(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Several members of the right-wing nationalist organization Patriot Front have settled a civil lawsuit filed by two anonymous plaintiffs, who sued the group for allegedly vandalizing a mural honoring black tennis star Arthur Ashe.
The settlement was revealed in a court filing earlier this month. The anonymous plaintiffs and settling defendants—Nathan Noyce, Thomas Dail, Paul Gancarz, Daniel Turetchi, and Aedan Tredinnick—asked for the presiding judge to dismiss the lawsuit against them with prejudice. The lawsuit continues against the Patriot Front members that haven’t settled, including its leader, Thomas Rousseau, who had a default judgment entered against him last year.
“Plaintiffs and Defendants … stipulate that all claims asserted against the Settling Defendants, and all their asserted defenses, are dismissed with prejudice. This stipulation of dismissal does not affect Plaintiffs’ claims against the remaining defendants,” the Dec. 3 joint motion stated.
“Plaintiffs and the Settling Defendants agree that the Court retains jurisdiction and authority to enforce, and resolve any disputes concerning, their settlement agreement, as more fully described in the settlement agreement.”
Five members of the Patriot Front have settled a lawsuit with two anonymous plaintiffs, who sued them for vandalizing a mural honoring black tennis star Arthur Ashe.
The terms of the settlement weren't disclosed. The lawsuit remains ongoing against some 20 other Patriot Front… pic.twitter.com/gesFtCuaK2
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 24, 2024
The terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck gave put her stamp of approval on the joint motion on the same day it was filed.
There are still 19 anonymous Patriot Front members listed as “John Does” in the lawsuit. The group’s leader, Thomas Rousseau, had a default judgment entered against him after he failed to respond to the lawsuit. Now, he’s barred from defending himself as the case proceeds.
An attorney for the Patriot Front defendants who settled has declined to comment on the case in the past.
“I have no connection with Patriot Front. I am merely local counsel for several young men who are facing a wholly improper lawsuit,” attorney Brad Marrs told Headline USA last year.
The Patriot Front lawsuit stems from the fall of 2021, around the time of a civil trial over the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. According to the lawsuit, Patriot Front members defaced the Ashe mural less than two weeks before the trial was set to begin.
“The vandalization of the mural was not a spur of the moment decision, but rather was carefully planned,” the October 2022 lawsuit claimed.
“The mural, which had taken months of planning and work to create, was effectively ruined and the Black man it celebrated erased.”
The lawsuit claimed that the Patriot Front’s actions caused the plaintiffs “feelings of hurt, fear, and anxiety.”
Patriot Front faces at least two other civil suits: one from a black man who claims he was assaulted by the Boston Public Library in July 2022, and another from two North Dakota non-profit organizations who claim that the Patriot Front defaced local shops owned by immigrants.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
