Source: NurPhoto / Getty
Viral video footage of the white supremacist Patriot Front group marching this past weekend in Tennessee sparked outrage locally as well as a number of questions.
But the clip also showed dozens of Patriot Front members pouring out of U-Haul trucks before they marched in downtown Nashville on Saturday afternoon. With U-Haul being a common denominator in other such Patriot Front activities in recent year, it appears that the rented moving trucks are the vehicles of choice for the white supremacist group to promote white supremacy.
MORE: Who Is Patriot Front And Why Are Folks Calling Them The ‘New Klan?’
In case you missed it, throngs of people dressed in the Patriot Front’s signature white face masks with matching khaki-colored hats and pants marched while holding Confederate flags in Nashville on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear whether the Patriot Front had a permit to legally march in Nashville, but State Rep. Aftyn Behn – a Democrat – blamed Republicans for fostering an environment that tolerates white supremacy.
pretty quiet from state leadership about the massive Patriot Front rally downtown Nashville today@CSexton25 @WilliamLamberth @GovBillLee
this group has a history of rabid antisemitism, racism, ðno-violence. Y’all jumped to condemn the neo-nazis – why the lack of response?
— Rep. Aftyn Behn (@AftynBehn) July 6, 2024
What was, however, immediately clear was the role that U-Haul played in the march in Nashville.
The next day, U-Haul was publicly called out on social media for letting “these stupid Nazis rent their trucks.”
That prompted Juliette Kayyem, a national security expert, to amplify that call-out with her own message to U-Haul.
“The Patriot Front are violating your well-known rule that people cannot be transported in your moving vans. Also, they are Nazis,” Kayyem posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
Kayyem underscored her point by emphasizing that the Patriot Front are raging white supremacists.
“For bonus points, they were once called the ‘Aryan Nationalist Alliance’ if my description seems a little strong,” Kayyem added.
Hi @uhaul. The Patriot Front are violating your well-known rule that people cannot be transported in your moving vans. Also, they are Nazis. For bonus points, they were once called the "Aryan Nationalist Alliance" if my description seems a little strong. https://t.co/oMGngJjMea
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) July 7, 2024
To be sure, the Southern Poverty Law Center defines the Patriot Front as “a white nationalist hate group that broke off from Vanguard America in the aftermath of the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, of August 12, 2017.”
A message left for U-Haul seeking comment about the Patriot Front using its trucks to promote white supremacy was not immediately returned.
U-Haul’s website specifically says no more than three people can ride in a U-Haul truck.
Patriot Front members are shown on the National Mall near the staging area of the March for Life anti-abortion demonstration on Jan. 19, 2024. | Source: Tom Williams / Getty
“Our larger truck sizes will seat three passengers,” the website says under its frequently asked questions portion. “This includes our pickup truck, 15′, 17′, 20′ and 26′ trucks. U-Haul 10’box trucks and cargo vans have a driver and passenger seat.”
The larger implication is that no passengers are allowed in the back of the truck.
However, that’s exactly how the Patriot Front has been using U-Haul trucks for at least the past two years.
Most notably, 31 Patriot Front members were arrested in Idaho in 2022 when they were found in the back of a U-Haul truck that also contained “riot gear,” the Associated Press reported at the time.
“They came to riot downtown,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White told reporters.
Here is the full video of the 31 Patriot Front members being taken out of the U-Haul truck in Downtown Coeur d'Alene 1 block from the Pride in the Park event, as first reported on our FB page. #NorthIdahoNews pic.twitter.com/AV0Fkuz6S2
— North Idaho News (@NorthIdahoNews1) June 12, 2022
The following year, “State Police tracked a U-Haul box truck from a gathering of the white nationalist group Patriot Front in downtown Boston to a stretch of highway in Stoneham,” the Boston Globe reported. “When troopers stopped the rental vehicle, they encountered three men hauling the trailer filled with metal and plexiglass shields, poles, and Patriot Front flags.”
That particular instance in Boston happened days before the July 4 holiday, similar timing to the Nashville march.
To be fair, Patriot Front has also been shown using Penske rental trucks, like the time their members fled scared after being confronted by Good Samaritans in Philadelphia in 2021.
Remember those Nazis in khakis who marched through Philly using their big boy voices to chant about reclaiming America from Black people and Jews? pic.twitter.com/oevw5AkwWE
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) July 6, 2021
Unlike U-Haul, though, Penske was quick to denounce the Patriot Front using their vehicles after being called out on social media.
“Penske is not affiliated with this group and does not condone it in any way,” it tweeted on July 4 that year. “Use of our vehicles for this purpose is unauthorized. Transporting people in the cargo area is also prohibited. We will take action with the renters of the vehicles involved.”
Penske is not affiliated with this group and does not condone it in any way. Use of our vehicles for this purpose is unauthorized. Transporting people in the cargo area is also prohibited. We will take action with the renters of the vehicles involved.
— Penske Truck Rental (@PenskeMoving) July 4, 2021
Months later that same year, Patriot Front members were photographed by Getty Images loading into the back of a U-Haul truck in Virginia following a march in Washington, D.C.
Source: Samuel Corum / Getty
Penske’s response using no uncertain terms may have deterred the Patriot Front from trying to use its vehicle again.
Conversely, a lack of such strong – or any – language from U-Haul could be considered to be an open, standing invitation for the Patriot Front to keep using its services.
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