POST FALLS, Idaho — "Race war is coming. Woke America is out to make white people extinct and it will be forced upon by the surviving generation," read a letter received by a KREM 2 viewer that was addressed to her wife in the mail.
The letter was sent to the Post Falls resident after she and her wife moved to the area recently. The letter, addressed to her by name, was sent by a white nationalist group.
The letter goes on to describe in detail the Northwest Front's plan to create an all white ethno-republic in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Western Montana.
Up With KREM's morning anchor, Channing Curtis, and digital producer, Jordy Blaine, went to Post Falls to talk to the family about the concerning letter.
KREM 2 is keeping the woman anonymous because she fears retribution. The anonymous viewer read parts of the letter. "...Anti-white laws and crime rates leading up to the race war getting worse," the viewer read.
That's just one snippet from the welcome letter the family received months after moving into their new home with their young son. "We knew coming into it, that it's just not the most ideal place to live for a gay bi-racial couple. But we had to do we had to do," the viewer said.
When asked what the initial response was to the letter, the viewer said, "Just wow. How could anybody be so disgusting? And I mean, how was this allowed? I mean, the police officer said, it's technically freedom of speech. But to me, this is like a hate crime."
The viewer continued to read parts of the letter which said, "Young whites are seeking refuge here. If you refuse to help them, you're not worthy of your white great, great-grandchildren. Do nothing and they won't be white."
The viewer told KREM 2, "The fact that it said my wife's name is kind of weird. How do they have that information? How do they know that we just moved here? I mean, the police officer assured that we're not being targeted because other people got it. But like, how do you know?"
Experts say causing fear is what these groups are trying to do.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said, "It's important to remember that this is a tactic that comes from a place of weakness, because very few people can have a very large impact. That's why they're doing it, it can make their groups seem more powerful, or more organized than they are," said the Senior Research Analyst for SPLC, Cassie Miller. The organization tracks hate groups all over the country.
"The idea behind it is to forcibly seize the Pacific Northwest and put it under control of white supremacist militants," she said.
The SPLC has been keeping tabs on this specific organization since it was formed in western Washington in 2009. "One thing he advocates for is essentially people moving to this region, forming a political movement and then eventually engaging in a sort of revolutionary struggle to take the region from the government and establish it as a white homeland," Miller said. She added, "And acts of violence and terrorism are very much a part of that plan. So there might not be a member of the organization who's gone out and committed acts of violence. We don't know that for sure. But it's inherent in everything that they stand for."
Essentially, exactly what the Post Falls couple was worried about. She said, "I have an almost two-year-old. I - what kind of world am I raising him in? Like, you shouldn't have to be scared to go to the grocery store or scared to walk in your neighborhood."
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