Thursday, November 30, 2017

A Decade of Anti-Racist Canada



Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are.

When I first started the blog, it was to focus primarily on Calgary's Aryan Guard (I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit this again, the original location for ARC was LiveJournal). However ARC soon began exposing the activities of racists, antisemites, bigots, and Islamophobes across the country. ARC didn't go out of the way to attract readers, but over the subsequent months and years the blog amassed a loyal readership of both anti-racist activists as well as the racists that were covering since ARC provided the most up to date information regarding the state of their movement.... and goodness knows how much boneheads like gossiping about each other.

I could write "we" at that point since ARC also gained a number of contributors who provided some of the blogs best read articles. To this day, I really do believe that "A History of Violence" which was first written by "NomDeGuerre200" and then added on to by myself is the most important post ever to be published on Anti-Racist Canada and until this past July 1 was the most read article on the site. "Free Dominion" once mockingly referred to ARC as a collective; we all liked the characterization so much that we added it to our name because the growing numbers justified it.

During ARC's existence, we have seen hate sites and groups, as well as their membership, come and go. Some of those individuals managed to break away from hate in part because of ARC and I am pleased that we were able to play some part in their redemption.

It hasn't been easy. When I first began the blog, I already had roughly 10 years of experience in anti-racist activism. I began the blog somewhat naively believing that I was mentally tough enough to expose myself to vitriolic hatred every day without being affected by it. In retrospect that was foolish. There have been times that I have suffered from insomnia and depression. Hate can wear a person down and makes it difficult to see the good in people. The work can make one cynical and jaded. And some people who had become very good friends whom I met because of this project and who became contributors decided to move on. The last to leave was "NomDeGuerre200" whom I still miss terribly every single day.

I almost quit on a number of occasions and had specific plans to wind things down by this date, with November 30, 2017 being the last entry.

That Trump was elected president and with the far right emboldened, I didn't feel right to leave the field for others to fight the battle against a new generation of racists, antisemites, bigots, and Islamophobes (now often rebranded as "alt-right") alone. 

Since then, I suppose I've managed to catch my second wind so to speak. ARC hasn't been as productive in years, which to be fair isn't necessarily a good thing. And there is a great deal information that I miss because I struggle to keep up or don't have the time to cover. Still, as challenging as these times are with the rise of the "alt-right" as well as the boneheads we were used to, it has been heartening to see a rise in those individuals who are willing to oppose these new hate groups. It makes one feel that one isn't alone fighting for social justice (and yes, I will proudly wear the SJW label proudly).

I don't know how much longer the blog will remain active. It could be online for another decade and beyond, or it could end sooner. I was speaking to a friend who noted that, should I be hit by a bus or die in some other accident, there is currently no one to take over the blog. In response I made sure that should anything happen to me, this blog may continue without me, though perhaps not quite as active.

More importantly though, I know that soon I won't be one of the very few voices exposing racists in Canada. While I won't go into detail, I've been lead to understand that there are efforts underway to create an entity to monitor hate groups and individuals in this country that will dwarf my meager efforts. Suffice it to say if the haters found ARC to be an inconvenience for them, they ain't seen nothing yet.

So with that all said, I would like to thank everyone who has made ARC successful these past ten years; our past contributors, our sources, and our readers, some of whom have been reading ARC from the very beginning. The blog is imperfect. The writing could often use some decent editing, I occasionally allow my temper to get the best of me and God knows I can't code to save my life. However I hope that those who continue to visit find the information provided to be of some use and that for as long as ARC remains active, people currently associated with the far right might continue to have that tug at their conscience and contemplate getting out.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Tension Between JDL and Ronny Cameron? Perhaps.... But Probably Not

Close to two weeks ago ARC posted a story about Ronny Cameron's embracing of the "white genocide" mantra despite his own.... uhm.... I'll say personal situation. One particular thread turned out to be of some interest since it resulted in a nearly 50 year-old "Proud Boy" Robert Jones (and really, if he isn't embarrassed about that distinction he really should be) being taken to task by a member, or at least a supporter, of the JDL:


Gee, Jones rolled on to his back and subordinated himself pretty damn fast. Not all that much of an alpha I guess.

In any case, it seemed as if there had been some tension between members of the JDL and Ronny, or at least folks associated with Ronny, since he started on the whole "white genocide" canard and his involvement with people like Jesse Sanderson became a bit uncomfortable:




His association with the Proud Boys, whom AR Davis seems to have a problem with, might also be cause for some concern in the JDL:

 
 
 
 



Then there were the claims made by Ron Banerjee.

Now, it should be noted that Banerjee HATES Cameron. I mean really, really, loathes him. I'm guessing this is primarily because Banerjee is profoundly jealous of Cameron coming upon the scene relatively late and sucking up much of the oxygen, at least in Toronto far right circles. Banerjee has been talking smack about Ronny for months now, but the following post was an interesting new entry in the war of words which ARC found on the JDL Grand Poobah's Facebook page with no contradiction:

Banerjee has had a long relationship with the JDL, though it is a relationship more akin to Banerjee's Spike to Meir Weinstein and the JDL's Chester. Still, this would be a big deal (again, all things being relative as we are talking about a fringe movement still) if this were true.

The operative word being "if" of course.

Only two days later, Meir seemed pretty cozy with a person advocating for a blatantly racist and not so subtle antisemitic conspiracy:


Yeah, I can't say that I'm all that shocked that Meir Weinstein continues to make common cause with a movement that will turn on Jews as soon as they would dispense with Muslims, the enemy of my enemy and all that.

It's not as if he's been a profile in courage for years at this point.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Alberta III% In The Addictions Recovery Business. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Members of the Albert III% militia, posted by member on October 28, 2017
When ARC published the story on Friday focusing on the desire of many on the far right in Canada for some sort of insurrection against the government as well as fantasizing about assassinating public figures including Prime Minister Trudeau, members of the Alberta III% militia featured prominently in that article. Since then members of the Facebook group have continued to post inflammatory and illegal statements calling for the removal of Trudeau from office.... one way or another:


As a digression, I would like to note the irony of a group claiming to be patriots calling for removal of a democratically elected government by a foreign power. I would suggest this is a case of severe cognitive dissonance, but what do I know?

Then there's the "not creepy at all" intel gathering efforts the president of the Alberta chapter is pushing for:


They have also been using their Facebook page to auction items to raise money for the group, some of which might not be so innocuous:


Now while all of this should absolutely be cause for concern, the following should be absolutely chilling:



ARC has actually written about this initiative back in August, though the did run into at least one snag:



Though I didn't think too much of all of heir claims it might have more legs than first thought at the time:


When this writer downloaded the file Welling had posted, it contained the following document:

Far Right Protest and Counter Protest in Quebec City

UPDATE: Our friends at GREDA Canada have this to say about today's far right march and counter protest:
Interesting is to see that Storm Alliance and La Meute split their march as well, while Hallak of his own CCCC seems to claim he was the organizer! The III% Militia and the Northern Guard followed Storm Alliance, having full gears, pepperspray cannisters and even ASP telescopic baton. The neo-fascists of ATALANTE made their own appearance but their attempt to provoke a confrontation failed. There were only 2 Far-right members who tried to infiltrate the antiracist gathering but they were peacefully escorted out. This was a major setback for the Far-right. A demonstration of more than 10 organizations, Province-wide, with less than 350 people. We are far from the 1,000 promised. Even more bad news for La Meute, in an exclusive report from the UCL Saguenay, we can report that on friday, Claude Patry, former union leader, and former member of Parliament for Bloc Québécois, resigned as the leader of the Clan of La Meute in the Saguenay region. Things are not going well within La Meute these days. Here are a few new photos of today’s event:

Storm Alliance and the III% Militia, with pepper spray and ASP telescopic Baton ready for action.
The DFSA also getting ready for actions with their faces covered…

Atalante showing up behind the antiracists with a response from militants.
Police line protecting the Far-right, in front of antiracists who had Atalante at their back.


Police gearing up, using pepper spray against antiracists without any provocations on their part.
Quebec Police Force making preventive arrests": in front of Liberal Party Convention.

Claude Patry, former MP of Bloc Quebecois, resigned as chief of La Meute in Saguenay, QC.
A couple of days ago Storm Alliance founder and president Dave Tregett posted a video touting the planned march by the Storm Alliance and La Meute in Quebec Cty. He also expressed confidence in the numbers of those who would be attending which seemed to me a wee bit optimistic:


Earlier today his vice-president also stated their numbers would be in the 1000+ range:


Well, based on at least one bus load of La Meute supporters, those numbers didn't ultimately appear likely to be realistic:


As of the information ARC has received, there appears to be between 300 and 400 far right members of the Storm Alliance and La Meute as well as Quebec members of the III% militia and the openly racist Atalante, a number that seems to be confirmed by the CBC:
Quebec's largest far-right groups are staging a demonstration today in the provincial capital, where police are working to keep them apart from a counter-demonstration by anti-racism and anti-capitalism activists. 
Around 300 members of far-right groups, including La Meute and Storm Alliance, marched towards a convention centre where the governing Quebec Liberals are holding a major policy meeting. 
Outside the convention centre, police in riot gear placed themselves between the far-right groups and the counter-protesters. The doors of the convention centre were locked. Police say around 20 people were detained. 
The far-right groups organized their own security for the protest. Members of the Three Per Cent — which fashions itself as a militia — were spotted wearing bullet proof vests and carrying billy clubs.
....
Atalante Québec, among the most extreme far-right groups in the province, unfurled a banner reading "Le Quebec aux Québécois," or Quebec for Quebecers.
Anti-racist and anti-fascist protesters have appeared to have at least equaled the far right protesters in numbers though given how spread out the far right marchers are it made their numbers look perhaps larger. There is also indication that there is some tension within the ranks of the far right today:
The most recent and best information on the march is coming from ARC's friends at GREDA Canada:
DEMONSTRATION IN QUEBEC CITY- NOVEMBER 25,2017- FAR-RIGHT HITS THE DUST 
As the demonstration is presently underway, a quick report on the situation. A gathering angainst racism was held in front of the National Assembly, with speakers, chants and a very festive mood. Meanwhile, the Far-right La Meute and Storm Alliance, together with the Front Patriotique du Quebec, and members of the III% Militia and Northern Guard, gathered under very heavy police protection. The Far-right is less than 400 or so, a far cry from their goal of 1,000. The antiracist march is still underway with approximatelly 400 people. 
Police used tear gas against antiracists while growing the number of their forces to protect the Far-right. A tense moment just happened when 30-40 members of the neo-nazis ATALANTE, with the Federation des Quebecois de Souche arrived behind the antiracist march. At present, the Far-right are hold up in front of the National Assembly while some incidents seems to take place nearby, where ATALANTE and the FQS were hiding trying to set-up a trap against antiracists.
Tregett posted a few live videos of the march:


Another Storm Alliance member (screen shot below) posted a much longer live feed which ARC may or may not eventually upload:


Also, if one were to be cynical, it would appear that the police may have taken sides in this encounter: 

Friday, November 24, 2017

Threats of Civil War and Political Assassination.... From Canadian Far Right

It hasn't been even a month since the predicted antigageddon promoted by such media propagandists as Alex Jones and embraced by his credulous supporters in both the United States and Canada failed to occur. While this failure is primarily because the claim that "antifa" was planning a violent civil war to remove Donald Trump from office wasn't actually ever a thing in the first place other than a conspiracy cooked up in the fevered imagination of the far right, those on the right who were true believers refuse to accept that they were wrong. Instead they suggest that the rise of armed, patriotic, citizens cowed antifa resulting in the failure of their nefarious plans. Alternatively they claim that antifa members are simply bidding their time and that the civil war was simply postponed. Or they claim that events such as the tragic massacre at a Texas church are the acts of antifa thus proving the narrative despite any actual evidence other than the feels. Those who deny the "reality" of the antifa planned civil war canard are either in on the conspiracy and/or are partisan hacks who refuse to acknowledge their truth:


UPDATE: ARC received this in the early morning of November 28.


Sigh....

Yes, this was advertisement "Dick" is referring to:


Yes, they "literally" said their plan was to protest against the Trump administration. I can't see any call to riot anywhere here. 

But again, as this once again illustrates, one will have difficulty reasoning with people who are unwilling to be reasonable.

In Canada, the same kind of hand wringing occurred among adherents of far right ideologies. The rhetoric ranged from fear to threats to target the left before the left could target them. When nothing happened on November 4, rather than accepting they had been duped many of the groups and individuals patted themselves on their backs for having prevented a violent overthrow of the government that, I stress once again, was never a thing in the first place. However it seems that this issue wasn't so much their fear of a civil war perpetrated by individuals on the political left as some MAJOR projecting on their part because these people seem to loves them their civil war fantasies:


Among those who seems to have embraced the insurrectionist rhetoric is Georges Hallak of the Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens (he also seems to be pushing for a Christian theocratic state, but that's an issue for another time). In Hallak's case, he uses the tragedy at the Sutherland Springs Baptist Church and his further claim of mass anti-Christian persecution in Canada as a starting point to stoke the requisite fear:

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Proud Boys Threaten Vancouver Bar Staff

ARC had been following this story when it was making the rounds on social media, but this past weekend a Vancouver area member of the Proud Boys (for all intents and purposes a far right "alt-light" wannabe fight club) claims to have been assaulted in a Vancouver bar:


I find it interesting that no matter how many times Proud Boys finds themselves in a fight, they are always claiming to be the innocent party unreasonably attacked my antifa members. If I were cynical I might suggest that such encounters, if they occur as the PBs claim, are perhaps someone contrived. But perish the thought that a group that seems to revel in toxic masculinity would create a climate in which a member could achieve that 4th degree.

ARC contacted Vanessa, a staff member of the bar where the incident took place. Her account is as follows:
On October 14th, there was a group of 6-8 of them having a gathering at the bar. The event that night was a punk/indie rock show where a significant number of the artists and attendees were queer/LGBQT/femme identifying. I was made aware of their presence there by patrons who were concerned they were there to cause trouble. I told one of them they did not belong there, and they took their sweet time, but left without incident. 
Given the size of the bathroom, I find it very unlikely that it was as many people as they claim it was, and even more unlikely that there was a bat involved. From where the bar is though, there are no clear site lines. 
I can only speculate, but I've been a bartender in that neighbourhood a long time, and I've seen some fights. If it was as he describes it, I'd expect he'd be in much worse shape.
I don't condone violence of any kind aside from controlled and consenting mosh pit scenarios, but if you want to posture yourself as a fraternal fight club of proud nationalists and misogynists, I have a hard time believing that wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Those views are inherently violent to women, immigrants, and indigenous people, and that's 75% of our client base right there.
 
I just think it was opportunistic and not targeted, and I am sad for those boys that they have not had the direct experience to change their minds and are so completely unaware of how they make people feel around them.
Josh, the PB who claimed to have been attacked by four members of antifa, and his friends didn't like Vanessa's response to their.... uhm.... dilemma and since then she has been subject to online threats to her person and her job as evidenced by the following messages she received on Facebook. Some of the messages were run of the mill trolling....






.... however she also received what were clearly threats: