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:

Old Haunts of the Heritage Front

We're currently waiting for some information regarding a couple of upcoming articles, but we thought that we would revisit our project concerning documenting the history of the Canadian racist movement. The primary focus of our research has been on the years 1989 to 1994 under the leadership of Wolfgang Droege which coincided with the rise and decline of the Heritage Front, though there was a brief mini-resurgence in 2001 under the watch of Marc Lemire.

Two weeks ago a couple of ARC members began documenting some of key locations in the early history of the Heritage Front in Toronto. There are rumors that some of the locations, such as the, "Zündel Haus" may be torn down to make way for condos so we decided to record them while they still exist.

"Shoot the Boer" and Bonehead Hypocrisy

We noted yesterday that the big "Occupy South African Embassies" protest in Toronto was sort of a bust. However Paulie, needing to polish yet another turd, begs to differ:

Yes, that's right. Close to three dozen.

Uhm.....

We have other photos as well. In no photo is there a number that even approached 36 people. Really, it's a good thing Paulie taught English because his math consistently sucks.

Then again South Africa is an issue that seems to result in Paulie becoming a little unhinged. He even forgets not to sound like a racist when discussing the country:

When we posted our story yesterday, we weren't surprised that some of the usual suspects decided to offer their $0.02. Like a broken record, we were accused of being "anti-white" and of supporting genocide. Really, one would think they would come up with something original. Then one did. Sort of:

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:

Paul Fromm, the London March, and the Fine Art of Turd Polishing

First, let us begin by stating if the boneheads in London, ON wish to hold another march and rally in the same manner that they did yesterday, we unreservedly support their efforts.

No, really.

We will explain, but first we should note that Paulie provides his account of the march yesterday:

Why don't we first examine the claims Paulie makes in this account?

Photos of Wade Michael Page

Information has been coming out concerning the murder of 7 Sikhs at a Wisconsin temple. The alleged murderer, Wade Michael Phillips, was a former member of the American military who was discharged in 1998 (evidently his discharge was under less than favorable circumstances). He later joined a number of neo-Nazi bands before founding his own called End Apathy.

We know this is an American story, but since it relates in some ways to our previous stories (here and here) with regard to neo-Nazi bands, we thought we'd talk about it briefly.

There are people who are questioning whether or not Wade Michael Page was a neo-Nazi. These photos from the band's Myspace page should answer those questions for the doubters:

Especially note the tattoo and the Naziflag
hanging on the wall. The tattoo is an
Odin's Cross and the number 14.

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.