Banners promoting White nationalist group Patriot Front alarm Baton Rouge community

Banners promoting the white nationalist group Patriot Front have been appearing in different locations throughout Baton Rouge, community leaders say (provided image).

On Sunday, Eugene Collins and Johnnie Domino received a slew of calls from residents letting them know that banners displaying the logo of White nationalist group Patriot Front had suddenly appeared in several locations throughout the city, draped prominently over roads in high-traffic areas.

Disturbed, the men decided to take matters into their own hands.

In total, Collins, who serves as president of Baton Rouge’s NAACP chapter, and Domino, a community organizer, say they took down four banners: two near Essen Lane, one near Acadian Thruway and one by Memorial Stadium.

Collins explained that the pair went out to every scene because many of the people who called were scared to take the signs down themselves.

“They were a little afraid of touching them,” he said. “Every time somebody calls us, we just go out and take the sign down.”

Patriot Front is one of the country’s most prolific White nationalist organizations, said Matthew Hughey, a sociology professor at the University of Connecticut whose research includes the impact of White supremacist organizations.

The group, whose manifesto advocates for a white ethnostate, helped organize 2017’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and some of its members were involved in planning the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.

More recently, five of its members were convicted of conspiracy to riot after 31 were arrested at a Pride Month event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

In Baton Rouge, it’s not the first time the group’s name has been spotted in unsuspecting places.

Last year, graffiti bearing Patriot Front’s logo appeared, spray-painted with stencils, on the doors and windows of a local art gallery. One month earlier, a poster for the organization was discovered on a utility box near Airline Highway and Barringer Foreman Road.

What’s different this time, Collins said, is that individuals affiliated with the group appear to be actively trying to recruit new members, noting that each banner prominently displays a link to Patriot Front’s website.

Hughey pointed out that the location of the banners and the manner in which they’re displayed are common tactics used by white nationalist groups to draw in new members.

He explained that organizations typically recruit in working-class, predominantly white neighborhoods where they feel their message will be well-received.

“These organizations are always looking for some type of hook on which to hang their propaganda,” he said. “They often target selectively at an intersection of class and changing areas in terms of gentrification or white flight.”

While displaying signs on personal property falls under free speech and is protected by federal law, City-Parish spokesman Mark Armstrong said hanging anything in a public space without permission, regardless of content, is considered littering and is punishable by fines and up to six months in jail. He encouraged anyone who comes across a banner to call 311 to report it.

In addition to contacting local authorities, Hughey also recommended residents report any signs or logos they find to the FBI, which tracks the activities of Patriot Front and similar groups.

“The FBI is actively tracking these organizations because many of them also engage in blatantly illegal activities related to guns, sometimes related to drugs and sometimes even related to child trafficking,” he said. “These are not law-abiding organizations.”

BRPD spokesman Lt. L’Jean McKneely said the department is aware of the banners and is “working closely” with the city’s Department of Public Works to locate and take down signs as they’re put up.

Meanwhile, Collins said he’s turned to other NAACP leaders for help.

“We have a hate group seemingly recruiting in our backyard – that’s very new to us,” he said. “We are seeking guidance on what other states have done.”

Domino — who said he wanted to emphasize it was a White acquaintance who made the initial call alerting him about the banners — said the signs don’t represent the entirety of the Baton Rouge community.

“We do have a lot of racism here,” he said. “But we have a lot of good people.”

Email Elyse Carmosino at [email protected].