June 24 Rallies and Protests and Preview of June 25

Today two events took place at Calgary City Hall. One was held in defence of Muslim-Canadians and a multicultural society. The other was organized by former WCAI ally Stephen Garvey who, only days before, had (rightfully) labeled the WCAI a hate group but who was now outraged that the WCAI wasn't given a permit to roast a pig, have live bands, and say horrible things about Muslims and immigrants.

Yeah, I know. Looks like Garvey is trying to have his cake and eat it too.

First, the rally supporting Muslims, immigrants, and a multicultural Alberta and Canada:

The event at City Hall was very nearly without incident. Speakers were good, and diverse. 

"Dirtbag" referred to
by ARC's interviewee

A few dudes from Street Church were snapping pics, and a few other shady fuckers were around including one dirtbag who I have tried to debate calmly in the past. He is, however, an explicit nationalist who has said flat out that he views the promotion of Islamophobia as a positive in Canada. He also says that all Muslim people are a threat, and that white people civilized the First Nations and that they were right in taking this land because the "Indians weren't doing anything with it." 

This individual acts like a typical douche and seeks what he feels are easy targets- often femme-presenting folks- and tries to "debate" them by painting all Islamic people with the same brush. Today, when he had bad luck arguing with people ore knowledgeable than him, including some of our Muslim comrades, he began to employ this tactic against a pair of young women in festival gear. The crowd then surrounded him and drowned him out, taking the focus off the women.

Before this event took place however, Stephen Garvey of the fringe political party the National Advancement Party was speaking at City Hall. Garvey was to have hosted an event at Rotary Park today as well (early reports suggest it may have been poorly attended, but the numbers ARC received were very early so I'll hold off on providing any details about that event). He decided to hold a press conference at City Hall though to voice his outrage at the prospect of a group he had just called a dangerous hate group days before being denied a permit to stage their rally:

I might mention here that there is nothing in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that requires allowing any individual or group use of public spaces for their private events; remember that the falling out between Garvey and the WCAI was because he invited Muslim groups and the mayor of the city to the June 24 rally at Rotary Park and DeLuca and others had explicitly stated Muslims were not welcome. And the fact is that the WCAI and allied groups are still holding a march to Olympic Plaza sort of puts their and Garvey's complaint about the suppression of their "free speech" to bed. Finally it really is hard to claim that you support "free speech" when you urge a police investigation of a person using her freedoms to warn Calgarians that hate mongers will be downtown on Sunday:

Yeah.... I somehow doubt that she is being investigated for warning people about the individuals with whom you once freely associated with and who you called a hate group after breaking with them.

So, given the.... er.... prominence of Stephen Garvey, one must imagine that many flocked to his call to City Hall today.

Apparently, not so much:

We got there while Garvey was speaking to media, and confronted him loudly- disrupting his conference. We were able to argue him into a corner where he said that if he was provided with screencaps of WCAI, III%, etc., using racist and hateful speech, that he would publicly denounce those organizations. 

As for his support, It was literally Garvey, his one other candidate (Sikh guy), and a dude who thought Muslims pray to Satan 17 times per day because he read it in Free Dictionary Online.

But the big event is happening Sunday Sunday Sunday at the Calgary Monster Jam!!!!

Sorry, but they really do present the event like it's a monster truck rally.

I mean, this Sunday when the WCAI, Canadian Combat Coalition, Proud Boys from Toronto, probably a smattering of III%ers and Soldiers of Odin, and most likely some of the Street Church yobs march to city hall:

• Calgary police ready for controversial weekend rallies, don't expect threats to public safety
• Branded 'hateful' by Calgary officials, anti-Islam group vows to march regardless of permit
• Valerio: Anti-Muslim groups should provoke louder response from our leaders

Some of the folks who will be participating can be found below:

So let's do a bit of a run down of a few of these folks. We've already posted a lot about DeLuca, Wielenga, and Dean so we'll look at a few of the others.

WCAI Islamophobic "Mega" Rally May Have Been Self-Quelled

An alternative title for this article could be "Everyone I Don't Agree With Is Funded By George Soros."

In one week, the MASSIVE and GAME CHANGING rally MEGA RALLY is set to take place somewhere in Calgary, though the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam (WCAI) and Canadian Combat Coalition (CCC) who are organizing it have been rather squirrely about releasing the actual location of the venue.... though ARC and others following the pratfalls of Joey DeLuca and his merry band of stooges have known the location for at least a month.

And they are super excited because there will be live bands and a bouncy castle and really big name speakers and a pig roast and 100,000 Americans coming and none of those icky Muslims will be there to ruin their fun!

However, there does seem to be a bit of a sticky wicket, in that they are still looking for bands to play and money to actually fund the event:

Joey isn't the only one trying to get in some last minute fund raising to actually make this event work:

Stephen Garvey of the National Advancement Party of Canada has been a long time ally of DeLuca and the WCAI. He has spoken at events attended by WCAI members and supporters, including the recent protests outside a Red Deer high school; he and DeLuca carpooled from Calgary in fact. DeLuca, who in a post rejected the more mainstream Conservative Party of Canada in favor of the future political juggernaut that is the NAPC, was also very appreciative of Garvey's support when the media (and ARC) made fun of the WCAI:

DeLuca also included Garvey as one of the supporters of the June 24 MEGA RALLY!!!! (sorry, but every time I read the hyperbolic claims about this event I can't help think of monster truck rallies minus the class and dignity):

DeLuca's inclusion of the NAPC seems to be more than just a courtesy, as Garvey may have been the one to secure a venue where the event was to take place:

Yeah, they tried to claim that this was an anti-racism event.

Cute.

In any case, even if the June 24 event turns out to be a disaster, at least the strong, unshakable, bond that has developed between DeLuca and Garvey will remain.

Right?

Oh oh....

This doesn't bode well.

Public Urination and The Fallout From The Protests in Calgary and Ottawa

Now that I have your attention....

Joey De Luca, Jesse Wielenga, Devon Mannix. and Ryan Dean have been basking in the glow of what they believe to have been a wildly successful protest at Calgary City Hall this past Saturday:

Yes, a huge success.... despite the fact that the location they situated themselves in and the presence of anti-fascists and other protesters resulted in their message reaching only those already in the choir.

Hey, beggars can't be choosers.

They also appear to have an inflated sense of their own importance:

Riiggghhhhtttttt..........

They were certainly crowing about their perceived success not long after the protest when a bunch of them decided to stop at a nearby service station. Wielenga decided to record this historic moment for posterity and published it on YouTube, meaning he actually thought this dumpster fire presented them in a positive light (and yes, I know I spelled "Canadian" wrong in the introduction, but I'm cranky and tired so.... yeah):



Yep, that is WCAI founder Joey De Luca taking a piss behind a service station (which I presume likely has a toilet inside) in the middle of the day, all on video,

You know, as one would do.

Events of June 3: Anti-Muslim Protests

Well seems to have been an interesting day across the country.

Sign from the protest in Calgary

I'll be posting more on the anti-government/anti-Muslim protests that occurred in various cities in the next few days, but first here are a few comments by those who countered the haters.

Vancouver:

Based on photos posted by Brad Salzberg, it looks as if there were around two dozen people (give or take half a dozen) preaching to the choir. Among those who did attend was Dan Murray of Canadian Immigration Watch:

Edmonton:

A friend sent us the following:

So in Edmonton, it looked like there was a little less than 100 shitheads who showed up. Didn't see anyone on our side (I watched for an hour and a half). Although Bernard the Roughneck was one of the speakers.

When asked about the nature of the protest, the witness wrote:

From what I saw (I didn't stay the entire time), the Western Independence Party of Alberta was there handing out flyers, Jeff Sharpe made an intro speech about how the Liberals and NDP aren't listening and aren't transparent, and Bernard made a speech on how WCAI were morons for discriminating against Muslims, and that the real issue was pipelines, the farm bill, freedom of speech, etc.

Video ARC received of a portion of the protest appears to confirm this assessment:

Calgary:

From the CBC:

Anti-Islam, Anti-fascist groups clash at Calgary city hall 

On one side were supporters of a group called the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam, which is against M-103, a non-binding motion condemning Islamophobia and religious discrimination passed in the House of Commons earlier this year.....Among them, a woman held a sign saying her grandfather fought against Nazis and now she feels she's doing the same. 

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit emotional about it, just the fact that history's being allowed to repeat itself," said the woman, who asked her name not be published. 

"One of the fellows here … in the other group, he wants a neighbourhood of only Muslims so if anything goes down they can bomb that neighbourhood and kill all the Muslims. That's the same thing as a Jewish ghetto, the exact same thing."

A friend who attended the event wrote the following:

Today in Calgary about 35-40 anti-fascists opposed 70-75 Islamophobic, fascists. In

over ten years of anti-racist/anti-fascist organizing I have never seen a hate rally of this size, scope, and nature up-front and in-person. A friend said it best in comparing it to a Nazi rally in Munich in 1930s Germany. It was truly heartbreaking. 

Today was not a win, but it also was not a loss. It was a stalemate. This was because of different factors. 

One major factor was because of the sheer stupidity of the Islamophobes. They had boxed themselves in at City Hall Plaza so the fact is that those walking by and driving by could not actually see them, let alone hear them. 

Further, when provoked they let their genocidal, racist language spew from their mouths which was duly recorded by our side. Also, I am quite certain they will be shown for what they are in the mainstream press: violent, racist white people. 

It should be noted, that at least 1/3 to 1/2 of their side had driven in from Edmonton and many smaller towns and hamlets. The membership size of organised Islamophobes in this city is not as large but it is big for the province. And still, there are 8 Islamophobic groups active in the city. Calgary is at the forefront of hate. 

I am happy that we stood up to them, that we spoke out, showed up; that we distributed so much literature exposing them. But our anti-fascist movement has to grow, because these fascists are not going away. They are also militarized. They have their Brownshirts and they were ready to draw blood. 

We have to reach out further to more allies and communities. I am thankful to all our people and supporters who showed up to stand up to the growing fascist movement in this city and province. 

Finally, they did not have a permit and broke the law by using a sound system. The city and police knew about it (I was told this by a police officer) and still did nothing. This shows, yet again, you can never put your faith in the state.

Regina:

According to WCAI Saskatchewan "captain" Christopher Hayes, and despite the effort to spin it, his event was not particularly well attended:

Winnipeg:

An estimated two hundred antifascists sent self-described "Canadian Patriots" packing at the Manitoba Legislature on Saturday, June 3, 2017, after antifa scouts determined that the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam (WCAI) at the last minute had moved a “free speech” rally originally scheduled to be held at city hall to the Broadway location. It did not go well for the WCAI which, despite its bluster, again could only muster nine supporters:

WCAI supporters, Manitoba Legislature, June 3, 2017. (Top left: Justin Cormier, black Jesus t-shirt.)

Three self-styled “Canadian Patriots," one of whom had conveyed threats to Winnipeg antifascists in the days leading up to the rally, aggressively engaged younger members of the antifascist crew and eventually emerged somewhat chastened, egos and bodies battered, from hard lessons learned on the front lawn of the legislative building. 

Photo credit: Jasmine Tea

Minutes later the police arrived, eventually including members of the riot squad, and on a day when a trans parade would begin its march a couple of hours later proceeded to arrest a non binary activist, M., who was abruptly and violently cuffed and thrown into a squad car for continuing to take photos of the police after they ordered her to refrain from doing so. When antifa protesters surrounded the police car the officer rammed into some of the protesters with the front bumper before the police cleared the way. The irony is that M. had been among those who tried to de-escalate tensions during the altercations at the event.  

Photo credit: Jasmine Tea

Eventually M. was released and was able to speak prior to the Trans March, part of the weekend’s Pride activities. FF1-Fascist Free Treaty One, was joined by strong contingents from the Urban Warrior Alliance, American Indian Movement (AIM), Crazy Indian Brotherhood, LGBTQIA2* activists, and many others.  

Photo credit: Jasmine Tea

The Council of Concerned Canadian Citizens (CCCC), WCAI and their supporters have thus far attempted on five occasions since early March to generate public support in Winnipeg. At every turn they have been rebuffed by strong antifascist organizing. When their public events were not outright cancelled, they sent in the Soldiers of Odin who, too, were summarily routed during altercations at city hall in late March. In word and deed, Winnipeg's FF1-Fascist Free Treaty One has demonstrated yet again that racist hate is not welcome here. True to FF1's motto: "Peg City Don't Play!” - Report from FF1.

Photo credit: Jasmine Tea

Toronto

The reports ARC and others have received suggests that the number of anti-fascists dwarfed any Islamophobes who decided to make themselves known. Hopefully we'll get more details.

Ottawa:

According to journalist Kevin Metcalf, the "One Million Canadian March Against Trudeau" was short of a million by roughly 999,500 deplorables. Here is a video that he took of the event where he made the following observation:

Got harassed, threatened had my hands/camera whacked repeatedly with a stick. These guys really don't like free expression...

However, another individual suggests the number was actually much lower and the 500 might be because unrelated groups were also present on Parliament Hill:

Kevin Metcalf's numbers are way off. The Islamophobe event was triple booked with yoga on the hill and a Lyme Disease awareness rally. Their actual numbers were somewhere between 100-150 at best. It's the largest presence they've had but far fewer than 1 million. There might have been more but their bus from Kingston was touched up by comrades before it could leave. 

We had maybe 30 anti-facsists at best. Many were confused that our meeting point wasn't on the hill and the violent event with Kevin Johnston left a few people worried that more violence would follow. A more organized action might have brought in a held greater numbers. 

In the end we decided to hold a main exit at parliament hill as a choke point in case any fash tried to come at us again. They saw the strategic advantage and chose to stay back. Faith Goldy from rebel media wasn't so lucky. She attempted to confront us in the narrow entrance way and was shouted down with megaphones and airhorns. 

Parliament hill is always a poor choice for a rally since police keep you in a fenced off area away from the public. We used that to our advantage and leafleted everyone going near parliament hill. People were very shocked to find out what was happening in their city and thanked us for showing up. 

Once the events were winding down, we chose to head to the Police station in solidarity with out comrades being held. The police in response went into lockdown and promised they wouldn't release anyone until we leave. Some left and others stayed. Everyone was released around midnight.

This last part is related to an incident allegedly involving Kevin Johnston and four anti-fascists who were arrested. From the individual who sent ARC the information above is this report on what

happened:

Kevin Johnston was out trying to troll Antifa, then assaulted a young woman before getting the beat down he'd been asking for all day. 

He claims he was stabbed but that's an outright lie to get attention.

A more detailed explanation followed:

He was out looking for trouble for two days. When he didn't get it, he approached anti-racists far from the Islamophobe march. He get up in the face of some young girls, grabbed their arms when they didn't want to be filmed and got knocked down in the process. He then started saying he was stabbed but that's bullshit. When police confirmed there was no knife, he then changed the story to include a gun. 

He started pointing randomly to people he thought pushed him over and the police ended up arresting four Anti-Racists.

Fredericton:

Nothing specific, but it seems that the event was poorly attended based on a post concerning the Ottawa protest:

Other locations:

Hopefully I'll get more information soon. When I do I may very well update this article rather than write another.

Making Fun of WCAI and CCC.... Because Why Not?

This weekend, WCAI and CCC are holding a protest at Olympic Plaza in Calgary, Alberta (as opposed to the MEGA rally on June 24). But before then ARC would like to first recount the heroism of the people who went to Red Deer to stand up to the injustice occurring at Lindsay Thurber High School.

No, not the dickheads who showed up to protest.

These two:

Both of these Grade 11 students stood up to hateful bullies who tried to use a fight at their high school that had been appropriately dealt with at the time into a vehicle for their anti-Muslim, anti-refugee, and anti-immigrant bile. In response to the young woman, WCAI posted video of her standing up to them and twisted it into some strange victory for their side, indicating that they weren't able to keep up with her intellectually. In the case of the young man, one of the students at the school the WCAI, CCC, III%, and SoO claimed they were there to protect, WCAI supporters posted messages such as these:

 

My personal favorites?

Perhaps not surprising to most of us, as a 16 year old in Grade 11, he probably does live at home with his mother. Quite the brain trust we have going here.

But yes, the proponents of free speech who went to the school to protect students want to beat up one of the students because he non-violently expressed his disapproval of their message.

That is usually not a very good way to make friends or influence people.

In the meantime, both the young woman and young man were recognized by the Alberta legislature for their leadership:

Edmonton Grade 11 students get standing ovation for standing up to Red Deer protesters 

CBC News Posted: May 29, 2017 5:46 PM MT Last Updated: May 30, 2017 10:14 AM MT 

Two high school students from Red Deer were given a standing ovation at the Alberta legislature on Monday to recognize the stance they took against a group of anti-immigration protesters. 

Grade 11 students Ursella Khan and Thomas Gower stood up last week to a group of about 40 adult protesters who gathered outside Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School, after a false rumour involving Syrian refugee students began circulating on the internet. 

Both students appeared surprised Monday by the accolades they received.

Neither should be surprised, as during the event and after the two have carried themselves with grace, dignity, and a maturity that belies their age. They were the adults; those 40 who protested based on a lie were not.

And they are both more mature than this writer who decided, after all the other "serious" posts on these idiots, to treat them like the clowns they are.

Hell of a segue, eh?

Red Deer Anti-Muslim Protest Update: A Look At Two Parents

If you haven't read the first article on the story concerning the Islamophobic protest that took place today outside a Red Deer high school, we invite our readers to first click on this link.

Also, for people who claim not to be racist, the Islamophobe protesters' supporters don't seem to like brown folk at their rallies:

But I digress....

Upon watching one of De Luca's videos in which he and others question school officials, I couldn't help noticing one figure (the original video has been edited, shortening it to the section readers should pay attention to):

Yes Joey, let's see how that looks on the news hour.

Since Ms. Lyle has provided her name to the media, she is now a public figure and as such her claims warrant some scrutiny.

Not too long after the protest, WCAI and CCC members started to comment on the media coverage:

There are three figures of interest here, including an old friend:

You all remember Thomas Trenerry right? Formerly a member of the Calgary-based Aryan Guard and later Blood & Honour?

However these two posts are perhaps more interesting for reasons that I hope will soon become apparent:

The readers may have noticed in the last article that I mentioned while I and others don't believe there is a mass of parents who fear their sons and daughters are being subjected to assaults and sexual abuse by Syrian students, we do know that WCAI and CCC have been in contact with at least one parent:

Ron Briggs is someone associated with the III% movement. He suggests that "Chad" is the father of one of the boys involved and was unjustly punished for trying to be a peacemaker while the "Syrian instigators" got off with no punishment.

Maybe, but as someone who was involved in the Alberta school system as recently as six years ago, I know how hard it is for a student to receive a five day school suspension for a first offense. That said, if the offense is serious enough, then perhaps five days could be warranted?

Both Briggs and Dean provided their direct messages with Chad in an effort to coordinate the protest:

I was able to find Chad Lyle on Facebook and while he is now using his own photo for his profile picture, he had been using this one as early as this weekend: