I Don't Think Steven Myatt Likes ARC Anymore

ARC first became acquainted with Steven Alexander Wicket Chirpa Tokkat Zephee Gregory Myatt in reference to his involvement in the June 3 Ottawa anti-M103 rally that was being organized by Mike Waine. Myatt appeared to have been another individual who had taken a leadership role in spearheading this event which missed it's target of one million Canadians marching on Parliament by roughly 999,830 people.

If truth be told, I didn't really think of Myatt as being especially significant and that my references to him (I thought rather briefly) was to simply detail the kind of people involved in what I believed at the time and which was confirmed by the numbers who arrived in Ottawa as a bit of a fool's errand.

Myatt however was eventually provided the link to at least one of the three stories in which he was mentioned and decided that this was evidence that he had arrived as an important figure in the anti-Muslim/anti-government/alt-right movement:

Dude, I have few illusions concerning ARC's reach or influence. If you think being ARC famous is a big deal, you really do need to reevaluate your life goals.

Since then, Myatt has continued to mention on occasion his inclusion in an article published on this blog, and in general he seemed to be pleased as punch. As recently as September he was touting being referenced on ARC as something to maybe celebrate:

Well.... no. The article was about the Northern Guard; this is the only time Myatt was mentioned:

Last night Steven Alexander Gregory Dwalin Balin Gloin Dori Myatt posted a video of Georges Massaad interviewing Quebec Provincial Vice President Eric Brazeau. Brazeau, who among other things stated the Northern Guard are survivalists, claims that around 20 members will be participating in the Ottawa event to, "provide security."

Myatt did get some love though from a person familiar to ARC readers though who claimed that you know you've "arrived" when Anti-Racist Canada writes about you:

More on Goudreau later, though I would hasten to note that come the end of November Anti-Racist Canada will have been online for a decade. During all of those years fascists have been predicting our imminent demise. ARC however persists while many of our detractors have disappeared.

Now Myatt never seemed to care much about how people on ARC's side of the ledger viewed him and seems to have taken a rather perverse pleasure in going out of his way to offend people, though I should perhaps note here that his efforts to be controversial often appear rather forced and he looks to be trying too hard to really be taken very seriously:

For example, in a recent post Myatt seems to suggest that women don't know what is best for them and that they should defer to men who do, though not without a little bit of pushback:

He has however also become increasingly frustrated with Facebook as he claims to be having some of his posts flagged and removed:

It was about this time, perhaps as a result of frustration, a decision to try to use the courts to stifle examples of free expression he doesn't like, or the realization that "freedom of speech" doesn't mean "freedom from consequences" that he made this post on November 7 directed at this little spot on the Internet:

Soldiers of Odin Member Photographed With More City Officials in Ontario

October 19 Update: The Huffington Post picked up the story.
October 21 Update: The CBC has also taken on the story and features excellent commentary from Warren Kinsella.

In August Sudbury police chief Paul Pedersen apologized for being photographed with members of the Soldiers of Odin, a group that at my most charitable I would describe as a right-wing vigilante group but is even more accurately described as an anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, hate group.

So with this in mind, as the SoO has been present in Canada now since around 2015, AND since they have been the subject of a fair amount of media attention, AND since many of their members seem to have at least an affinity for organized criminal gangs such as the Hell's Angels which should alone be a cause for concern even if their anti-immigrant rhetoric is not, AND since experts on extremists groups have been warning police agencies about the dangers posed by groups such as the SoO, AND since the Sudbury police chief had to apologize in August for having his photo taken with the SoO suggesting that police in the country should be aware of who the hell the SoO are based on that incident alone, one would think it wouldn't be hard for, let's say for the sake of argument, the Winsdor police chief and mayor to find themselves in a position where they would take a photo with members of the SoO.

One would evidently be incorrect:

Sigh....

I mean, is it really THAT hard not to find oneself taking a photo with members of hate groups? Really? I've managed to get by for more than 44 years without once even accidentally having my photo taken with a member of a hate group. 

Why the hell is this so difficult? 

Don't. Take. Photos. With. Hate groups.

Police who read this (and I know that there are a fair number who do), if you're wondering why minority communities often have trouble trusting the police, might I suggest that a police chief of a significant Canadian city in a photo with a member of a group that has been attacking some of the members of those minority communities does not bloody help.

And holy hell Mayor Drew Dilkens! At least when Rob Ford was photographed with a former member of Rahowa, he could reasonably argue that he had no idea who Jon Latvis was since Latvis had been out of the public eye for almost two decades. The SoO has been in the news repeatedly since late 2015. What is your excuse?

I am mildly annoyed now.

Disguised B&H; Leader McKee Gets Far To Close To Prime Minister Trudeau

I haven't written a great deal about Calgary's Blood & Honour, though I have been keeping an eye on them. For the most part their public profile has been relatively low with the occasional flyer and/or sticker promoting the group being found around Calgary. They have however hosted a number of private events, some of which have been discussed on the blog, at their new club house. Their online activity seems to be primarily trolling news personalities and Calgary businesses that have somehow run afoul of the racist gang:

The trolling has helped myself and others figure out a few things about the growth and membership of Blood & Honour Calgary which may be shared at a later date. That said, it is no doubt frustrating for the targets of these online attacks, however is is mostly childish and quite frankly a bit embarrassing that this has been the most public form of activity that McKee and co. have been engaging in.

But then there's the kind of "trolling" that is much more concerning because it represents a major security breach.

What's Jon Latvis Up To These Days?

The last time we posted an article asking a similar question back in 2012, it resulted in a fair amount of msm attention, though to be fair that was mainly because Warren Kinsella published the following image we forwarded to a mutual friend before we did and he's sort of a bigger deal than we are:

We should mention that despite our feelings about the late Rob Ford's tenure as mayor of Toronto, we were not suggesting that he was sympathetic towards neo-Nazis (the explanation provided by his office did a good job of putting this to bed), but that his handlers should have been more diligent in preventing Latvis from being photographed with Mr. Ford. In any case, Latvis himself denied his entire history of being involved in the biggest White Power bands of the 1990s and suggested he would sue Mr. Kinsella for defamation.

Considering that the Internet exists which documented his active and enthusiastic involvement in the neo-Nazi movement, as well as the following post made on his own Facebook profile explaining to his friends why he publicly denied his involvement, it would have been a very difficult case for him to make which is probably why he didn't sue:

Now, fast forward a few years.

Last weekend, the Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival took place in Toronto. It is an event, like other similar festivals, that celebrates Ukrainian culture including food (we loves us our perogies), dance, and music. As this writer also has connections to Ukraine, it sounds like a good time and a blast to attend.

But based on what the good folks at the Left Chapter observed while watching a video of the parade, there was a bit of a fly in the ointment:

The portrait on the side of the banner closest
to the viewer is that of Stepan Bandera. 

Yeah, those are members of the Canadian chapter of Right Sector.

And who are Right Sector?

Glad you asked:

Critics at home say the party's inflammatory rhetoric and violence is helping Russian media to depict Ukraine as overrun with "neo-Nazis" who threaten the Russian-speaking population.
....
Activists claiming to be Right Sector members were involved in Kiev's Maidan protests from late November, but the group did not attract much attention until violent clashes with police in central Kiev on 19 January, in which it played a leading role.
....
A leading figure in the Right Sector, Andriy Tarasenko, says it aims not for closer ties with Europe but rather to "build a nationalist Ukrainian state and stage a nationalist revolution". 

Dmytro Yarosh calls himself a follower of Stepan Bandera, a nationalist leader who fought Polish and Soviet rule in the 1930s and 1940s but is seen in Russia and eastern Ukraine as a Nazi collaborator.
....
Some far-right activists interviewed by the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Kiev in early March made it clear that they wanted a Ukraine "just for Ukrainians".

Other articles on Right Sector are equally enlightening:

• Ukrainian far-right group claims to be co-ordinating violence in Kiev
• 'Right Sector' hackers attempt to blackmail Polish government
• Kiev Pride 2016: Why are Ukraine's politicians silent on attacks against LGBT people?
• The Assault on Kiev Pride
• Ukraine: When the Right Sector Runs the Courtroom
• Ukraine government in armed standoff with nationalist militia
• Ukraine: Overwhelming new evidence of prisoners being tortured and killed amid conflict

Now, much like Rob Ford who was pictured with Jon Latvis, we don't believe the organizers intended on having a far-right ultranationalist group join in on their parade, however we would apply the same criticism as we did in Mr. Ford's case when we suggest they should have done a more thorough job checking into the groups participating.

But it might be of interested to our readers to know that Latvis actually has a bit of a connection here as well:

Yep, he's a supporter of Right Sector:

February 2016 Bits and Bites

So PEGIDA Canada held another rally today without telling anyone. The results were as sad as the previous effort despite the spin they placed on it:

 

In related news, we're still following the aftermath of our recent article detailing the often violent anti-Muslim/anti-refugee and anti-government rhetoric found on a number of Facebook groups such as PEGIDA Canada. We will be doing a follow-up soon, but we thought we would provide a preview of the reaction from one of the groups we were monitoring until recently, "Trudeau is Malignant":

Oh you are just adorable!

We can't seem to find the group any longer which means they have either shut it down or have figured out which of the 50+ members was our dummy profile. Either way, what was posted there wasn't much different than the bigoted, hateful, and often violent posts found in other groups.

We'll save that all for a later article, but for future reference just because we haven't mentioned you, doesn't mean we aren't aware of you.

In the meantime, let's talk about Paulie's latest adventure:

Worst. Abbey Road. Reenactment. Ever.

Jon Latvis: Fan of Right Sector and Hitler (Not So Much A Fan Of Himmler)

Right now the Ukraine Presidential election is underway. The vote has been disrupted in the Eastern part of the country where pro-Russia separatists have vowed not to let the election take place in the part of the country they control.

Here's the thing though. We know that the situation in Ukraine is not black and white and there is a whole hell of a lot of disinformation on all sides. And neither the pro-Ukraine nor the pro-Russian side come out smelling all that rosy for a multitude of reasons. On the pro-Ukraine side, one of those reasons include the thuggish ultra nationalist party, Right Sector.

Right Sector, at best, are boorish hooligans and at worst neo-Nazis. By any measure, they are not a group one would want to associate with in any way, shape, or form.

Unless you're Jon Latvis.

Jon Latvis: "I Saved Your Life Man!"

It seems like only yesterday that former Rahowa lead guitar and songwriter Jon Latvis gave mayor Ford a bit of indigestion:

When this picture was made public, Latvis tried to disavow his Nazi past and even threatened to sue Warren Kinsella which would have been awesome!

Because, you know, we would have been able to share with Mr. Kinsella, in addition to ALL of the other evidence out there, this post Latvis made a few months later:

And we would have been able to share these screen shots as well:

Jon Latvis.... You Aren't Helping

Suffice it to say, Rob Ford has not had a pleasant week. Two weeks almost. In fact we dare say that the past two weeks has fucking sucked. And things really don't really look to be improving any time soon.

But on this, Rob Ford's birthday, at least one person wants to show him some love:

Sure, we're piling on a bit. As one of our friends noted, it really isn't fair to criticize Ford for having his picture taken with Latvis as it was a public event with hundreds of people in attendance. And there is no reason for Ford to know who the hell Latvis was in the first place and when he made a public statement to that effect while also condemning antisemitism we have to take him at his word. In fact when we first published the photo, we noted it was more a failure of Ford's staff for not noticing the guy in the weird looking neo-Nazi outfit, asking a few questions, and then discretely pulling him out of line and ushering him out the building.

But damn. When it rains, it absolutely pours. 

Ford Family Member Connected to KKK in 1980s

Remember this photo?

It recently appeared on "The Daily Show" earlier this week. This is Toronto mayor Rob Ford with Jon Latvis, founding member of the racist band RaHoWa with ties to the Heritage Front, Creativity Movement, and violent racists. We found this photo and sent it to Warren Kinsella by way of a friend, and long story short, it created a bit of a minor scandal. Latvis himself claimed he was not racist and in fact had been fooled by RaHoWa. He further threatened to sue (including a direct message) Kinsella, however Latvis seemed unaware of how the Internet actually worked and that he had left a very long record of his active and enthusiastic involvement with organized racism. And to his friends who might have been concerned about his public rejection of racism and antisemitism, he offered this as an explanation:

At the time ARC suggested that this incident was just yet another in on a long, long, list of poor judgement calls made by Ford and his team and that he was likely not sympathetic to National Socialism. We generally still believe this to be true, though given other statements he might generously be considered to be rather bigoted. However, as a result of the current scandal (and you would have to be living under a rock to not know what we are referring to) we've learned that at least some of his immediate family were active to a degree in the racist movement in Canada. The relevant section in a "Globe & Mail" article alleging the some members of the Ford family have had a long history of being involved in the drug trade details Rob Ford's sister's involvement with members of the KKK and Heritage Front:

Jon Latvis Doesn't Understand How the Internet Works

We noted in our last article that Jon Latvis spoke to a reporter from "The Sun" in an effort to extricate himself from the unpleasant notoriety as a result of Warren Kinsella's recent article.

Or, as Latvis himself puts it:

Latvis has taken a not so novel approach to dealing with his past.

He has decided to lie or, as a friend has put it to us:

"Jon Latvis pulls a Marc Lemire"

July 2012 Bits and Bites

Last week we witnessed what might be termed a feeding frenzy as the msm wrote a few stories about a simple little picture posted first on Warren Kinsella's website (and thank you Warren for crediting us with tracking it down).

Mayor Ford did offer a credible explanation which we accept without reservation, though our criticism of Ford's people for not asking a few questions when Latvis showed up to have his photo taken still apply.

Latvis himself seems to have had a mixed reaction to his recent (as opposed to the early 1990s) notoriety moving from bemusement....

.... to anger....

.... to a form of acceptance....

Meanwhile, Connie on Free Dominion thinks she's cracked the case. You see, dear readers, this is ALL just part of the vast, left-wing conspiracy to discredit conservatives:

Whatever Happened to Jon Latvis?

UPDATE: The following response was issued by mayor Ford's press secretary and originally published on Warren Kinsella's blog:

July 26, 2012

Statement from the Office of the Mayor

An online blog today posted a picture of Mayor Rob Ford meeting a citizen during the 2012 New Year’s Levee at Toronto City Hall. The blog alleges the man posing with the Mayor is a member of a hate group and has a history of making racist, hateful and offensive comments.

The Mayor of Toronto meets, and poses for photos, with thousands of residents each year. Over the past two years, the Mayor has hosted two New Year’s Levees. These events welcomed over 800 visitors to City Hall, and 700 to 750 of them were personally greeted by the Mayor who posed with them for photographs.

While having his photo taken with the Mayor, the gentleman in the photo requested a meeting with the Mayor to discuss issues of concern to him as a constituent. The Mayor routinely receives these requests from members of the public and makes every effort to accommodate them whenever possible. In March 2012, the gentleman met briefly with the Mayor to discuss his concerns which primarily focussed on transit issues.

During both the Levee and the March meeting, the gentleman identified himself using a name different from the one attributed to him in the recent blog article. Once the photograph was posted online today, Mayor’s Office staff recognized the individual as someone who had met with the Mayor at the Levee and again in March.

At no time was the Mayor aware of allegations that this individual had made racist, hateful or otherwise offensive comments, nor were any such comments made during his meeting with the Mayor. Mayor Ford is a strong supporter of Toronto’s Jewish community and strongly deplores anti-Semitism in any form.

-30-

George Christopoulos
Press Secretary
Office of the Mayor
City of Toronto
P: 416-338-6642
E: gchrist2@toronto.ca

You know, the lead guitar player for the White supremacist band RaHoWa who later went on to who went on to what we might generously call a solo career:

Hanging out with Toronto mayor Rob Ford apparently.

Uhm, is that an SS uniform, Jon?

Man, the years have NOT been kind to Jon.

Now we really don't believe that the mayor is a closet Nazi, Latvian SS supporter, or fan of RaHoWa, but god damn! Doesn't he have people looking to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen?

If you were a handler, if you see a guy in funny uniform waiting to have his picture taken with the mayor of the nation's largest city, perhaps you go talk to the guy? See what he's about. Get his name. Google it. And, if you learn that he played lead guitar for a white supremacist musical group with ties to the Creativity Movement and the Heritage Front, quietly ease him out of the line and suggest that it might not be a good idea to have his picture taken with the mayor now. Or ever for that matter.

Use your heads people!

We found this and a couple of other photos last night. Sent them to a few friends to get some confirmation that this was who we thought it was. Evidently, at least one of those friends sent this picture to someone who sent it to someone else (letting the cat out of the bag so to speak), and we were scooped as a result.

Hey, Warren....

You might not know us, but you owe ARC members a beer for this.

So do you BCL.

And we don't mean that Heineken or wine cooler garbage. We expect Guinness at the bare minimum.

In light of what his press secretary has stated, if appears that Mr. Ford was also deceived in that Latvis didn't tell him his real name and, thus, Ford's team was unable to determine who Latvis was about.

We take the mayor at his word and thank him for the clarification, as well as his condemnation of antisemitism.