walking when he was surrounded by masked Patriot Front members carrying metal shields, who engaged in a “coordinated, brutal, and racially motivated attack.”

The lawsuit marks just the latest high-profile legal attack on Patriot Front, which has sought to position itself as a national pride organization, but which observers say is an expansive hate group. 

The group was sued last year by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of residents of Richmond, Virginia, over vandalism at a mural honoring Black tennis great Arthur Ashe. Last summer, 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested en route to a Pride event in Idaho.

But while the group is recognized for spreading leaflets or holding marches – in matching uniforms, with faces obscured – it generally claims it exercises free speech, not violence.  That makes the Boston allegations stand out.

Murrell claims he sustained injuries to his face, head and hand, all of which required medical attention, and that he has suffered significant emotional distress.

“By engaging in coordinated, pre-planned, and racially motivated violence against Mr. Murrell, Patriot Front, its leader 24-year-old Thomas Rousseau, and its members violated the rights and privileges guaranteed to Mr. Murrell by the laws of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” the lawsuit alleges.

Messages to Rousseau, and to Patriot Front’s group accounts on social media platforms, requesting comment were not returned Tuesday evening.

What is Patriot Front?

Patriot Front, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as a hate group, grew out of a group called Vanguard America, which splintered after one of the organization’s members drove a car into a group of protesters at the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, killing one and injuring several more.

Led by Texas resident Rousseau, Patriot Front has largely gained a reputation for participating in “flash mob” protests, where often dozens of masked white men clad in chinos and polo shirts – along with sunglasses and face gaiters – descend on a public place to march with American flags and make racially tinged “patriotic” speeches.

The group also spreads nationalist and racist propaganda. According to an annual report from the Anti-Defamation League, the group was responsible for 80 percent of such propaganda in 2022.

Patriot Front describes itself as dedicated to "a hard reset on the nation we see today − a return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers."

Experts on extremism say they see through the rhetoric.

"They can frame themselves as peaceful as much as they want, but inherently they are very much a white supremacist group that's seeking to give supremacy to the white race," said Morgan Moon, an investigative researcher with the ADL's Center on Extremism.

What does the lawsuit allege?

Murrell’s lawsuit stems from a confrontation between him and members of Patriot Front in Boston on July 2, 2022.

According to the lawsuit, Murrell was walking through Boston en route to play his saxophone when he came across about 100 members of Patriot Front marching in formation and carrying metal shields, some of which were emblazoned with “Mussolini-era fascist imagery.”

The lawsuit claims the Patriot Front members – all of whom were masked except Rousseau – then attacked Murrell with their shields, pushing him against a concrete lamp post.

The alleged attack was just the latest example of Patriot Front using shields in an aggressive manner against their opponents, the lawsuit claims. The suit, filed in federal court, cites U.S. law that prohibits conspiracy to violate another person’s civil rights.

Margaret Russell a law professor at Santa Clara University School of LAw in California, said the lawsuit appears “very solidly put-together.”

Russell, an expert on constitutional law, explained that while groups like Patriot Front have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech, that right does not extend to activity that is threatening or interferes with the civil rights of others.

“The context always matters,” she said. “Is it a lot of people? Is it in a situation in which violence seems imminent? That's what the Supreme Court has required — some connection that comes from the situation that makes it clear that it's just not expressive — that It's about to boil over.”

Murrell, who has a background teaching special education, told the Associated Press on Monday that the lawsuit is about holding Patriot Front accountable.

"Because I am a teacher, because I come from special education, I am filing this suit so that even if one of them has a safer sidewalk to walk on, the work that I am doing will have been very much worth it," Murrell said.

Patriot Front-aligned lawyer responds

Jason Lee Van Dyke, a Texas attorney who is not representing Patriot Front in the lawsuit, told USA TODAY he represents a member of the group who filmed the incident with Murrell. Van Dyke provided USA TODAY with a copy of a video, which has also circulated on social media, showing the clash between Murrell and the Patriot Front marchers.

The video, which has been edited, shows several Patriot Front protesters pushing against Murrell with their shields in front of onlookers. Rousseau can be seen in the video telling his followers to “take it easy.” Murrell can be seen shouting at the men pushing against him.

Van Dyke claims the video exonerates the white supremacists:

“For a guy who says he's the victim here (Murrell), he repeatedly gets back up and tries to attack these guys,” Van Dyke said. “He's alleging a civil rights violation, and that's just preposterous.”

Patriot Front’s other legal woes

Last June, 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested when police pulled over a U-Haul that was allegedly transporting them to disrupt a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. They were charged with conspiracy to riot. Last month, five members of the group were convicted.

Patriot Front also faces the Virginia civil rights lawsuit from last year after members of the group allegedly filmed themselves vandalizing the Ashe mural.

That case is ongoing and, nine months after the case was filed, members of Patriot Front have yet to appear in court to contest it, according to court records. As a result, a default judgment was begun against the group last week.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has a long history of suing extremist groups on behalf of local residents or organizations affected by hateful activity.

Most recently, in 2021, the group sued the extremist group the Proud Boys and its then-chairman Henry "Enrique" Tarrio for vandalism during protests in Washington, D.C., in late 2020. Last month, a judge ordered the Proud Boys to pay the church $1 million in damages. A previous lawsuit brought by the committee against participants in 2017’s Unite the Right rally resulted in tens of millions of dollars in damages for the plaintiffs, crippling several extremist groups who participated in the rally.

Amy Spitalnick, senior advisor on extremism at Human Rights First, a nonprofit that is collaborating with the attorneys bringing the lawsuit, said civil lawsuits like this are essential to combat extremist groups like Patriot Front.

“We know civil litigation is a crucial tool in the toolbox because we saw the impacts firsthand in Charlottesville,” Spitalnick said. “Of course, it must go hand-in-hand with the policies necessary to prevent violence, build societal resilience to extremism, and advance multiracial democracy.”

In a separate lawsuit filed last week, members of Patriot Front sued a leftist activist who allegedly infiltrated their group. The white supremacists claim they suffered damages when the activist “doxxed” them, revealing their identities and affiliations with Patriot Front, which they said harmed their reputations and careers.

The Boston lawsuit takes on the same issue of Patriot Front members’ anonymity. As defendants, it names Rousseau and “John Does 1-99” – the masked members who marched through Boston that day.

“Mr. Murrell will seek their identities through discovery,” the suit says, “and, should one or more responsible individuals be identified, Mr. Murrell will amend his Complaint accordingly.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patriot Front Boston lawsuit: Another legal challenge tests group