(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Last August, an Idaho judge dismissed the state’s case against a Patriot Front member accused of conspiring to riot at an LGBT demonstration in 2022—finding that a prosecutor acted in “bad faith” by failing to provide the defendant with possibly exculpatory evidence.
At the time, the details of why the Patriot Front case collapsed made little sense. According to the Idaho judge, much of the evidence was held by the FBI, even though the bureau wasn’t part of the investigation.
“The phones were turned over to the FBI, not seized by the FBI, these devices were seized by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department,” the judge said at the time.
“[The state prosecutor] told the Court that the FBI was not involved in the initial investigation. The Court has no information about how the FBI became involved, and the only information the Court has is that Detective Welch turned the phones over to the FBI while a warrant was being drafted,” the judge said, suggesting that the state was “partnering with a federal agency and playing a shell game with that evidence.”
But according to former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin—who was suspended from the bureau in 2022 for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and was fired last April for allegedly unprofessional conduct—the FBI obtained the Patriot Front cell phones after state law enforcement arrested the group.
Seraphin said that FBI officials wanted to search the phones. However, the Supervisory Senior Resident Agent in Idaho refused to write a search warrant for the phones because a federal crime hadn’t been committed.
Seraphin said in November 2022 that FBI Headquarters removed the SSRA—the Idaho Tribune identified him as Special Agent Zach Schoffstall—from his position. And earlier this week, Seraphin said Schoffstall has been fired from the bureau.
🚨BREAKING: I'm hearing that the @FBI has terminated a GOOD supervisor who refused to participate in a 4th Amendment violation in Couer D'Alene ID.
The SSRA of that Resident Agency refused to approve a Search Warrant that lacked the LEGAL standard of PROBABLE CAUSE. He supported…
— Kyle Seraphin (@KyleSeraphin) February 2, 2024
“The SSRA of that Resident Agency refused to approve a Search Warrant that lacked the LEGAL standard of PROBABLE CAUSE. He supported his front line Agents, and was disciplined for his troubles,” Seraphin said, citing sources he still has at the bureau.
“The @FBISaltLakeCity removed him from his position, gave him a penalty TDY, and brought in a ‘company woman’ who signed off on the Search Warrant and likely violated the Constitutional protections of no unreasonable search/seizure.”
Meanwhile, the Patriot Front’s legal troubles continue, as the group faces multiple civil lawsuits. In at least two of those cases, Patriot Front leaders have been accused of going “underground” to avoid being served.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
