I know there's a tendency for ARC to highlight the rampant dysfunction and infighting of the far-right groups we cover on the blog (as our friends with Yellow Vests Canada Exposed did in our last article) and as a result we've been accused of being a bit of a gossip rag.
And to that I answer gleefully, guilty as charged!
This past weekend Chris Vanderweide (who has been is facing charges stemming from assaults he committed at a Pride event in Hamilton in June) "organized" what he referred to as an anti-bullying protests in Kitchener in which he called people who have historically been oppressed, criminalized, assaulted, and murdered bullies because they and allies are demanding equal rights and standing up to the actual bullies:
The person is waving a flag. Vanderweide thinks that constitutes bullying, but not protesting a Pride event, shouting at the participants that they are deviants who are going to Hell, and then assaulting them.
A bit of projection methinks?
And he considered his rally to have been a huge success!
Except....
Thank you to Kitchener Police. @wrpstoday, Are you ok with this? Nazis think you're their friend. pic.twitter.com/jdxJMOjprT— Cait Glasson🏳️🌈 (@FullmtalFemnist) July 27, 2019
Hmmm, members of ID Canada and the Canadian Nationalist Party, eh?
Okay, a few more than this showed up, but not really many more. Among those who might be reasonably considered to have no-showed was Vanderweide himself. Reports are he showed up late, shook a few hands and took some pictures, and then left after only a few minutes.
Okay, a few more than this showed up, but not really many more. Among those who might be reasonably considered to have no-showed was Vanderweide himself. Reports are he showed up late, shook a few hands and took some pictures, and then left after only a few minutes.
You see, with all the far-right "media" attention....
.... Vanderweide has become much more concerned with self-promotion.
By this past weekend for example, Chris Vanderweide has already had his "more popular than Jesus" moment when all he has done is assault people with a helmet whereas at least John Lennon had already written "Ticket to Ride", "Yesterday", and "Can't Buy Me Love" by that point in his career:
Holy raging ego Batman!
But in this post we also see some of the cracks in his reputation that Vanderweide is himself helping to open up by his own arrogance; an attitude of being bigger than the movement he is a part of, dismissing of other groups and individuals as insufficient vehicles for someone as important as himself, and his own narcissism which is a word that I sincerely doubt he can pronounce much less understand but which accurately describe a man who hasn't accomplished much in his life but who now feels entitled to adulation.
Among the early critics was one Anne Morrison who leads the Wolves of Odin, one of the offshoots of the Soldiers of Odin because these people are particularly original or creative thinkers:
Ah, the sharing of dirty laundry part of the show!
That's my favorite part!
The comments were most enlightening in that they expand on the characters, both intentionally an unintentionally, of everyone involved in this sordid affair:
Provincial and federal time in prison for assault and conspiracy to commit murder.
And yet these "patriots" unironically accuse counter-protesters of being dangerous criminals.
More projection.
Morrison finishes with reference to Vanderweide's appearance with Kevin "Poodle" Johonstone:
And that is where it ended.... except that Vanderweide decided it hadn't ended and that he had to get in the last word:
You want screen shots of private messages airing dirty laundry? Vanderweide sees Morisson's three and raises 53:
I'm just going to post all of the screen shots Vanderweide uploaded to Facebook before I continue posting the comments that were left by others on his profile, but to summarize:
- These people are weird as hell.
- Despite Vanderweide's claims he exposes the Nouns of Odin, no one looks good in these exchanges.
This is going to take a while. Feel free to get a drink, a snack, and maybe use the bathroom before you get started: