Alberta III%

Yep, I'm still away and hopefully stretched out on a beach enjoying a Cuba Libre, though given my constitution more than likely laid up in a hotel room regretting not getting that Dukoral booster with a sunburn so bad you could roast a marshmallow using the heat radiating off my body. Either way, here is another now likely out-of-date article scheduled to publish while I'm away.

In a week from today, the Canadian Combat Coalition is planning on holding an event in Edmonton with the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam in attendance as well:

You were never fooling anyone with that name, Ryan.

I'm sure everyone is waiting with bated breath to hear the oratory of one Joey DeLuca

Given the disaster that the June 24 June 25 MEGA Patriot Rally turned out to be, this might be perceived as an effort to save the CCC and WCAI reputation as actual significant players on the far-right anti-Muslim/refugee/immigrant scene. Certainly Ryan Dean and Joey DeLuca would like to return to the numbers that participated in the June 3 rally which was in large part bolstered by the presence of III% Alberta members who provided security.... and were carrying weapons, btw. The III% members didn't participate in the MEGA rally ostensibly because of "security concerns" when the mayor of Calgary and Muslim student groups were invited by Garvey, however the head of the Alberta III% militia suggests another possible reason:

First, Beau Welling seems just a wee bit full of himself and the capabilities of the III% militia.

Second, even he seems to recognize that the CCC and WCAI are in fact hate groups. In this reply he does seem to be at pains to separate the III% Alberta militia from other groups. He also posted a message claiming to have spoken to the RCMP whom he claims doesn't regard the III% militia as a hate group:

Oh, not a "pure hate group."

Well that is certainly reassuring.

If such a conversation did take place, I'm guessing that Beau is either gilding the lily or really didn't understand the nature of the discussion because given the rhetoric of the membership, the III% would absolutely be on the radar of the RCMP.

At the beginning of July ARC published an article discussing the decline of the Soldiers of Odin and how the membership is drifting into other, perhaps even more extreme, movements. This fella who was (and may still be) in an SoO leadership position is a case in point:

Also, last month Mack Lamoureux wrote an article for "Vice" detailing a months long investigation into the III% movement, focusing specifically on the Alberta chapter which appears to be the most active as well as a sit down interview with Beau Welling. The article indicates the III% militia is a deeply paranoid, anti-Muslim group that readily accepts any conspiracy theory that confirms their biases. This may be somewhat of a concern under normal circumstances, but add the stockpiling of weapons for a future civil war and the "monitoring" of those citizens they consider to be un-Canadian, well, the danger meter is sort of dialed to 11.

First, let's take a look at the claim that they aren't racists. As of the writing of this article, the New Democratic Party is in the midst of a leadership campaign. One of the candidates is Jagmeet Singh, a Canadian-born Sikh (and a much better dresser than I am). The presence of Singh, who again I stress was born in Canada, was commented on by at least some III% supporters:

Well, maybe their antipathy was directed more towards the NDP, though I somehow doubt that is the whole reason.

One thing that is crystal clear though is the III% Alberta hatred of Muslims. Here are but a few of the posts that illustrate that:

There's also the anti-Muslim conspiracy theories that get trotted out with frequency:

They also seem to attract a few people who are.... shall we say questionable?

Well Evert, Thomas Trenerry certainly didn't stand alone when the Aryan Guard was a going concern:

Trenerry's involvement in the III% militia actually brings me to the other reason why the RCMP would be keeping an eye on the III% militia. Even if the racism and Islamophobia was not present, the III% militia would be a concern due to their anti-government position that is often (hell, usually) violent in nature, at least rhetorically speaking:

Again, the following is merely a Whitman's Sampler of anti-government rhetoric from III% supporters on the Alberta Facebook, national, and other provincial Facebook groups, much of which is directed at the current Prime Minister and would probably constitute a crime:

And then there is there is how they monitor people. Not just the Muslims, as was evident in the Vice article, but also their ideological opponents:

Not Jason, or Bonnie, or Andy,  or Shane,  or Marcell, or Syed, or Leah,  or Julian, or Richard, or Charles, or Grace, or Martin, or Alan, or "two brothers in Calgary," or any of the other people that have been erroneously listed as writers of the blog.  Some of the names aren't even ones I recognize as activists. It has been almost a decade and you still have yet to get it right. Then again why listen to me now when you haven't so far?

Really, you people are very bad at this.

Don't think that being a bystander gets you off the hook. Not showing the requisite amount of patriotism for a III% supporter might be enough to put you or, as in this case, your neighborhood on the list:

When reading posts such as these, I can't help thinking of the line from Alan Moore's groundbreaking comic series:

Who watches the watchmen?

Racists and Antisemites Attending June 3 Event in Calgary

Tomorrow the protests planned for Ottawa, Calgary, and other Canadian cities should all be under way by noon. Though billed as "million Canadian" marches (thereby attempting to co-opt past progressive events), this writer suspects the numbers will fall far, far, short of one million people. In Ottawa, I suspect there will be between 300 and 500 people, though that is perhaps a generous estimate. In Calgary, perhaps 50 to 100.

Then again, I've never been good at these kinds of estimates, so I may be surprised either way.

In Calgary, WCAI and the Canadian Combat Coalition have been whiny because their event has been referred to by ARC and others as racist and bigoted, a charge WCAI clumsily refutes:

Yeah.... you probably shouldn't do live videos while drunk because this alone undermines everything you just wrote:

Wow.

Rape jokes too.

Just.... wow.

Well, the WCAI videos MAY have been directed towards Trudeau (and based on the above video, homosexuals, the mentally challenged, and of course, Muslims), but the rhetoric coming from the participants and the possible guests tells another story.

For example, Karyn Draper, someone ARC has discussed in the past, will be attending the June 3 protest. In one post she says there will be another individual who will be attending but that she would like someone to accompany her to the event.

Let's see if you can spot the name I and others working with ARC noticed?

Actually, Merle is a name familiar to many, but let's let that slide for a bit.

It looks like Kyle McKee, founder of the Aryan Guard and current leader of the Calgary chapter of Blood & Honour may be attending the event. Kyle McKee, convicted of such crimes as possession of bomb making materials, possession of prohibited weapons, uttering threats, fleeing police, and assault. Kyle McKee, a man charged with attempted murder and other crimes. Kyle McKee, suspected of being involved in a violent home invasion, vandalism, and the firebombing (directly or having provided orders) of an anti-racist's residence.

Naw! It couldn't be THAT Kyle McKee, could it?

Yes, THAT Kyle McKee.

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:

March 19 Anti-Muslim Rallies: Some Victories, Some Hard Lessons

By this point ARC readers know that any time we mention Kevin "The Chairman" Goudreau on the blog, it is probably because he did something profoundly stupid or embarrassing but isn't self aware enough to realize that this is the case:

Yep, the Goudreau held a rally in Peterborough while wearing an ill-fitted suit because he now wants to project gravitas.

Though really, to refer to what the Goudreau held as a rally is sort of like polishing a turd and calling it a diamond:

Still, despite holding his "rally" (word is they were there for less than 5 minutes) in what looks to my uneducated eye as a relatively empty street with few people to witness it, and what few people who did witness the event simply mocked him and his merry band of short bus passengers, the Goudreau appears to see it as a massive success and his first step towards his inevitable rise as der Kanadisch Führer:

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At least one person however, seemed to imply that the Goudreau was sort of gilding the lily:

That's right folks. There were more anti-Muslim rallies in select Canadian towns and cities this past week.

Kevin's explanation for the pathetic nature of his rally is flimsy at best, but it is telling in that he really believes (and is likely correct) that some of the kind of people who would attend a "White Pride" march would also be attracted to an anti-Muslim protest. It's sort of a Venn Diagram, but of hatred. For example, Goudreau has some prominent anti-Muslim activists amongst his own friends:

Brad Salzberg, the leader of the Cultural Action Party of Canada, isn't just anti-Muslim but is also anti-immigrant in general. He held a very small anti-Muslim protest in Vancouver this past Sunday. And Sara Smith is better known as Sandra Solomon, an especially vocal and virulent anti-Muslim protester associates with Eric Brazau and Ron Banerjee; she was a key speaker at the anti-Muslim event that took place Sunday in Toronto.

When analyzing the anti-Muslim protests that took place this past Sunday, I think it is important to look not only at the victories scored by those who opposed the xenophobes and Islamophobes, but it is equally important to recognize that there were some setbacks.

Jody Issel, Soldiers of Odin Moose Jaw President, Isn't Even Trying Anymore

You know, if there's one positive thing about Trump's election is that the racists we've been covering here for years have become refreshingly honest about their views. Take this guy for example:

Now this is admittedly an older photo of Jody Issel, but it does sort of capture a particular moment in time, specifically the time he tried to start up an unauthorized chapter of the Aryan Nations' in Saskatchewan. That effort didn't pan out so well, so he threw in his lot with Kyle McKee and the Aryan Guard in Calgary for a while, attending at least one of their "White Pride Day" marches.

A few months after we reported Issel's efforts to start an Aryan Nations' chapter, he contacted us to first beg, then threaten us, to remove his information. We didn't and we still haven't, but at that time he seems to have recognized that being associated with the racist movement wasn't good for his career prospects.

Over the years we kept an eye on him. He was careful, locking down his Facebook from our prying eyes, but there were still a number of times he forgot himself:

Then when the Soldiers of Odin movement found it's way across the Atlantic, Issel found himself in an interesting position in that he lived in Moose Jaw, the SoO were looking for a Moose Jaw city president, and the SoO doesn't actually seem to vet their members or individuals aspiring to positions of leadership. Thus:

Recently, Issel and his merry band of SoO members (four by all accounts) decided to take a stroll about Moose Jaw (at least long enough to snap some photos) to protect the fine folks of that particular prairie community:

The problem here is who will protect the fine folks of Moose Jaw from the people who claim to want to protect them?

Bill Daniels, SOO Provincial President in BC

It's funny, because although he claimed that he wasn't hiding, at the time Issel posted these messages on his other profile, it was locked up tighter than gnat's chuff.

But things have changed on both of his profiles, although this one is the more interesting of the two right now:

So why does Issel feel more comfortable openly expressing his racism?

Take a wild guess: