The following is an article that was submitted by a reader and activist who lives in the Ottawa area and who has been researching the Soldiers of Odin and associated individuals and groups for some time. This article is especially relevant considering the Canadian leadership of the SoO claim they have broken with Finland over the latter's ties to racism. If this individual wishes to contribute any future articles, ARC would welcome those contributions.
A Soldiers of Odin (SoO) section has started to ramp up activity in Ottawa-Gatineau recently, possibly divided formally between the two cities but working closely together. Their members were seen openly providing “protection” at the Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCCC) rally in front of Parliament Hill on March 21:
It seems that a few days later two of their members were seen talking about their group at an open-house event in Hull’s mosque which was reported by local media. Around that time, they have also posted pictures on Facebook from a night patrol in the Mont-Bleu neighbourhood, in an area densely populated by immigrants. It bears mentioning that, in living memory, the only recent murder to have taken place there was done by the cops, against a single mother with disabilities. The thing with SoO though is that they like to call the police when they see something they find suspicious, so you can bet their actions won't lead to increased security in any neighbourhood they step foot it:
Like other SoO chapters in the country, members of this section proclaim that they are a grassroots-based organization dedicated to ensure community safety and deny any links with racial views. During their visit to the mosque, they aimed to dispel any fears the Muslim community might have had towards their intentions. A close inspection of a few of their members’ real views however reveals connections with white supremacy and particular hatred of Muslims:
The group is led by Éric Cloutier and Brian Wallingford, the latter being based in Maniwaki where SoO also seems to have a few members. The Gatineau group is also very close to Josée Rivard, one of Québec’s most notorious Islamophobic personalities. She is infamous for her Facebook video rants and her appearances at diverse rallies; she seems to have started attending rallies elsewhere in the province lately, as they haven’t picked up much in Gatineau compared to other cities. While she isn’t formally aligned with any organization, she can be seen sporting SoO vests and attending meet-ups of the Gatineau branch. She can be seen to the right of the center in this group photo:
On March 21, they purportedly showed up to the CCCC rally on Parliament Hill to provide “protection” to George Hallak, Sandra Soloman and their crew. Of course, RCMP officers were all over the place to monitor the rally and when things came close to a melee, they put fences in front of the Islamophobes to protect them the counter-rally. While the rally itself was drowned out by the anti-fascist chanting, they did pull off some theatrics with Sandra Soloman dressing up in a hijab before revealing herself as the Western imperialist stooge she is, and then proceeding to trample the flags of Palestine, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran, just because.
They appear to be holding meetings, including the Ottawa members, at a tavern in the old Gatineau sector and as can be seen from the pictures can gather up to a dozen people. Two of their members stand out for their Facebook postings:
Kyle Zomgee, who lives in Aylmer and who has since deleted his Facebook profile, is a straight-up neo-Nazi. The pictures below leave no doubt about his ideology. Interestingly, he is one of the two SoO members pictured visiting the mosque in Hull. He also has a YouTube channel under the same name where he uploads weird stuff:
Stéphane Vaillancourt also runs his mouth a lot on Facebook. Those pictures speak for themselves. But is he really hinting at pedophilia in this first picture? 'Cause that's what it sounds like:
In this last picture, it seems SoO are trying to recruit from within La Meute's prospective membership. La Meute is another far-right group originally from Québec City, and they made a no-show in Gatineau on March 4th, to the frustration of their handful of supporters there. The original comment on the picture is in reference to antifas:
Brandon Vaughan is a case in himself. He was already known by local radical militants as maybe the most reactionary person in the area, hailing from a hardcore loyalist protestant family. Based on a simple glance of his Facebook it seems like there isn’t one hardcore reactionary group he doesn’t proudly support, whether it’s the Jewish Defence League terrorists, the loyalists in Northern Ireland or the Trump Republicans. In CTV video report from the March 21st rally, he can seen confronting an antifa and calling him “Fenian bastard” as an insult:
He seems to have made contact with the SoO during that rally and has since tagged along, as can be seen from the two group pictures above. It will be interesting to see how he squares with this other Ottawa SoO , who postures some Irish nationalism. Will he stand up to this apology of British colonialism in Ireland?
For that though he would need to be coherent in his Irish nationalism, which doesn't seem to be the case...
Speaking of James Simpson, it seems he has a connection with this other local neo-Nazi, who doesn't seem involved with SoO on the surface but doesn't hide his allegiance to Nazism on his public Facebook (Note: Simpson changed his profile pic before this screencap was taken). The flag of “Vinland” in this picture is a common symbol used by white supremacists in North America, attempting to draw a connection with the short-lived Vinland colony established by Vikings in Newfoundland at the turn of the last millennium:
NOTE: Reference to Shawn Le Guerrier here is also relevant because of his ties to the Ottawa SoO as well as the criminal charges he is currently facing related to alleged assault, vandalism of a Mosque (which he was arrested for twice during the same month), uttering threats, and other alleged activities.
So, these local soldiers of Odin harbour neo-Nazis and people who enjoy talking about killing Muslims within their ranks, and they “protect” rallies in support of Islamophobia and where the flags of Muslim-majority countries are defiled, including the flag of Palestine, and then they have the nerve to go a local mosque’s open house to assure Muslims that they have nothing against them. It will be up to anti-fascists to show the people who these so-called "soldiers" really are.
Other known SoO members:
Post-script: It appears the break between SoO Canada and SOO Finland, and the resulting break between SoO Canada and the provincial leadership in Québec who want to remain with their Finnish counterparts, is having an effect on the Ottawa-Gatineau section. Katy Latulippe, the Québec provincial and Québec City local leader who stands with SoO Finland, has taken over one of the Facebook groups and flushed out the Canadian leadership, as well as Éric Cloutier who seems to remain aligned with that leadership. Quite a few members seem to have dropped out of the Ottawa group as well, and one of them, James Simpson, seems to be running with the Proud Boys now.
A Soldiers of Odin (SoO) section has started to ramp up activity in Ottawa-Gatineau recently, possibly divided formally between the two cities but working closely together. Their members were seen openly providing “protection” at the Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCCC) rally in front of Parliament Hill on March 21:
 |
From
left to right: Stéphane Vaillancourt, Serge Côté, unknown woman, James Simpson,
Ken Urquhart, Éric Cloutier, “Kyle Zomgee”, Jason Moore and “Tru Blu” |
It seems that a few days later two of their members were seen talking about their group at an open-house event in Hull’s mosque which was reported by local media. Around that time, they have also posted pictures on Facebook from a night patrol in the Mont-Bleu neighbourhood, in an area densely populated by immigrants. It bears mentioning that, in living memory, the only recent murder to have taken place there was done by the cops, against a single mother with disabilities. The thing with SoO though is that they like to call the police when they see something they find suspicious, so you can bet their actions won't lead to increased security in any neighbourhood they step foot it:
Like other SoO chapters in the country, members of this section proclaim that they are a grassroots-based organization dedicated to ensure community safety and deny any links with racial views. During their visit to the mosque, they aimed to dispel any fears the Muslim community might have had towards their intentions. A close inspection of a few of their members’ real views however reveals connections with white supremacy and particular hatred of Muslims:
The group is led by Éric Cloutier and Brian Wallingford, the latter being based in Maniwaki where SoO also seems to have a few members. The Gatineau group is also very close to Josée Rivard, one of Québec’s most notorious Islamophobic personalities. She is infamous for her Facebook video rants and her appearances at diverse rallies; she seems to have started attending rallies elsewhere in the province lately, as they haven’t picked up much in Gatineau compared to other cities. While she isn’t formally aligned with any organization, she can be seen sporting SoO vests and attending meet-ups of the Gatineau branch. She can be seen to the right of the center in this group photo:
On March 21, they purportedly showed up to the CCCC rally on Parliament Hill to provide “protection” to George Hallak, Sandra Soloman and their crew. Of course, RCMP officers were all over the place to monitor the rally and when things came close to a melee, they put fences in front of the Islamophobes to protect them the counter-rally. While the rally itself was drowned out by the anti-fascist chanting, they did pull off some theatrics with Sandra Soloman dressing up in a hijab before revealing herself as the Western imperialist stooge she is, and then proceeding to trample the flags of Palestine, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran, just because.
They appear to be holding meetings, including the Ottawa members, at a tavern in the old Gatineau sector and as can be seen from the pictures can gather up to a dozen people. Two of their members stand out for their Facebook postings:
Kyle Zomgee, who lives in Aylmer and who has since deleted his Facebook profile, is a straight-up neo-Nazi. The pictures below leave no doubt about his ideology. Interestingly, he is one of the two SoO members pictured visiting the mosque in Hull. He also has a YouTube channel under the same name where he uploads weird stuff:
 |
| ARC readers are already aware of the 14 Words quoted above, but for those who are not, you are invited to read about the origins of the phrase here. |
Stéphane Vaillancourt also runs his mouth a lot on Facebook. Those pictures speak for themselves. But is he really hinting at pedophilia in this first picture? 'Cause that's what it sounds like:
In this last picture, it seems SoO are trying to recruit from within La Meute's prospective membership. La Meute is another far-right group originally from Québec City, and they made a no-show in Gatineau on March 4th, to the frustration of their handful of supporters there. The original comment on the picture is in reference to antifas:
Brandon Vaughan is a case in himself. He was already known by local radical militants as maybe the most reactionary person in the area, hailing from a hardcore loyalist protestant family. Based on a simple glance of his Facebook it seems like there isn’t one hardcore reactionary group he doesn’t proudly support, whether it’s the Jewish Defence League terrorists, the loyalists in Northern Ireland or the Trump Republicans. In CTV video report from the March 21st rally, he can seen confronting an antifa and calling him “Fenian bastard” as an insult:
He seems to have made contact with the SoO during that rally and has since tagged along, as can be seen from the two group pictures above. It will be interesting to see how he squares with this other Ottawa SoO , who postures some Irish nationalism. Will he stand up to this apology of British colonialism in Ireland?
For that though he would need to be coherent in his Irish nationalism, which doesn't seem to be the case...
Speaking of James Simpson, it seems he has a connection with this other local neo-Nazi, who doesn't seem involved with SoO on the surface but doesn't hide his allegiance to Nazism on his public Facebook (Note: Simpson changed his profile pic before this screencap was taken). The flag of “Vinland” in this picture is a common symbol used by white supremacists in North America, attempting to draw a connection with the short-lived Vinland colony established by Vikings in Newfoundland at the turn of the last millennium:
NOTE: Reference to Shawn Le Guerrier here is also relevant because of his ties to the Ottawa SoO as well as the criminal charges he is currently facing related to alleged assault, vandalism of a Mosque (which he was arrested for twice during the same month), uttering threats, and other alleged activities.
So, these local soldiers of Odin harbour neo-Nazis and people who enjoy talking about killing Muslims within their ranks, and they “protect” rallies in support of Islamophobia and where the flags of Muslim-majority countries are defiled, including the flag of Palestine, and then they have the nerve to go a local mosque’s open house to assure Muslims that they have nothing against them. It will be up to anti-fascists to show the people who these so-called "soldiers" really are.
Other known SoO members:
Post-script: It appears the break between SoO Canada and SOO Finland, and the resulting break between SoO Canada and the provincial leadership in Québec who want to remain with their Finnish counterparts, is having an effect on the Ottawa-Gatineau section. Katy Latulippe, the Québec provincial and Québec City local leader who stands with SoO Finland, has taken over one of the Facebook groups and flushed out the Canadian leadership, as well as Éric Cloutier who seems to remain aligned with that leadership. Quite a few members seem to have dropped out of the Ottawa group as well, and one of them, James Simpson, seems to be running with the Proud Boys now.
1 comment:
There's a pic of Lee Marrazzo in a Nomads shirt.
Why is that connection not explained/explored?
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