At a Republican fundraiser in Stateline, Idaho, a local GOP official named Dan Bell was excited to introduce the next speaker.

Hes definitely not OK with trans or any of that gay shit, Bell, youth chair of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, said into the microphone as the crowd laughed. Please give it up for Dave Reilly!

Reilly took the stage that day, April 16, to cheers. A big round of applause for our Sheriff Norris, who keeps us safe! Reilly said, pointing to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris in the crowd, according to video footage obtained by HuffPost. Reilly is a white nationalist who recently moved to Idaho and aims to take over the state political system from the ground up.

In the crowd with the sheriff was a mix of fellow white nationalists, along with Proud Boys, militiamen and a far-right bike gang. Over the ensuing two months, what bound this group together was a deep ire toward LGBTQ people and a desire to stop a Pride event in nearby Coeur DAlene on June 11.

With the blessing of local Republican officials and using the same rhetoric as many GOP politicians nationwide, this far-right coalition churned out propaganda falsely labeling Pride as a haven for groomers and pedophiles. Participants also issued warnings to would-be Pride attendees: Well be there to confront you, and well be armed.

And they were. Bigots turned out in big numbers to harass and intimidate their queer neighbors. A U-Haul truck full of masked men from the white supremacist group Patriot Front turned up ready to storm the Pride event, but they were stopped by police and arrested on charges of conspiring to riot, sparking a wave of national headlines.

All 31 men have now been identified and charged with conspiracy to riot. Democratic state Rep. Chris Mathias has suggested prosecutors pursue harsher felony charges under a state terror statute. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to consider federal charges under the Anti-Riot Act.

It appears these people did not come here to engage in peaceful events, Norris told a local reporter. The sheriff protected the Pride event from far-right antagonists and got to take some credit for the shocking bust that unmasked 31 white supremacists (a local hotel worker had tipped off his office after seeing them pile into the truck).

But theres also little accounting for Norris connections to the very far-right coalition that made Coeur DAlene Pride a target.

Patriot Front needs to be understood as a part of the militant wing of the Republican Party s revanchist campaign to erase trans people from public life and push queer people back into the closet. When the right uses eliminationist rhetoric about LBGTQ people, it cant then feign shock when straight-up fascists show up to support its cause.