The Far-Right and Pop-Up Rallies

I've been following the activities of the far-right in Canada for over 6 years. For much of that time the big push from organizers has been to hold large public rallies often with the intent of fomenting a revolution. *rolls eyes*
The Yellow Vest movement attempted this, but their convoy to Ottawa was easily dismissed. It was also countered by a group of anti-hate activists.

The COVID-19 pandemic helped to radicalize people, and it eventually resulted in the convoy/occupation in Ottawa. During the first weekend there was likely 15,000 people in downtown Ottawa, and organizer James Bauder did write in his "memorandum of understanding" that their goal was to overthrow the government. Still, after the initial shock of their arrival some people chose to stay and camp out in their vehicles. By the time the police cleared them out they only had a fraction of that amount of people.

Day 1

Day 3

The Ottawa occupation and border blockades were a rarity in that they had an actual impact on public policy. Many of the COVID restrictions were lifted shortly afterwards. Eventually the people of Ottawa got sick of the abuse coming from the covid occupiers, and organized a blockade of a supply convoy. A day after "The Battle of Billing's Bridge" the emergencies act was invoked and the occupation came to an end. Since then supporters of the convoy have attempt to re-live that moment with multiple failed convoys(here, here, here, here).
Following the 2022 convoy an anti-LGTBQ+ movement popped up. They were able to organize some sizeable events, but were often met with counter demonstrations that stifled their ability to get their message out. But this opposition was only possible because the far-right advertised their activities in advance.

Some of the more extreme groups are now feeling emboldened enough to hop off of the internet and hold events in public. But instead of promoting events beforehand in order to invite as much of the public as possible, they're showing up with no prior announcement, expressing white nationalist views, often while in uniform and concealing their identities.

For example in the US Neo-Nazi groups Blood Tribe and Goyim Defense League have showed up on overpasses, in front of synagogues, and at children's events while displaying swastikas.

Members of the GDL in front of a Georgia synagogue

Members of Blood Tribe on an overpass

In Australia, the National Socialist Network organized some of their earlier events in a similar manner. They showed up at Melbourne University, threw Hitler salutes in front of a Holocaust museum and disrupted family friendly LGTBQ+ events.

NSN at Melbourne University

NSN in front of the Adelaide Holocaust Museum

This style of unannounced pop-up rally is starting gain traction in Canada as well, and so far the main group being targeted is immigrants. Last year an unidentified person or people in Alberta began wearing costumes while holding anti-immigration signs.

In November some Neo-Nazis from a group of former Proud Boys called Nationalist-13 held a small rally in Hamilton, Ontario with anti-immigration messaging.

A group of masked Active Club Neo-Nazis in Manitoba held a banner drop and ended up getting identified.

More of these pop-ups have happened in Kitchener  and London, Ontario.

Kitchener, Ontario

London, Ontario

London, Ontario

 

London, Ontario

In Alberta, Neo-Nazi Steve Hanson has been organizing and promoting pop-up rallies.

Diagolon are attempting to re-brand as the "Second Sons". They have taken influence from Neo-Nazi Active Clubs and focused on physical fitness and combat training. The Diagolon guys will claim that the training is for health and aesthetic, but don't believe them(here, here, here, here, here, here, here,).

A Second Sons training session

They plan to start holding their own marches this year, modeled after what Patriot Front does in the U.S. Patriot Front will hold pop-up style rallies with Neo-Nazi imagery, but they're known for holding marches while wearing matching uniforms and carrying shields.

Members of Patriot Front were arrested and convicted for attempting to riot at a Pride parade in North Idaho.

With Neo-Nazis planning these events privately and showing up unannounced it makes it far more difficult to effectively counter them. Their goal is to shift attitudes against immigrants, non-white people, and the LGTBQ+ community. Often the pop-up events are short, only long enough to take pictures and share them on social media. After they've retreated to the safety of the internet the media will sometimes cover the event, and local politicians will denounce them which amplifies the attention that they crave.

One effective counter demonstration did take place in Alberta however. Residents of St Albert showed up at the same place that the Neo-Nazis were days prior and held an anti-hate rally.

And counter-demonstrations like this really do have an impact. It not only displays to the rest of the community that people won't live in fear of the Neo-Nazis that are targeting them, but it reminds the Nazis that their opinions are unpopular and that they're totally outnumbered.
Proof:

Reminding Neo-Nazis that they are losers is always a good thing.

Anti-LGTBQ+ bully Josh Bigger threatens the Niagara Catholic District School Board

Josh Bigger (AKA: "Mr Freedom") first became prominent in the "Freedom" movement for his involvement at the Ottawa convoy/occupation where his appearance shared a passing resemblance to Jake Angeli, the "QAnon Shaman" who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role at the January 6th Capitol insurrection.

After the convoy he made the news over a social media video where he claimed that he charges his liberal customers more than other people. He has also engaged with the far-right. He's been on livestreams with the white nationalists of Diagolon. In one such stream they discussed "the Jewish question" and questioned the Holocaust. Bigger has also shared his own antisemitic posts on social media.

Josh has also expressed belief in some of the more ridiculous conspiracy theories, such as flat earth, fake moon landings, and chemtrails.

Lately he has made a name for himself by harassing the LGTBQ+ community and their supporters. He attended a protest against a Toronto drag story-time event where Neo-Nazis attended and gave roman salutes. He barged into a drag story time event in St Catharines and screamed profanities at children. When interviewed at an LGTBQ+ counter protest he bullied the journalist who spoke with him. Bullying is a common behaviour of his. Even when his supporters criticize him he berates them with body shaming insults.

His most recent target has been the Niagara Catholic District School Board. Last week he was kicked out of a board meeting where he told the board members they were all going to hell for flying the pride flag.

It's Josh's behaviour after the meeting which concerns me the most. In a video he streamed shortly after he discusses how he has been trespassed from the building.

He refers to one of the board members as a diddler.

And eventually he ends up threatening the board members.
"I think these people... should have their necks stretched"
This is not the first time that he has threatened people for flying pride flags at schools.

He is also encouraging his followers to harass the school board members and is giving out their phone numbers.

The responses from his supporters were equally as disgusting, with people calling the board members pedophiles and making threats.

The interesting thing is that Josh doesn't have children in any Catholic school. He isn't even catholic nor Christian, nor does he go to church.

In fact Josh home-schools his children. Presumably to learn how to work on a roof without proper safety harnesses.

Josh claims that he plans to attend the next NCDSB meeting, regardless of whether he has been trespassed or not. We'll just have to see what happens.

Jeremy Mackenzie wishes for genocide against Jews and more Diagolon hate speech

For years I have been documenting the rhetoric coming from the Diagolon movement, and in a few instances I feel they have been caught crossing into illegal hate speech (example, example, example, example) but lately some of their more prominent streamers have been pushing closer to that line.

Content warning: hate speech, racist slurs

We begin with Diagolon's creator Jeremy Mackenzie. A few weeks ago he recorded a live stream where he was more unhinged than usual which is saying a lot. Allegedly he's having difficulty paying his bills due to financial restrictions that have been placed on him(take with a grain of salt) and of course it's the fault of everyone else.
In this clip he states that he's only going to get worse and become a terrorist because.... reasons. He also states that he wishes Indian people would have been "genocided" because his internet isn't working.

He then goes on to say that he's ready to become violent and start killing people.

After that he blames the Jews for his financial problems(shocking, I know) and states that he hopes that the Jews/Israel get wiped out.

He also states that people need to collectivize and start deporting people. Sure sounds like "tribe and train" isn't about self defense.

He says that everyone else should be destitute, which is hilarious considering what he's supposedly going through with finances.
Hey Jeremy, have you thought about not being an internet Nazi? No? Okay then.

On another stream Tom Mccue calls in and Jeremy tells him and his audience that they should fight the police to the death if they attempt to arrest them for hate speech.

Speaking of Tom McCue he recently invited Neo-Nazi Andreas Johansson, the "hey buddy guy" on a live stream. The background of the live stream looked like this:

Not very subtle.
During the stream Andreas identifies himself as a member of the Nordic Resistance Movement which is a Neo-Nazi organization that has been deemed a terrorist group by the United States government.

Andreas claims that "some people" refer to the Jews as parasites, and Tom McCue calls Jews "rats" which is a statement he has made in the past.

Diagolon supporter Marcella Hall engaged in some anti-Indigenous hate speech recently as well, even though she claims to be 1/4 Indigenous.

Alex Vriend complains that some people on their side are struggling with the overt racism they're seeing, and Alex's response to that is that if they can't stomach the offensive language then they won't have the ability to physically deport people.

Alex also says that he wants to "shoot Indians in the face" if they don't leave after they're asked.

Finally Alex and Derek Harrison refer to "Pakis" as "bio-weapons" and say they pollute everything and destroy infrastructure.

Canada has laws against hate speech. That includes advocating genocide and inciting hatred against an identifiable group, one hallmark of which is comparing an identifiable group to vermin. I'm not a legal expert, but Diagolon appear to be pushing the boundaries of those laws.

The Jason Lavigne Show is a platform for racists

The Jason Lavigne Show has always leaned to the right, and has most notably provided supportive coverage of the Coutts 4 trials. Jason has on occasion used his platform to help sanitize the images of open racists such as Kevin J Johnston, and Diagolon streamers Jeremy Mackenzie, Derek Harrison and Morgan Guptil. He asked Alex Vriend to join him on the show, but he doesn't seem interested.
Recently Jason decided to host a racist hot stove panel with guests such as self-described white nationalist Bethan Nodwell, Joanna Evenson(aka: Blonde Bigot) who currently has a human rights complaint filed against her, and Christine Loughead who was arrested last month for wilful promotion of hatred and public incitement of hatred. According to a copy of the summons that was posted to social media, Loughead is not supposed to have access to the internet.

Jason hosted the stream well after her initial arrest on August 7th.

Let's dive into the live stream. Jason starts off by calling for "tolerance" of other people's views. Quite the thing to stay for someone hosting a bunch of racists on his show.

He also states that he's not sure exactly what Christine said that she was charged for. Well here's a few potential candidates Jason. Maybe you should have looked into this before you clamored to her defense.

Jason brings lawyer Barry W. Bussey on the show. He makes a similar statement trying to distance himself from the racists that he's speaking with. Jason also states that no one is being provided with legal advice on the show, which is smart because I don't think Christine shouldn't even be on it

Bethan Nodwell discusses her appearance on a white nationalist Twitter(X) space where she questioned the Holocaust. That space included members of the Neo-Nazi Goyim Defense League. But according to her she just stumbled on there in the middle of the night.

Nodwell tries to down play the extreme rhetoric coming from Diagolon and from Loughead. She claims that the government is radicalizing people into extremism and that she's not surprised people feel compelled to fly Nazi flags outside their homes. So racism is everyone else's fault.

Speaking of support for Nazis, here are some recent tweets from Christine Loughead.

Anyway, Joanna Evenson is up next. And she seems to believe that there should be no consequences for the hateful things that they say. That's not how anything works of course.

Jason claims that none of the speech by the three women on the panel weren't targeted at anyone which is blatantly untrue. As previously mentioned, Evenson is facing a human rights complaint for targeting a teacher. He claims that none of it is incitement when Loughead has openly called for Jews and "brown" people to be deported from the country. It's clear that he and Bussey didn't look into anything these people have said.

Nodwell claims that the world is becoming "hostile" to white children. This while she streams with people calling for the deportation of non-white people.

Christine Loughead hints that she's a believer in the white replacement/genocide myth which isn't at all shocking.

Loughead then goes on a blatantly racist rant where she claims that non-white Europeans who live in Canada are "bio-weapons". Great guest you brought on your show Jason.

Loughead says she would prefer a white homogeneous society which clearly isn't surprising.

She refers to non-white immigrants as an "invasion". Jason states that Christine "isn't completely wrong" and compares immigration to people "coming into your home".

Bussey offers some push back by discussing the history of Canada and it's genocide against indigenous people, but then claims that newer immigrants aren't properly assimilating.

Jason still goes on to say he largely agrees with Christine. Then Blonde Bigot says that she was tolerant of "Chinatowns, Greektowns, and Little Italys", but she now "sees Indians everywhere" and doesn't like how things have changed. This is why racists are so ridiculous. Do they even know why they're mad?

She then claims that beaches are dirty because of Indians. As if white people don't litter. Give me a break.

Nodwell states that "old stock Canadians" (white people) are going to start becoming "hostile". She also supports what Christine has been saying.

Jason's wife Paula also claims that newer immigrants aren't assimilating.

Jason Lavigne comes real close to reciting the 14 words, and states that he is boycotting Tim Horton's "not for racist reasons". Sure.
Blonde Bigot claims that white people are being replaced.

Jason asks whether there should be limits on speech. He says that he believes there should be limits on speech when it's used to target people, which as mentioned previously his guests have been doing.

Finally Bethan describes herself as an "accelerationist". She also praised Jason for inviting Christine on even though he doesn't agree with her views, and even though Jason repeatedly said that he largely agrees with Christine.

So Jason invited three blatant racists on his show, allowed them to spew racism with little push back and a lot of agreement. What's that make him?

Pickering City Councillor Lisa Robinson Appears on Livestream with Kevin J Johnston While He Defames Threatens and Encourages Harassment of Her Fellow Councillors

Recently a city councillor from Pickering, Ontario who has a history of making racist, Islamophobic, and transphobic remarks was interviewed by racist, Islamophobic, transphobic and Holocaust denying live streamer Kevin J Johnston. It's reprehensible that an elected member at any level of government would speak with Kevin J Johnston who has been charged with wilful promotion of hatred, lost 2 massive defamation suits(here, here), was convicted of harassment, assault, and contempt of court, and has now fled the country to Costa Rica, but let's take a look at what was said during this particular live stream.

Before Lisa joins Kevin starts off the live stream by fantasizing about the Pickering nuclear plant melting down and blowing up Toronto with a nuclear bomb. Great choice for an interview Lisa.

Immediately afterwards he says that transgender people should be beaten with brass knuckles.

Kevin makes some Islamophobic statements regarding a Muslim city councillor for Pickering.

Lisa states that people were sending her money during her 60 day suspension. All levels of government have strict rules about accepting money while you're an elected representative. I don't know whether she properly claimed the money. I do know that far-right group Veterans 4 Freedom were among the people sending her funds.

Kevin J Johnston sends Lisa off the screen for a bit while he claims that Pickering is "run by pedophiles". Afterwards (not shown in clip) he posts all of the contact information for the mayor and city councillors.

Kevin then encourages his audience to harass(his word) the Pickering city councillors.

Kevin provides a disclaimer for why he takes Lisa off the screen in a meaningless attempt to protect her.

Kevin then encourages his audience to harass Pickering city council (my words), while she is still on screen.

Kevin then states that the Pickering city councillors should be removed by force, again while Lisa is on the screen and not objecting. He also states that he could beat all of the other councillors in a boxing match at the same time. I've seen Kevin J Johnston throw a punch, trust me, he couldn't.

I must say I really feel for the rest of the Pickering city council who have to work with Lisa Robinson. She is speaking with people that are openly trying to harm them and it's being broadcast to who knows how many people. I can't say whether the other councillors have received any harassment or threats since this live stream but it may be worth reaching out to them.