UPDATE:

Shreveport's Downtown Development Authority has commented on the situation:

ORIGINAL STORY:

Just days ahead of Shreveport's first big weekend of Mardi Gras celebrations, posters and flyers for a group linked to the deadly White Nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia have appeared in the city's downtown area.

The group, Patriot Front, are a newer hate group, who broke away from neo-Nazi group Vanguard America in 2017. The Patriot Front group is identified by the Anti-Defamation League as:

"... a white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it solely to them. Patriot Front espouses racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under the guise of preserving the “ethnic and cultural origins” of their European ancestors."

Patriot Front itself is not shy about those stances, regularly posting their pure beliefs instead of "dog whistle" calls other groups are accused of. Often their official social media posts embrace fascism and antisemitism. Here are some of their quotes:

  • “We acknowledge the disproportionate and detrimental influence of the rootless Jewish community in America, and seek to counteract them.” Patriot Front, Twitter, October 29, 2017
  • “Speaking out against the disproportionate influence of Jews in America is always met with wild opposition. Such reaction is proof enough.” Patriot Front, Twitter, October 3, 2017

The group is not limited online posts, members have hung large banners, posted flyers, and been arrested all around the United States. Recently there were arrests in the Boston area after they were posting white nationalist propaganda flyers. Other examples from the group include hanging a banner that read "Unite the White" on a highway overpass in Austin, Texas, posting a “White Families Matter” banner at Texas State University, and hanging a banner from a highway overpass in Los Angeles that read “Americans are white. The rest must go.”

The posters in Downtown Shreveport match those found a couple of weeks ago in South Shreveport, in the areas around Ellerbe Road and Bert Kouns. The ones posted last night stretched across the Texas Street areas, with posters, flyers, and stickers found near Government Plaza, The Strand Theater, and First United Methodist Church.

Shreveport will be hosting their first major Mardi Gras parade tomorrow, with the Krewe of Centaur rolling at 4:30pm. The floats load in the downtown area, and there will be thousands of people gathering around those streets. Not just Shreveport residents, but many tourists will also be gathering to see the floats before they roll.

 

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