A white supremacist and former anti-Semitic political candidate from California claims he plans to make Sandpoint one of his “regional capitals.”
Patrick Little recently left hateful robo-call voicemails on several numbers in the Sandpoint area.
“America has a Jewish Problem,” says Little at the start of the message. The recording, for no apparent reason, is set to the theme song from the 1990’s sitcom “Friends.”
“To the people of Sandpoint, Bonner County, and North Idaho: My name is Patrick Little and I’ll be arriving shortly to make Sandpoint one of my regional capitals throughout the country,” Little says on the recording. “This area has a reputation as a home for people with moral courage to recognize the consequences of diversity.”
Marianne Love, who lives near Sandpoint, received one of the calls.
"I was angry,” Love said of the robo-call. "You don't really like getting calls like that where somebody is coming to town to stir up some hate. That was my first impression.”
Little ran unsuccessfully earlier this year as a Republican in California for a seat in the US Senate. Videos posted online showed Little speaking out against Californian senator Dianne Feinstein. The Los Angeles Times reported that he was kicked out of the state’s GOP convention and that party leaders condemned him. While polls showed Little as having some support, he ultimately received few votes in the California primary.
On his campaign website, Little described himself as a native of Maine, an “IT engineer” and a Marine Corps veteran. His campaign slogan on his website reads: “Liberate the US from the Jewish Oligarchy.”
Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon told KREM 2 that his department was aware of the voicemails and that SPD detectives were looking into Little’s background. Coon questioned the validity of Little’s plan to visit Sandpoint and said he was not overly concerned with the situation. Should Little appear in Sandpoint, the police department would be aware of him, Coon said. Little had said in the recording that he planned to visit Sandpoint in mid-August.
Little’s place and history within the white supremacist movement isn’t entirely clear. Little has only appeared in news stories within the last year or so, according to Professor Brian Levin at California State University, San Bernardino. Levin heads up the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at the university. Levin noted that Little appears to intentionally stir controversy, and is an example of a white nationalist attempting to make inroads across the US.
Levin noted Little’s limited history, and said that it was not clear if Little had visited cities outside of California to create “capitols.”
Some Sandpoint-area residents, like Love, worried that some who heard Little’s voicemail would not fully understand his platform.
"Not everybody sees the codewords in what those people have to say," Love said.
In a statement, the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force called Little’s robocalls “unwanted.” “[The] Task Force is aware of the calls and recommends anyone who receives a call to notify police. In this way the calls can be tracked,” wrote BCHRTF President Lynn Bridges. “This is a time for all concerned citizens to be united and vigilant against hate speech and/or actions.”
