Man Assaulted by Finnish Neo-Nazi Group Linked to the Soldiers of Odin Dies

Our readers who have been following ARC's series on the Canadian branch of the Soldiers of Odin are aware that the group originated in Finland and was founded by Mike Ranta:

Prior to founding the Soldiers of Odin, Ranta, an avowed "White Nationalist" and neo-Nazi, was and still is a member of the Finnish Resistance Movement:

Ranta, who was convicted of a 2005 racially-motivated attack against two immigrants, admits readily to being a neo-Nazi — “Yes, I am” — but insists his ideology and membership in the Finnish Resistance Movement has nothing to do with the patrols. 

“Just because I am, as the founder or whatever, it doesn’t mean the whole group are (neo-Nazis)… We’re just a street patrol group, so why are people making it into something else?,” Ranta argued.

Since the publication of the above article, Ranta has been convicted of aggravated assault and given an 18 month suspended sentence for his attack on a man and woman.

Soldiers of Odin Canada, founded by Manitoba resident Joel Angott, was authorized by Ranta's original Finnish chapter to begin operations in Canada:

This past week, members of the Finnish Resistance Movement assaulted a man during a rally. That man later passed away as a result of his injuries:

FINNISH MAN DIES AFTER BEING ASSAULTED BY NEO-NAZISPosted on 17.9.2016 by mikael 

A Finnish man, Jimi Joonas Karttunen, that was assaulted by neo-Nazis from the Finnish Resistance Movement (FRM) Saturday the 10th of September has died of his injuries. The news was first given by his father Kauko-Vesa Karttunen in a Facebook post on Saturday and the identity of the man has since then been confirmed by other sources, including an old school friend that Kaivuri has talked to. The assault against the 28 year old Karttunen happened during a demonstration by FRM in the center of Helsinki. Karttunen was assaulted from the back by members of FRM and hit his head as he fell on the ground, after he had expressed his dissent to the protestors. 

What is clear so far is that the victim was hospitalised shortly after the attack due to severe head trauma and remained in intensive care for several days. He was released from the hospital on Thursday but began to suffer from intense headaches again on Friday and called the emergency services. When the emergency services arrived he had already lost consciousness and was proclaimed dead on Friday at 10 PM. 

FRM released a video of Karttunen lying on the ground next to a pool of blood on Sunday the 12th of September. In an accompanying text, the organization said they had to ‘discipline’ some people who challenged them, effectively confessing members of the group were behind the assault. Several pictures connected to the article show known members of the organization, giving an idea of which people were present. 

The police have, nonetheless, been reluctant comment on the events to mainstream media outlets (1,2,3,4) and refused to verify whether a causal relation between the death of Karttunen, but confirm that the case is under investigation. Meanwhile, in a post on their website, the Antifascist network Varis has connected names to the faces visible in the pictures published by FMR. Several of the whom have a record of violence against people of colour, queers and political opponents. 

Kaivuri will participate in all efforts to bring the attackers to justice and we will continue to update as the situation develops.

The FRM propaganda video of the aftermath can be seen at about 2:06:

Prior to Karttunen's death which is believed to have been as a result of his injuries (witnesses point out he was attacked from behind), the Finnish Resistance Movement gleefully wrote about "disciplining" an anti-racist who opposed them. When it was learned that the man had died, comments on the FRM YouTube page where the video was uploaded were, to be charitable, unsympathetic (we picked those comments that were published in English):

We'll note once again that Mika Ranta, founder of the Soldiers of Odin, is still a member and supporter of the Finnish Resistance Movement. He himself commented on the incident and also published what appears to be an official response from the FRM. Not surprisingly despite the witnesses who stated that Karttunen had been attacked from behind and the initial boast by the FRM that they had put him in his place prior to his death, the FRM is now claiming self-defence:

We're just going to include the translated version rather than also including the original Finnish.

Ranta has two Facebook profiles. The one in which he commented on the death of Karttunen has it set up so that one can not see his friends list. The second however is visible and most enlightening.

We introduce our readers to a sample of the Canadian SoO leadership who are "friends" with an avowed neo-Nazi but who also reject that the Soldiers of Odin is a racist, anti-immigrant, or anti-Muslim group:

SOO Ontario President 

SoO British Columbia President

SOO Alberta President

Southern BC SoO President

SoO Calgary leader

SoO Oxbow leader

Saskatchewan SoO Co-President

Saskatchewan SoO Co-President

Quebec SoO President and Former National Vice-President

There are others, but we thought that we would include one more:

National President and SoO Canada Founder

Quite the web, eh?

By the way Joel, if you happen to read this article, you mentioned in your interview with the "Soo Today" that you were unfamiliar with the concept of Holocaust denial but that you removed Ms. Rimland once you were aware:

Well then, could we assume that you are familiar enough with that particular noxious ideology that this might cause you some concern?

Will you "unfriend" Soldiers of Odin founder Mika Ranta as well?