He plans to sell his house and leave town for good as soon as possible.“I’m not giving up on Coeur d’Alene,” he said. Some residents and legal experts say this response is legally misguided.The Coeur d’Alene press release penned by the mayor and City Council said the city could not curtail what they saw as civilians’ constitutional rights. Any verification? They worry the unfettered presence of armed men downtown will dissuade families from visiting, shattering the lakeside towns’ tourism economies.In June, Pete Powell, a retired Washington state paratrooper who used to live near Coeur d’Alene, expressed concern that local leaders’ failure to take action against the armed presence could let the town’s history return. Idaho 19th Light Foot Militia ; Members Our Mission And Promise As the de facto authority in american patriot militias we understand that we oversee a significant share of the publics perception of the militia, and with this many individuals and militias entrust their ideas, work, and data to our platform. The manual was written by Capt. The Oath Keepers “kind of consider themselves to be Trump’s backup militia,” MacNab said.After 2016, militia groups found new enemies. Citing rumors that antifa elements were planning to descend on the city — rumors Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer told the Statesman had no credible backing — they said they were there to protect the town.Every time another Black Lives Matter protest was scheduled, the armed patrol reappeared.“Until it started raining on the weekend,” said Laura Tenneson, a Coeur d’Alene resident who leads a local human rights campaign called Love Lives Here. Fifty miles north, in Sandpoint, Black Lives Matter protests were met with similar crowds.On June 2, County Commissioner Dan McDonald wrote in a public Facebook post, “We are hearing through other sources of protesters coming to the County Building at 3:00 PM today. And I have never in my life seen armed groups taking over city streets,” Beggs said. Groups have dealt with bans of this sort before byAs militias smooth rough edges — painting themselves as guardians of protesters and property — they become harder to classify, more difficult to prosecute and more commonly accepted within local government.For North Idaho residents like Schroeder, who have watched warily as armed militia groups gain a foothold in their town, the area’s history — the leveled Aryan Nations compound lies just seven miles from Coeur d’Alene — doesn’t feel so far away.“They have been calling for a civil war for a long time. “And that’s just not true.”Legal precedents support McCord’s case. Rognstad, the mayor of Sandpoint, said that his experience marching alongside the protesters showed him how easily the presence of armed people could curtail First Amendment rights.“There was a group of armed men that were there in front of the group. Combat teams: Achieve proficiency in infantry techniques and are organized as a combat unit. I’m digging my heels in.”As of now, it’s unclear whether militia groups will find their footing within Idaho politics and culture, said Norm Gissel, one of the attorneys who helped take down the Aryan Nations.“This had nothing to do with the safety of downtown Coeur d’Alene, but it had a lot to do with their attempts to find a politically and socially prominent place in Idaho culture. The manual describes how to create a militia of light infantry. “They looked like they just came off the streets of Afghanistan.”Sam Crossett, a college student, was taking out the trash at the restaurant where she works when she saw them.“Some of them were friendly and wanted to take pictures, and then some of them would harass the people marching, calling them n-slur lovers and screaming at them,” she said. If you support this cause, then consider yourself recruited. Training Day 1-16-2010. Militia Standards and Principles of the Light Foot is a non-fiction text. We are united by our love of country, and by our use of the "Light Foot Standards" to form local, county-based militia units. They’ve already made a huge decision and are making life or death judgment calls the moment they pick up that gun,” he said.While statements from city leaders suggested there was no legal recourse to prevent the weapon-bearing patrols downtown, residents who believed otherwise, and who were frustrated by local governments’ claims of legal impotence, sought advice from the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law School, led by legal director Mary McCord.After the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, the institute filed a successful lawsuit which resulted in militias being banned from the city.The center sent letters to the mayors of Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene, outlining restrictions on Second Amendment rights and paramilitary activity found in Idaho“There’s an area of Second Amendment mythology out there in which elected officials, citizens, even law enforcement have a notion that because of the Second Amendment, in an open-carry state, it is perfectly fine for people to gather together as an armed militia exercising Second Amendment rights,” McCord said.