"I Disagree With Violence But....": The Justification and Celebration of the Christchurch Mosque Murders By Paul Fromm and Robert Jones

It didn't take long for the likes of Paulie to try and justify the murder of 50 adults and children worshiping at two Christchurch mosques. In a post on his blog, Fromm posted the entirety of the murderer's "manifesto" along with his own forward justifying the attack while couching that justification if claims to oppose violence:

The most relevant section of the forward his here:

Of course long time readers of ARC and those who know the long history of Fromm's support for violent hate groups who do the dirty work that he tacitly promotes know just how hollow Fromm's claim to "disagree with... violence." He has supported groups such as the Aryan Guard/Blood & Honour, Volksfront, the KKK, and a multitude of groups who have engaged in violence and he has rationalized every single instance:

In fact he has his own links to Christchurch, New Zealand where another violent hate group had been founded:

Here Fromm is shaking hands with Kyle Chapman while on a speaking tour of New Zealand in December 2010. Chapman was leader and founder of the neo-Nazi hate group Right Wing Resistance that formed targeting Maori and other Polynesian peoples, other New Zealand peoples of colour, Jews, and Muslims:

• Anti-Muslim pamphlet upsets residents

Right Wing Resistance also had a number of chapters around the world. Many were quite small including a Canadian chapter whose sole active member was profiled on the blog in late 2015:

Fromm isn't the only prominent disseminator of hate propaganda who has helped to poison the well and creating the conditions that contribute to events such as the Christchurch tragedy. Like others regarded as leaders or (to use a more resent term) influencers in the white nationalist movement internationally, Fromm toes right up to the line where he doesn't overtly advocate for violence, but justifies it when it occurs as the inevitable consequences of an ethnically diverse society and that the remedy is to make society not ethnically diverse.... however that task would be accomplished is left up to the imagination. These dog whistles are heard by those who ARE potentially inclined to commit such reprehensible acts, but those who have helped to foster this noxious environment have their plausible deniability. 

A figure on the far right whom I have written about due to his active involvement in protests and groups that are increasingly more extreme, Robert Jones, represents the kind of person people like Paulie are dog whistling too:

We usually find the sort of radicalization Robert Jones is undergoing in teens, however like the children who find their way into hate groups, Jones is someone who seems desperate to belong to something. He has been a member of the Soldiers of Odin, the Proud Boys, and the JDL as an affiliate. He has eventually been booted from all three of the groups mentioned and now he's on his forth, the hate group known as the Northern Guard. He has also embraced overt fascism and worships Donald Trump as a sort of living god (note that he has more than one Facebook account two of which I will be sourcing in the article without bothering to make the distinction):

When the Christchurch murders took place, Jones was immediately drawn to the manifesto which he has spent a great deal of time sharing online:

Jones seems aware that posting links to the manifesto, as well as the video of the murders, violate Facebook's terms of service regarding dissemination of hate propaganda and violence, but he seems determined to share these with a wide audience:

Jones' reaction to the murders has been equally crass:

Duarate seems to be under the impression that Fraser Anning, the Australian senator
who blamed the Muslim community for the the murder of their members for
the audacity of living in New Zealand, is a leftist because he likely didn't
read the article.... because he seems to be an idiot.

The term "retribution attack" used by Jones is telling as he very quickly begins to justify the murders and dehumanize non-white peoples:

More Reactions From Canadian Racists/Islamophobes to Christchurch Tragedy and The Dangers of Extremist Rhetoric

Yesterday I posted an article detailing a thread on the reactionary Yellow Vests Canada Facebook page which discussed the murder of 49 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Given what has been published here and by others (Yellow Vests Canada Exposed and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network) readers will hardly be surprised that the thread consisted primarily of celebratory comments with a minority of posters who voiced their disapproval.

Knowing that the thread was being watched and that laid bare the real beliefs of their members, the administrators deleted it as well as others that popped up, however the vitriolic hatred of the membership has been rather hard to contain and ARC has been able to collect more screen shots detailing the reality behind Yellow Vests Canada Exposed:

ARC readers know full well that this bigotry, a spreading virus world wide through social media, isn't isolated to the supporters of Yellow Vests Canada or other Yellow Vests supporters in Canada. It didn't take long for other groups that ARC monitors to start commenting on the murder of 49 Muslims. Many of the comments were also celebratory. Some attempted to justify the murders while other started the "false flag" or "the Muslims did it themselves" claims that have become all too common when such horrible events occur. Of course there are the claims that the shooter was actually a far-leftist in order to absolve the right of any culpability. The QAnon fanatics have also gotten in on the act. Finally, there are a few who have actually questioned the presence of mosques in Christchurch and have posited that their presence in the city was a provocation intended by Muslims to claim dominance over Christianity.... because the name of the city is Christchurch.

If they were inclined to do the minimal research required, their minds would be blown to learn there are at least 26 Christian Churches in Islamabad, Pakistan:

Far-Right Reaction To Tragic Shooting in Toronto Exactly As Expected

First, the most important part of this horrible tragedy is that two people, 10 year old Julianna Kozis and 18 year old Reese Fallon, were murdered and their names are the ones that should be remembered, not that of the murderer. As such I will as much as possible try to avoid using his name in this article.

When the shooting occurred, I was working on the article identifying the Montreal chapter leader of ID Canada. Initially the news that trickled in was that there were shots fired in Toronto's Danforth area. As time went on the full scope of the tragedy became apparent. Right now little is still known about the motives of the killer. A statement from his family suggests that he had struggled with mental illness since at least 2010 and was known to the police having been apprehended two times under the mental health act. A friend stated in an interview that eight years prior to the shooting the suspect had confided in his friend that he suffered depression and psychosis. Beyond this is all speculation at this point in time.

Sadly, the speculation and accusations began soon almost immediately as false news was being spread:

I feel weird sharing this fake garbage, but it's just one example of the shit that comes after mass shootings like the #TorontoShooting.

This site cites "eyewitness" reports of a "bearded" man. That adds up to "Muslim." A transparent act of #Islamophobiahttps://t.co/QqkzwjI5Ev

— Steven Zhou (@stevenzzhou) July 23, 2018

This blog has recorded many examples of the Islamophobes ARC monitors jumping to conclusions before more information is made available. I could provide the screen shots I've collected and posted elsewhere as examples, but I think a short and non-comprehensive list should suffice:

• Joking about the mass murder of young people assuming that the suspect was a Muslim only to learn that the suspect was a far-right extremist (they then simply dismissed him as crazy).
• Forest fires (including the one that devastated Fort McMurray) and prairie fires have been claimed as proof of a jihadist plot as Muslims have been accused of starting them.
• The massacre of six men at a mosque in Quebec City is still being claimed as either a false flag or having actually been carried out by Muslim extremists.
• The van attack in Toronto this past spring that left 10 dead and more than a dozen injured is still being claimed as an act of jihadist terrorism.
• There are many who suggest that Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy was an example of Islamic terrorism.

There are more examples than these on this blog. Feel free to peruse at your leisure.

I think my views concerning the rush to judgement in these cases as well as the most recent tragedy are summed up best by journalist Steven Zhou:

I wanna emphasize that this cautionary note isn't to say that the shooter isn't or can't be Muslim.

There's just not enough evidence to pin down the identity or motive of the shooter. https://t.co/9g1h4ui9XE

— Steven Zhou (@stevenzzhou) July 23, 2018

Here's the thing with fake news right after a shooting:

Baseless attribution of the shooter's motivation to whatever ideology w/o evidence actually has ~50% chance of being right.

No one will go after you if you're wrong, and it's "vindication" if ur right. #TorontoShooting

— Steven Zhou (@stevenzzhou) July 23, 2018

I've already seen two fake sources saying the shooting was done by an ISIS fanatic. With no real evidence cited.

Those who wanna believe this will pat themselves on the back if it actually turns out to be some Muslim guy. Except they never had any evidence. They just guessed.

— Steven Zhou (@stevenzzhou) July 23, 2018

It's a win-win situation essentially.

1. Ur wrong and fall silent. Lose nothing.

2. Ur right, the group you hate suffers bad PR, and the shitty fake news site you like gets vindication and a thin veneer of legitimacy.

— Steven Zhou (@stevenzzhou) July 23, 2018

Obv no one can say right now without insider info who the shooter was and why he killed ppl.

But just in case it IS a Muslim dude, I just wanna flip off those fucked up fake news blogs preemptively.

Fuck you lifeless idiots.

— Steven Zhou (@stevenzzhou) July 23, 2018

All of this was prior to learning the identity of the suspect and it holds true after learning the identity as well.

I spent much of the day scrolling through the usual profiles and groups on Facebook prior to and after the identity of the shooter was known. It was like a car accident that one couldn't look away from. The usual rage-filled comments were being posted prior to the name being released:

• Claiming that the shooter was a member of ISIS who had returned to Canada or was at least inspired by ISIS
• Blaming refugees, immigrants, and multiculturalism.
• Suggesting Trudeau and the Liberal Party had "blood on their hands" and were fully to blame (given that the shooter had been in the country since at least 2010, it's a bit of a stretch) with the more extreme demanding the execution of the prime minister and any Liberal or NDP supporter.
• Demands to end immigration, deport Muslims and "non-white" Canadians, and to close down mosques. 

I could post screen shots from any number of sources -- God knows disinformation was spreading like wildfire -- but I think a focus on a single case study should suffice:

Steven Myatt has become a bit of a nexus for spreading false information and whipping up his Islamophobic supporters into a frenzy. Examples of the subsequent comments are as follows:

"Something Bad Happened? Let's Blame The Muslims."

In July 2011, Anders Breivik murdered 69 youths on the island of Utøya not far from Oslo, Norway. Just prior to the Utøya massacre, bombs that he has placed in the capital to act as a decoy killed 8 other individuals. When news of the murders occurred, the far right such as those at the now defunct Free Dominion blamed the event on Muslims. Even as more information came out, many insisted that Muslims were to blame. Only when there was incontrovertible evidence the individual responsible was in fact not a Muslim but a someone motivated by anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant beliefs, was there a grudging acceptance that the suspect might not be actually a Muslim.

It's hard to believe now that, looking back, that this initial knee-jerk reaction which was followed be an almost disappointed, "I guess he's not a Muslim after all" would be considered lucid and well considered by today's standards when it comes to far right sentiments regarding Muslims.

I was going to begin this article by saying that if Muslims didn't exist, the far right would have to invent them. That of course isn't true at all as Jews have historically go-to group to scapegoat in the West for the better part of 2500 years or more. That hasn't changed as Jews continue to be maligned and attacked both physically and rhetorically.... which often leads to physical attacks. However antisemitism isn't as socially acceptable as it once was in the West, which isn't to say that it isn't still rampant. More and more the far right seem to be substituting "Jew" with "Muslim" as the boogeyman responsible for all of societies problems. ARC posted an article comparing the dehumanization of European Jews to the dehumanization of Muslims today .Even the rhetoric is similar. Muslims:

• Are oriental invaders who are undermining Western nations from within.
• Have infiltrated our government, our education system, and our economics.
• Imposed a Halal Tax to extract money from non-Muslims.
• Refuse to assimilate into our culture OR they have seemingly fully assimilated so as to better destroy said culture.

And so on. 

Not that the rhetoric has been rational in any way. It hasn't. But we seem to have reached a point now where the hysterical fear of Muslims has reached such a fevered pitch that it is almost impossible to reason with people who embrace the all encompassing conspiracy theory:

We had hints of this back in January when six men were murdered in a Quebec City Islamic center. Though the suspect was arrested, those who didn't celebrate the murders or claim it was a false flag insisted that the murders were carried out by Muslims, sharing inaccurate information on social media and having their suspicions further stoked by the likes of Faith Goldy who was then working for "The Rebel" or Lauren Southern  (also then of "The Rebel") who tweeted false information about the hate crime:

Btw, Tarek Fatah was also complicit in what was already known to be untrue:

Later the Fort McMurray fires were blamed on Muslims, the rational being this was a plan to both damage Alberta's oil industry at the behest of the Saudis as well as "cleans" the city of white Canadians so that Muslims could colonize the now emptied city. More recently mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas have been attributed to Muslims or Muslim-converts despite all the available evidence:

It has gotten to the point where any incident can be, and often is, blamed on Muslims. Riots in Brussels that were caused when a YouTube celebrity invited his fans to meet him in the square? Nope, it was a horde of Muslims attacking a Christmas market because they hate Christians:

An attempted home invasion in Okotoks which left a teen with (thankfully) minor injuries and emotional trauma? Definitely a Muslim:

In this case, someone appears to be at least mildly skeptical.

UPDATE: Turns out that the attempted home invasion didn't actually happen.

And fully entering the theater of the absurd, setting fires in a major Canadian city have to be the work of Muslims since, in the history of that city, there apparently had never been a fire before.

Interestingly, in the midst of blaming Muslims for fires in Vancouver, some can't resist casting suspicion on the old stand-by scapegoat by embracing one of the many antisemitic stereotypes:

Ezra Levant Not Entirely Certain Soldiers of Odin Are A "Thing"

While we were working on our commentary yesterday on Mack Lamoureux's CBC story covering the  activities of the Soldiers of Odin in Edmonton, we were also following an interesting exchange between Mr. Lamoureux and Ezra Levant on Twitter. Sadly, as Ezra isn't a fan of ours....

.... we may have been only able to see one side of the discussion.

Unless we had a second Twitter account. Which, of course, we do.

Now, from this part of the exchange, Ezra seems to be suggesting that the Soldiers of Odin are actually a figment of Mr. Lamoureux's imagination. However, Ezra does clarify his position that he believes the SoO are exist, but only as a vehicle to entrap poor, dumb, disenfranchised, "old stock" Canadians:

Canadian Bonehead Response to Charleston Church Murders

When the "National Post" published the article focusing on Paulie's involvement with the Council of Conservative Citizens (CoCC), the hate group that inspired the murder of 9 men and women at Mother Emanel, his friend and fellow CoCC supporter Jared Taylor noted that the story wasn't so bad:

This led to one of the more "out there" exchanges on Facebook that we've experienced in a while:

While it is pretty funny to witness just how disconnected with reality that boneheads can be, the murders in Charleston really did bring out the worst in a lot of those who we cover here on the blog.