More Reactions From Canadian Racists/Islamophobes to Christchurch Tragedy and The Dangers of Extremist Rhetoric

Yesterday I posted an article detailing a thread on the reactionary Yellow Vests Canada Facebook page which discussed the murder of 49 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Given what has been published here and by others (Yellow Vests Canada Exposed and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network) readers will hardly be surprised that the thread consisted primarily of celebratory comments with a minority of posters who voiced their disapproval.

Knowing that the thread was being watched and that laid bare the real beliefs of their members, the administrators deleted it as well as others that popped up, however the vitriolic hatred of the membership has been rather hard to contain and ARC has been able to collect more screen shots detailing the reality behind Yellow Vests Canada Exposed:

ARC readers know full well that this bigotry, a spreading virus world wide through social media, isn't isolated to the supporters of Yellow Vests Canada or other Yellow Vests supporters in Canada. It didn't take long for other groups that ARC monitors to start commenting on the murder of 49 Muslims. Many of the comments were also celebratory. Some attempted to justify the murders while other started the "false flag" or "the Muslims did it themselves" claims that have become all too common when such horrible events occur. Of course there are the claims that the shooter was actually a far-leftist in order to absolve the right of any culpability. The QAnon fanatics have also gotten in on the act. Finally, there are a few who have actually questioned the presence of mosques in Christchurch and have posited that their presence in the city was a provocation intended by Muslims to claim dominance over Christianity.... because the name of the city is Christchurch.

If they were inclined to do the minimal research required, their minds would be blown to learn there are at least 26 Christian Churches in Islamabad, Pakistan:

Massacre At Two New Zealand Mosques; Yellow Vest Canada Members and Other Far-Right Groups Celebrate

I plan on adding to this later today. I just wanted to get the basics out.

In Christchurch, New Zealand, a man walked into a mosque wearing a GoPro which was live streamed to Facebook and shot a number of worshipers. A second mosque son followed. At this point three men and one woman have been arrested in connection to the shooting; at least one of these individuals posted a manifesto justifying the attack (I may take very selected screen shots because this man doesn't deserve to have an audience for his views). He also posted on 8chan:

His weapons were covered with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim graffiti, including neo-Nazi slogans, references to the UN migration pact and Quebec city mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette:

pic.twitter.com/cIx41hgVLj

— JAKearn (@lingerence) March 15, 2019

At this point I don't know how many have died, but I have heard of numbers ranging as high as 26. More information will be forthcoming.

UPDATE: CBC is reporting 40 dead.

In the meantime, the folks at Yellow Vests Canada posted about the tragedy and most of the responses were either celebratory, suggested a false flag, or justified the shootings:

The thread was eventually pulled down, but the administrators can't claim they didn't know about it since they approved of and participated in the thread:

This is the Yellow Vest Canada movement.

I'll continue this article tomorrow evening, but suffice it to say for now I'm not sure I could be more disgusted.

Yellow Vest Extremists: Two Case Studies From Edmonton and Calgary

I've been offline -- at least on the blog -- for over a week now in part due to finishing up some work-related projects (the work I'm actually paid to do), prepping for the holidays, and a long, long, LONG, drive back to the mother province to visit my family; ma has been dutifully fattening me up with cookies and nanaimo bars while pa has been providing home brewed beer at trying to engage me in discussing an activity known as "sports." Still, I have been keeping abreast of at least some of the activities the far right have been engaging in.

Last Saturday another series of Yellow Vest protests occurred. Fewer cities and towns appeared to have participated and the numbers were down in all cases while a number of venues saw an increase in the number of counter-protesters. Online the infighting and factionalism has been growing as participants sling insults at each other almost as much as they do towards the Liberal government in Ottawa and Notley government in Edmonton. Also, while there had been some effort to minimize the number of violent threats on the main Yellow Jacket Facebook pages, those efforts appear to have collapsed. 

It was inevitable that this new movement would attract mainly the same faces (Steven Myatt, Ron Banerjee, Georges Massaad, Faith Goldy, Georges Hallak, etc) and groups (Soldiers of Odin, Northern Guard, Storm Alliance, La Meute, Canadian Combat Coalition, III%ers etc) I've been seeing at these protests the past number of years in addition to some newer, though still familiar, movement such as those who are associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory(s). Two of the faces associated with the Yellow Vests will be familiar to readers and include one more recent addition as well as someone who frequented the days of ARC Classic.While the initial momentum in much the rest of Canada appears to be waning as the attention span of the supporters diminishes and the weather turns colder, Alberta is still quite active. 

In Edmonton the Yellow Vest protesters were outmaneuvered by the counter-protesters who showed up in larger numbers equaling or even perhaps slightly surpassing the Yellow Vest reactionaries, last week, the previous weekend saw a large number of far-right extremists show up including members of the Wolves of Odin. Now ARC readers will be familiar with this group as it used to be the Edmonton chapter of the Soldiers of Odin before they were compelled to change their name by the mother hate-group in Finland due to negative media attention. Prior to the name change the SoO were the focus of a story involving members of the hate-group hobnobbing with members of the United Conservative Party. Among those who attended the UCP event as well as the Yellow Vests protest on December 15 (where a journalist was roughed up, btw) was this fella:

Canadian Connection To Man Who Murdered Heather Heyer

Not long ago, members of the far-right in the United States were inexplicably confident that the man who struck and killed Heather Heyer and injured several others in Charlottesville would be acquitted despite.... you know.... the actual evidence.

On December 7, he was instead found guilty of first degree murder and nine other charges.

Suffice it to say the racists who cheered him on are upset.

Of further interest is information that a man featured on this blog was also connected to the murderer:

pic.twitter.com/3jhTbWWAce

— The Trial of James Alex Fields (@TTOJAF) December 9, 2018

Shawn Beauvais-Macdonald had been a member of La Meute (one of the groups that helped to organize yesterday's protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa) and participated in at least one more additional Le Meute event after "leaving" the group. He is now associated with the much more overtly racist Atalante, a neo-Nazi gang based in Quebec and ID Canada (formerly Generation Identity Canada). Beauvais-Macdonald's, posting as "FriendlyFash", was one of the participants in the now leaked Discord chat, the transcript of which can be found here. And of course he also participated in the Charlottesville event of 2017:

Here, Christopher Cantwell shakes hands with Shawn Beauvais-Macdonald of Quebec. pic.twitter.com/MGikLFucxU

— The Trial of James Alex Fields (@TTOJAF) December 10, 2018

Online posts identify Beauvais' buddy as Vincent Belanger-Mercure. pic.twitter.com/j3NOFjPk5P

— The Trial of James Alex Fields (@TTOJAF) December 10, 2018

Here is video of Cantwell and Beauvais at McIntire Park on August 11th. pic.twitter.com/xlB55Vb2W8

— The Trial of James Alex Fields (@TTOJAF) December 10, 2018

 More information on Beauvais-Macdonald, including his connection to other prominent far-right/alt-right/racist personalities can be found in the links below:

• Storm Alliance Brags About Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle; Overt Racists Included in Protest
• Guest Article: What’s Going on in Québec? (Part 1)
• Likely Generation Identity Canada Leader Revealed
• News from Quebec: Gabriel Sohier Chaput is "Charles Zieger" and Soldiers of Odin Links to Atalante
• Hate Has Consequences: More Fallout From Gabriel Sohier Chaput and Discord "Montreal Storm" Leaks
• Generation Identity, Alt-Right Montreal, and the Identity of "Date"

Alberta Has Declared Dean "Sovereign" Clifford To Be A Vexatious Litigant

I've occasionally wondered what the self-proclaimed Wolverdean has been up to since he was released from prison after having received a three years sentence on drugs and weapons charges related to his "freeman-on-the-land" pseudo-legal woo. Upon his release Dean was relatively quiet and wasn't the tax avoiding go-to guru he had been prior to his incarceration, so much so that I stopped paying attention to him and as a result missed this update from November:

Dean Clifford, a Freeman on the Land previously involved with the neo-Nazi Stormfront forum, has been declared a vexatious litigant in Alberta. Freeman on the Land is a sovereign citizen movement that believes laws don't apply to them (they do). https://t.co/Ot9i4mdcdj

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) December 2, 2018

Costs have been awarded against Clifford's 'client' and himself. See the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Decision here: https://t.co/lHIhW7bby8. CC @R_Scrivens

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) December 2, 2018

Dean Clifford started promoting himself as a freeman-on-the-land guru in earnest back in 2012. At the time we (when I could still say "we") at ARC teased an upcoming article focused on Dean which resulted in this reply:

Bring it on you communist mother fuckers. I have room for one more target, and my organization is MUCH larger and world-wide. Every freedom loving man and woman on this planet despises groups like you who try to stifle societies and individual freedoms with communist oppression and a police state of government control and laws. 

There's 10 of you in a room on welfare somewhere on Canada. This will backfire worse than the smear sHit Piece "The National" did. Of course, I'll be shocked if you actually allow this comment to be posted. Bring on the poo flinging, and violence, because that is all you people are capable of. 

Your smears are pathetic, your followers are so intellectually stagnant that it is terrifying, and you're all worse 'dead-beats' than the people you claim to hate. You're motto could not be more perfect to explain your organization, "We are against hate, and we hate anyone who doesn't go along with that." You must be the dumbest fuckers alive, a literal living oxymoron. 

I notice every single one of your staunch supporters hides and even posts as anonymous. Yeah, you must all truly believe in what you do, and most certainly are willing to assume liability for your statements and claims. Attach a face to your smear, you gutless shitheads. 

Every one of your front page stories is published by a fag who thinks he's a vampire. IS there more than one person even on this site? Oh man, this is going to be EPIC, I cannot wait! 

Talk soon ass-clowns. 

P.S. "intellectually on par with that of the Occupy Movement." Now that was just plain insulting, they're about as intelligent as you people, you are all a celebration of underachievers.

Suffice it to say we never did actually "talk soon" and Dean's attempt to intimidate ARC failed spectacularly. What Dean was trying to stop ARC from publishing (my own laziness resulted in not publishing much sooner) was his long history of posting on the American hate-site Stormfront:

• Canadian Freeman Movement: Ties to Extremism

Here are a few relevant posts:

We also learned that Dean was in continual correspondence with former Aryan Guard member (and man who spent time in prison on hate crime charges) Bill Noble:

• Dean Clifford and Bill Noble: Emails

Some of the exchanges indicate that Dean was aware that Aryan Guard leader Kyle McKee, then a suspect in an attempted murder targeting a member of a breakaway hate group (who would later be convicted on murder charges himself), was apprehended in Winnipeg while hiding out at Noble's residence.

Faith Goldy and ID Canada Protest United Nations Migrant Pact In Toronto

I know ARC is running the risk of becoming the "all Goldy, all the time" station on this series of tubes, but damn it if she just doesn't keep providing the fodder on which the blog is currently dining on:

The Global Compact on Migration has become one of the latest hobby-horse of far-right nationalists who tout the intergovernmental agreement as a conspiracy (George Soros' name often being invoked) to diminish the sovereignty of the nation-state. Some nationalist governments have since reject the pact though given that most of these regimes govern countries that (a) owe their existence to migration and (b) are either composed of or (as during the cold war) were leading nations from which refugees originated, one can't help note both the irony and hypocrisy of their stance. In this country Maxime Bernier has spoken out against the agreement which isn't of particular surprise.

Today Goldy and other far-right nationalist held their own protest against the agreement in Toronto. They were countered by what looked to be at least an equal (if not slightly greater) number of individuals who support the agreement or support the rights of migrants and refugees:

Wow.

So, that's the facial expression you decided to go with, eh Goldy?

A bold choice. Not one that I would have gone with myself, but you do you.

Along with Goldy were members of ID Canada (formerly Generation Identity Canada), a racist "identitarian" group that she has willingly aligned herself with and who heeded her call to bring their particular nationalist flag:

Election Eve in United States: What Will Not Happen Immediately If Democratic Party Wins

To write that I was gutted as a result of the November 8, 2016 presidential election really undersells how I felt about it. Then again I suppose there were a lot of like minded people in North America and the world who felt the same way. I knew that the ugly, authoritarian, populism of Donald Trump would infect every aspect of political discourse throughout the world but as bad as I thought it would be, the reality turned out to be even worse. Other authoritarian regimes, the most recent being Brazil, have followed the Trump model of fear, scapegoating, overt racism, and division to political success. In Canada we had a candidate for a major political party propose a "Canadian values test" to screen new immigrants despite herself not being able to articulate what those "Canadian values" were. She was defeated, though the current leader of the Conservative Party has adopted the same anti-migrant rhetoric and the new governments of Ontario and especially Quebec have embraced ethnic nationalism.

Then there have been the killings. Alexandre Bissonnette, James Jackson, Sean Urbanski, Jeremy Christian, Lane Davis, James Fields, William Atchison, Matthew Riehl, Samuel Woodward, and most recently Robert Bowers. All partly products of a toxic political environment of dehumanization and perceived victimization by "the Other" which in many cases echoed Trump's own rhetoric:

On November 6, 2018, midterm elections are being held in the United States. At this point it looks good for the Democrats who look like they may retake the House of Representatives and do very well at the state level in the governor races, though the Republicans seem likely to retain the Senate.

While I am cautiously optimistic, it would be wrong to be over confident. Over confidence resulted in November 6, 2016.

But should the Democratic Party retake even part of the legislative branch, it will not be an end to the toxicity that pervades political discourse. In fact I expect things to get a lot worse before things start to improve. 

To "fix" this will not occur as a result of one election, or two, or five, or more. I think this will take at least a generation and it will be a long, hard, slog every step of the way.

The hatred the likes of Trump has unleashed was always there. It wasn't anything new he discovered. Unlike others though he had no shame in nakedly and constantly stoking resentment for his own purposes. Others have done this as well, but in most cases there were lines they didn't cross even if they toed right up. Trump never had similar moral restraints and neither will those who decide to follow his example because there is a subset within the population that craves authoritarian control.

And don't for a moment think that Canada is immune to this kind of authoritarianism:

Extreme Rhetoric Results in Political Violence: Pipe Bombs and Mass Murder

Given the events of today especially as well as the preceding days, to write that it has been a bad week would be a horrible understatement.

Robert Bowers & Cesar Sayoc.

Not immigrants who came on a caravan.
Not Muslims.
Not refugees.
Not black men who kneel to protest police brutality.
Not women angry at Kavanaugh.
Not Mexican invaders.

Angry, homegrown American men inspired to violence due to an ideology of hate.

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) October 27, 2018

On October 22, a package was found at the home of financier George Soros containing a pipe bomb. Soros has been set up as a boogeyman figure by many on the right and figures prominently in their conspiracies including funding antifa (or really any protest against Trump and his policies):

The attacks against him consistently contain antisemitic tropes. The following day, a similar package containing a pipe bomb was delivered to the home of former president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, though the secret service intercepted the package before it arrived.

The response of much of the right in the United States was to suggest that the pipe bombs were a "false flag" and were carried out by left-wing groups. They blamed the Democratic Party, antifa, George Soros, the Clintons, and Obama. In Canada, the reaction of the groups and individuals I follow on social media followed a similar trend. For example, on the Canadian Combat Coalition page, members simultaneously celebrated the attempted assassinations and denied that they had actually occurred. It was also claimed that anyone who would be arrested was a patsy; the far right knew the "real" truth:

Canadian Far-Right React to (Yet Another) Mass Shooting in the United States

While the bodies are still warm from the latest mass U.S. school shooting, at least no one has the lack of taste or class to publicly defend gun rights, oh, wait, ... pic.twitter.com/19WLJ5AnBX

— CC (@canad1ancynic) February 17, 2018

This past Wednesday there was another mass shooting in the US, this time in Florida. I mean, it was a Wednesday in the United States and at this point it would almost be a surprise if there wasn't a mass shooting on a day that ends with the letter "y." I would add that to write "this time in Florida" suggests that mass shootings in Florida are unique. They are not or course. Not unique anywhere in what might be regarded as the first wealthy failed state:

[blog-affiliate] The Disaffected Lib: Meanwhile, Less Than an Hour Drive from the Bloodstained Halls of a Parkland High School.. https://t.co/vO89oUx0nB pic.twitter.com/Nu3QDiJ9p3

— Progressive Bloggers (@Prog_Blog) February 18, 2018

A total of 17 lives lost because too many Americans love their guns more than they love their children:

"We call BS"

Students send strong message to US lawmakers for tougher gun laws after 17 people died in Florida school shooting https://t.co/8ow6yEQLa5 pic.twitter.com/vWTVUseGjm

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 18, 2018

The 19 year suspect whom I will endeavor not to mention by name other than in the screen shots was, by all accounts, a very violent individual with an obsession with firearms and violence. Expelled from school in part because of his violence tendencies, former class mates who have been interviewed have said that he would wear "overly patriotic" t-shirts and a MAGA baseball cap:

Though initial reports linking the alleged shooter to a Florida-based white supremacist movement proved to be untrue and was yet another alt-right effort to troll the msm, it has been discovered that he did hold racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, and homophobic views that he posted on social media:

CNN, investigating comments the shooter may have left on a now-deleted YouTube channel, was added to the private Instagram group by one of the active members in it. The responding group members, who appear to be younger than 18, have refused to confirm their identities to CNN on or off the record.
....
Racism was a constant theme in the chat group, which was called "Murica (American flag emoji) (eagle emoji) great" -- a name it was given by Cruz. 

The hatred he and others in the group espoused met little resistance from its active members. In one part of the group chat, Cruz wrote that he hated, "jews, ni**ers, immigrants." 

He talked about killing Mexicans, keeping black people in chains and cutting their necks. The statements were not made in jest. 

There are hundreds of racist messages, racist memes and racist Instagram videos posted in the group.
....
Cruz said he hated black people simply because they were black; Cruz hated Jews because he believed they wanted to destroy the world. 

After one member expressed hatred for gay people, Cruz agreed, saying, "Shoot them in the back of head." 

White women drew Cruz's hatred as well, specifically those in interracial relationships, whom he referred to repeatedly as traitors.

Almost immediately after the shooting, a number of far-right and alt-right groups and individuals began circulating false information about the suspect. Before any of this information came out, the alleged shooter was characterized as a Muslim, Muslim convert, a registered Democrat, and a member of "antifa." Others claimed it was a "false flag" such as those who follow Alex Jones. Photos of completely different people were claimed as the suspect even when it didn't look any bit like the alleged shooter:

Also, there is no such thing as the Laguna Beach Antifa. It is a false Twitter account.

Their Canadian counterparts have followed suit.

They've posted the wrong image:

Suspected Terrorist Attack in Edmonton, AB

Late last night in Edmonton a U-Haul struck four pedestrians and a police officer. The alleged driver of the U-Haul exited the vehicle and stabbed the officer multiple time. The suspect then attempted to escape on foot, however the 30-year-old male was soon captured (UPDATE: The suspect, Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, was known to the police). The police officer's injuries are thankfully not critical and he seems expected to recover. The condition of the pedestrians is as yet unknown.

Al Rashid's Imam thanks @edmontonpolice for what they do for us. 'It was attack on all of us and we will not stand silent.' pic.twitter.com/X1taqcH25m

— Andrea Huncar CBC (@andreahuncar) October 2, 2017

Inside the U-Haul was what has been described as an ISIS flag. This certainly suggests that the event was an attack by someone who has been radicalized by ISIS propaganda however ARC is waiting until more information is forthcoming to make a final determination. If the incident was indeed an attack by an extremist motivated by ISIS hate propaganda, this writer would condemn it regardless of the ideology of the individual carrying out the attack. ARC has always condemned hate-based violence and will continue to do so unapologetically so long as I continue to operate the blog as well as after I decide one day to cease this work and pass it on to someone else. And I know that anti-fascists feel the same way.

Kurdish Fighters displaying the Anti Fascist flag in front of an ISIS billboard. Next stop Raqqa. pic.twitter.com/AVyzmqZUZa

— York AntiFA (@York_AntiFA) July 3, 2015

Kurdish Antifa stepping on captured ISIS flag. They are taking town after town away from ISIS. You have a prob w that? Who you for? pic.twitter.com/cLWegfG3m1

— AltAccount🌽 (@AlynneStark) May 8, 2017

Racists and Antisemites Attending June 3 Event in Calgary

Tomorrow the protests planned for Ottawa, Calgary, and other Canadian cities should all be under way by noon. Though billed as "million Canadian" marches (thereby attempting to co-opt past progressive events), this writer suspects the numbers will fall far, far, short of one million people. In Ottawa, I suspect there will be between 300 and 500 people, though that is perhaps a generous estimate. In Calgary, perhaps 50 to 100.

Then again, I've never been good at these kinds of estimates, so I may be surprised either way.

In Calgary, WCAI and the Canadian Combat Coalition have been whiny because their event has been referred to by ARC and others as racist and bigoted, a charge WCAI clumsily refutes:

Yeah.... you probably shouldn't do live videos while drunk because this alone undermines everything you just wrote:

Wow.

Rape jokes too.

Just.... wow.

Well, the WCAI videos MAY have been directed towards Trudeau (and based on the above video, homosexuals, the mentally challenged, and of course, Muslims), but the rhetoric coming from the participants and the possible guests tells another story.

For example, Karyn Draper, someone ARC has discussed in the past, will be attending the June 3 protest. In one post she says there will be another individual who will be attending but that she would like someone to accompany her to the event.

Let's see if you can spot the name I and others working with ARC noticed?

Actually, Merle is a name familiar to many, but let's let that slide for a bit.

It looks like Kyle McKee, founder of the Aryan Guard and current leader of the Calgary chapter of Blood & Honour may be attending the event. Kyle McKee, convicted of such crimes as possession of bomb making materials, possession of prohibited weapons, uttering threats, fleeing police, and assault. Kyle McKee, a man charged with attempted murder and other crimes. Kyle McKee, suspected of being involved in a violent home invasion, vandalism, and the firebombing (directly or having provided orders) of an anti-racist's residence.

Naw! It couldn't be THAT Kyle McKee, could it?

Yes, THAT Kyle McKee.

March 19 Anti-Muslim Rallies: Some Victories, Some Hard Lessons

By this point ARC readers know that any time we mention Kevin "The Chairman" Goudreau on the blog, it is probably because he did something profoundly stupid or embarrassing but isn't self aware enough to realize that this is the case:

Yep, the Goudreau held a rally in Peterborough while wearing an ill-fitted suit because he now wants to project gravitas.

Though really, to refer to what the Goudreau held as a rally is sort of like polishing a turd and calling it a diamond:

Still, despite holding his "rally" (word is they were there for less than 5 minutes) in what looks to my uneducated eye as a relatively empty street with few people to witness it, and what few people who did witness the event simply mocked him and his merry band of short bus passengers, the Goudreau appears to see it as a massive success and his first step towards his inevitable rise as der Kanadisch Führer:

Add caption

At least one person however, seemed to imply that the Goudreau was sort of gilding the lily:

That's right folks. There were more anti-Muslim rallies in select Canadian towns and cities this past week.

Kevin's explanation for the pathetic nature of his rally is flimsy at best, but it is telling in that he really believes (and is likely correct) that some of the kind of people who would attend a "White Pride" march would also be attracted to an anti-Muslim protest. It's sort of a Venn Diagram, but of hatred. For example, Goudreau has some prominent anti-Muslim activists amongst his own friends:

Brad Salzberg, the leader of the Cultural Action Party of Canada, isn't just anti-Muslim but is also anti-immigrant in general. He held a very small anti-Muslim protest in Vancouver this past Sunday. And Sara Smith is better known as Sandra Solomon, an especially vocal and virulent anti-Muslim protester associates with Eric Brazau and Ron Banerjee; she was a key speaker at the anti-Muslim event that took place Sunday in Toronto.

When analyzing the anti-Muslim protests that took place this past Sunday, I think it is important to look not only at the victories scored by those who opposed the xenophobes and Islamophobes, but it is equally important to recognize that there were some setbacks.