Washington, DC — The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law today announced that two alleged leaders of Patriot Front settled a civil lawsuit alleging members twice vandalized an immigrant marketplace in Fargo, North Dakota.
The case was filed by the Lawyers’ Committee, Morrison Foerster, and Robins Kaplan LLP on behalf of plaintiffs, the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, the Immigrant Development Center (IDC), and an individual citizen who arrived in the U.S. in the 1990s.
Thomas Rousseau and Trevor Valescu were sued in their alleged capacities as founder/national director and regional director respectively. They settled by paying an undisclosed sum for damages and harm caused, making an apology, and agreeing to terms that will help prevent Patriot Front from doing this type of harm again in the Fargo-Moorhead Community. The parties are bound by an agreement to keep additional details on the terms of the settlement confidential.
The International Market Plaza in Fargo, North Dakota, is a large indoor market that provides community and shop space for New Americans and other immigrant businesspeople who are working hard to build a better future for themselves and their families.
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Patriot Front as a White Nationalist Hate Group.
In 2022, perpetrators spray painted the Patriot Front logo and name across the front of the International Market Plaza. Two nights later perpetrators destroyed a mural on the side of the market building that celebrated multiculturalism and diversity. (Pictures of the vandalism at the market and elsewhere are in the lawsuit). The incidents caused shopkeepers and customers to fear for their safety especially because the Patriot Front has engaged in other similar activities in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
The market is home to shops, restaurants, grocery stores, and an after-school program owned and operated by people of color and immigrants from African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American nations. As a result of Patriot Front’s actions, shopkeepers and customers substantially curtailed or even eliminated their use of the market. The after-school program even shut down for a period of time. Due to the decrease in customers, the Immigrant Development Center (which owns the market and acts as a microlender for several businesses operating there) has taken on additional financial burdens to keep the market operating, including a decrease in rental payments from individual shopkeepers who have suffered a decline in customers.
An immigrant business owner at the market who wants to remain anonymous said, “When the Patriot Front attacked us at the Market Plaza, first I felt scared, worried and afraid of harm. Then I started losing customers and they told me, ‘Your building is very dangerous,’ and most of my customers are from other countries.”
Another immigrant who runs a business at the market and wants to be anonymous shared, “I felt very scared at that time and we lost a lot of customers. People weren’t feeling safe inside or at our building and we were afraid of active shooters. After they wrote on the building, we thought some people would come and attack us.”
Edward Caspar, acting co-chief counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represents the Fargo plaintiffs, said: “This settlement not only advances justice for our clients and the Fargo community, but it will go a long way towards preventing these types of hateful incidents. We will be watching to ensure the settlement is being followed.” The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also represents plaintiffs who settled with some other Patriot Front defendants in a separate case involving the vandalizing of a mural honoring Black hometown tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Richmond, Virginia.
Dalton M. Erickson, executive director, North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, said: “Communities feel less safe when incidents like what happened in Fargo take place. Filing this lawsuit was a way to stand up for the rights of those who feel under attack. This settlement is a victory but we can’t rest until no one lives in fear of being targeted because of where they come from or their race.”
Barry Nelson, organizer at North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, added, “North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is a statewide, human rights organization that since 2002 has stood for social justice and equity for all residents. When the Market was targeted and attacked, there was no question but that we needed to stand in solidarity with a community that had been maliciously targeted with hate crime. It was imperative that everyone respond to this targeted attack, assuring that not one of our residents would suffer this attack on their safety alone. We were likewise proud to be able to stand together with our immigrant friends in this lawsuit against the perpetration of this attack.”
As alleged in the complaint, what happened at the market were not isolated incidents. Other businesses in the Fargo-Moorhead area have been similarly targeted and defaced with Patriot-Front themed graffiti. These businesses have been owned and operated by nonwhite, immigrant, and other marginalized communities, including a coffee shop and arts collective owned by LGBTQ+ and people of color, as well as a restaurant owned by a Liberian. Instances of Patriot Front related property destruction and intimidating leafleting have occurred elsewhere in the Fargo area, including the Ninth Street South pedestrian tunnel, the Fargo Public School district office, and the Woodrow Wilson Apartment complex.
While the case was settled with two individual defendants, the case will move forward against the Patriot Front organization who is not a party to the settlement.
