Friday, August 12, 2016

Soldiers of Odin: Canadian Media Paying Attention

We don't usually refer to ourselves as "media" though in the absolute sense, we suppose we are. We run a niche blog who's members have a realistic understanding concerning our national exposure. Still, we like to think that at least on occasion we've been able to punch above our weight by breaking a few stories before the msm have.

As far as we know, we were amongst the first, if not the first, "media" source that began covering the entry of the Soldiers of Odin onto the Canadian scene. However since we began, there has been some really good journalism focused on the SoO. Not too long after our first exposé, Vice published a story by Mack Lamoureux who was able to infiltrate a meeting by the Alberta chapter of Soldiers of Odin. And last week, CBC's Samantha Craggs wrote what we would regard as a pretty hard hitting profile of the SoO and the group's efforts to organize in the city of Hamilton.

Some members of the SoO took notice, including co-leader of the Saskatchewan chapter of the Soldiers of Odin:


In the article, the national president of the Canadian Soldiers of Odin, Joel Angott, claims that the group is opposed to racism:
The presence in Hamilton is informal right now, with about eight or nine members getting organized, said SOO national president Joel Angott. There's a lot of interest, but potential Hamilton members are being carefully vetted. 
SOO members do neighbourhood patrols, Angott told CBC Hamilton in a phone interview from Winnipeg. Right now, its Hamilton plans focus on cleaning up local parks. 
He denies that the group is anti-immigration, or anti-Muslim, although the group's bylaws lament the government "accepting refugees from countries that hate us" and "letting illegal aliens into this country and giving them the ability to vote and drive."
Denying that the SoO is not anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim sort of flies in the face of what is routinely posted on the various provincial Soldiers of Odin chapters' Facebook pages however. For example, here are a few from the British Columbia chapter group page:



It doesn't matter that the story itself is false. What matters is these
members of the SOO believed it was true, and celebrated as a result. 
Before we continue, we should at this point mention that Bill Daniels was named the provincial leader of the Soldiers of Odin.


We will have more to say about him in a future article, but the following should cause one to question the claim that the SoO isn't anti-Muslim:










Uhm.... there was a Third Crusade already. Actually,
according to historians, there were as many as nine in total.

Bill might want to read a few history books. Or at least someone should.

Just say'n....
Bill Daniels also posted a method by which the West should deal with Muslims which further calls into question the commitment to the freedoms the SoO claim to uphold:


The comments were equally enlightening:


We should note that Bill's profile picture differs in many of these
screen shots as we grabbed them at different times.
As for anti-Islam and suggestions the SoO might harbor some violent sentiments, well....

"Speaking muslim," eh?



and,


and,



and,


Should we mention that Muhammad Fiaz is a member of the conservative Saskatchewan Party
and has nothing to do with the federal Liberal Party? Should we also note the irony that,
while the SOO seem to loath Trudeau, many have been supportive of Saskatchewan Party
leader Brad Wall becoming the leader of the federal Conservative Party of Canada, and that
regarding Fiaz, Wall was, "very excited and pleased" he was elected?
Again, Bill Daniels, leader of the British Columbia chapter of Soldiers of Odin.

This is the kind of guy "vetted" by SoO national leader Joel Angott.

But of course this is only one branch of the SoO and we're really only just getting started.

Of interest to CBC (and Hamilton based) journalist Samantha Craggs. Charlene O'Farrell might be of interest:


O'Farrell hitched her cart to the SoO some time ago, and by cart we mean Canadians United 4 Canada. She has proudly proclaimed her membership in the extremist group and recently gave the Soldiers of Odin a heads up regarding an anti-SoO group in Hamilton:


She's also made connections with dyed in the wool racists like Paulie and the Goudreau:


Speaking of interesting company, we noticed that the founder and national leader of the Canadian Soldiers of Odin keeps interesting company as well:


Our readers no doubt know who Ingrid Rimland is, but for those who have stumbled across the blog, Ms. Rimland is married to Ernst Zündel who was perhaps the most notorious publisher of Holocaust denial material while a permanent resident in Canada residing in Toronto. He was also perhaps the spiritual leader of a whole host of neo-Nazi groups nationally and internationally including the Heritage Front. He was eventually deported to Germany where he was sentenced to five years in prison for Holocaust denial.

Ingrid Rimland is also a Holocaust denier.

Why would the leader of the Canadian SoO have any sort of link to Ingrid Rimland?

Then again, under the surface, there seems to be at least a faction of the Canadian SoO who hold to antisemitic sentiments:




Curious, though this is perhaps equally curious:


We must secure the existence of our people and the future of our children.

Sound familiar? It should. This is a VERY slightly modified version of David Lane's 14 words:
We must secure the existence of our people and the future of White children.
David Tierney is the co-leader of the Saskatchewan chapter of the Soldiers of Odin. If he created the image, he would have had to consciously changed the line meaning that he might be well aware of the racist undertones of the quote. And if he didn't know, an investigation of the 14 words and David Lane would have removed any doubt.

But the other SoO members seem to think it's catchy:


Giving Tierney te benefit of the doubt, perhaps he's just incredibly naive?

But that doesn't stop him from some political dog whistling:


But don't call the SoO racists:


Then again, SoO national vice president and head of the Quebec chapter "Dave TregOcto" may not have the same view:


And SoO supporter Murray Ardell certainly doesn't:


Nice.

And if we haven't made our point clearly, we have written on the extensive links between the SoO and members of overt neo-Nazi groups:
In response to the CBC article, one SoO member was optimistic that the notoriety would lead to more people taking an interest in the organization.

We're inclined to agree, though it might not be the boon he seems to believe it will be.

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