Federal and State Civil Claim Against Patriot Front for Alleged Vandalism of Fargo Market Can Go Forward
From N.D. Human Rights Coalition v. Patriot Front, decided Sept. 9 by Chief Judge Peter Welte (D.N.D.):
This case involves the vandalism of the Market [International Market Plaza in Downtown Fargo] in September 2022. As alleged, individuals affiliated with Patriot Front, which is alleged to be a “white supremacist group,” trespassed onto the Market and spray-painted Patriot Front designs across the front of the Market’s building. A few days later, Patriot Front members also vandalized the Market’s street-facing wall….
An earlier order noted that “the complaint describes the International Market Plaza as a large indoor community space filled with African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American immigrant-owned shops, restaurants, and grocery stores.”
The N.D. Human Rights Coalition and the Executive Director of the entity that owns the Market sued the Patriot Front and “Thomas Rousseau, who is alleged to be the National Director of the Patriot Front, and Trevor Valescu, who is alleged to be a member of the Patriot Front and the Network Director of the organization’s Network 11, which supervises activities in North Dakota.” The court allowed the case to go forward:
Under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have “the same right … to make and enforce contracts … as is enjoyed by white citizens.” This includes “the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship.” The elements of a § 1981 claim include (1) membership in a protected class, (2) discriminatory intent on the part of the defendant, (3) engagement in a protected activity, and (4) interference with that activity by the defendant….
Rousseau and Valescu argue that the Plaintiffs have not identified any specific contracts that were interfer
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