Arthur Topham Arrested on Monday

It has been a busy day as ARC has learned from Paul Fromm that Arthur Topham has been arrested:

Topham was prosecuted and convicted for promoting hate online back in November 2015. He eventually launched a Charter challenge in 2016 however he lost his appeal and was sentenced on March 13:

A B.C. man convicted of an anti-semitic hate crime has been kicked off the internet, but Arthur Topham won't serve any jail time. 

Following a trial in Quesnel in 2015, a jury convicted Topham of one count of communicating online statements that wilfully promoted hatred against Jewish people. 

He could have faced up to two years in jail.

According to Paulie who wrote the following on his blog, Topham was taken into custody this past Monday:

The thought police’s campaign to silence Arthur Topham entirely ratcheted up a notch this past Monday. Returning with his wife Shasta from his placer mining claims, August 6, Arthur was arrested outside his rural property near Quesnel, British Columbia. His wife who is severely disabled was made to stay in a camper outside their home., Arthur was taken to the town jail, until a warrant arrived for the police to enter his property. “They absconded with my computers and flash drives,” the former publisher of Radical Press (until 2009 a tabloid and then a website) told CAFE in an exclusive interview tonight. 

Arthur faces a charge of breach of probation. Having been convicted in 2016 on one count of violating Canada’s notorious “hate law” — Sec. 319 of the Criminal Code — and acquitted on another, Mr. Topham was given a six months suspended sentence and two years prohibition of publishing anything critical of Jews on the Internet. He heads to court on October 16. Without his computers, Mr. Topham has gone silent on the Internet.

Those who commented on Paulie's Facebook post are as follows:

It's been a bad week for Islamophobes and antisemites.

Arthur Topham Sentencing and Dean Clifford Released.

Originally scheduled for March 10, Arthur Topham's sentencing was moved to tomorrow. In the meantime, Topham has been in preparation advising folks that he would be taking down his website and that anyone wishing to do so should take the time to collect as much information from it as possible.

MARCH 13 UPDATE: Curfew and internet ban for B.C. man convicted of online hate against Jewish people

February 2017 Bits and Bites

We were out of the country for a couple of days and missed a few stories that would have been mentioned on the blog earlier.

First, Arthur Topham, who was convicted on hate crime charges back in 2015 and who later filed an appeal, has lost that appeal:

B.C. man convicted of promoting hatred against Jews loses constitutional challenge 

A B.C. man convicted of wilfully promoting hatred against people of the Jewish religion has lost a constitutional fight over the same issue in court. 

Arthur Topham's lawyer argued in B.C. Supreme Court in Quesnel that his client's communication on his website was justified in a free and democratic society and that in this Internet age, the same viewpoints are available in many places. 

The Crown noted that the arguments were based on an erroneous assumption that Topham only republished material written by others on his website — which wasn't the evidence put before the jury during his trial in November....

Topham is set to be sentenced on March 10.

So far we haven't heard is Topham is going to throw a Hail Mary pass and try to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but we wouldn't be surprised if this was his next (and last) effort to have the charge against him quashed.

Interestingly, Paulie has yet to offer his $0.02, perhaps because he is, like some others, trying to capitalize on the M-103 motion before Parliament. Paulie spent this past Monday protesting in front of MP Iqra Khalid's constituency office in Mississauga with thousands of others:

Did I write thousands?

Sorry, I meant Paulie and four other protesters, including the person taking the picture.

And because Paulie is Paulie, there has to be a self-serving commentary written in the third person to accompany the photo:

And the comments are as one would expect:

So, What Has Shawn Macdonald Been Up To?

Macdonald is on the left.

We were recently given a heads up concerning some of Shawn Macdonald's recent activities.

At the end of March, we reported that Montreal antifa had managed to shut down a concert featuring a number of racist bands. The "boneheads" at Vinland Awakes, a racist blog trying to be as awesome as ARC but badly failing, were not pleased:

Now, when we write "boneheads" we should perhaps write in the singular since we learned that Shawn Macdonald is the owner of Vinland Awakes. And taking a page from McKee's B&H in Calgary, Macdonald has spent some time promoting the blog via stickers that have been found in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside:

October 2016 Bits and Bites: Religious Bigotry Edition

We start with some rather ugly news from Calgary today:

Anti-Muslim posters at University of Calgary prompt rally of supportBy Robson Fletcher, CBC News       Posted: Oct 04, 2016 2:07 PM MT       Last Updated: Oct 05, 2016 6:55 AM MT 

Students, faculty and administrators gathered at the University of Calgary on Tuesday to condemn anti-Muslim posters that were plastered around the campus overnight. 

About 40 posters were discovered in various locations by morning, and the university was asking people to turn in any others that are found to campus security.....The removed posters included wording such as "Dear Muslims ... F--k your Quran" and "go back to the monstrous s--t holes you come from." 

They also included links to one Facebook page calling for Islam to be banned in Canada, and another that purports to "celebrate Canada's European heritage" but is largely filled with posts about Donald Trump, the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, and links to American websites that decry "race agitators" and people who wear baggy pants.

The posters' appearance at the University of Calgary comes two weeks after similar posters targeting the Sikh faith were found at the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton.

We haven't found the websites refered to in the articles (we'll add information when we do) but we did check with the usual suspects to see how they reacted.

We think you won't be too surprised:

In other news:

The Topham Charter challenge continued today. There's nothing new concerning the trial itself other than the his supporters seems somewhat scattered given news concerning Anthony Hall of the University of Lethbridge (more on him later), but both Paulie and Topham have decided to comment on the CBC coverage of the trial. Not surprisingly, Paulie keyed on on the part that pertained to himself:

Topham Launches Charter Challenge

As expected after his conviction on one count of promoting hatred, Arthur Topham has launched his expected Charter challenge:

B.C. man convicted of promoting hate on web to challenge law in court today
Canada's Criminal Code provisions out of step with internet reality, Arthur Topham's supporters say
By Betsy Trumpener, CBC News      Posted: Sep 30, 2016 6:53 PM PT      Last Updated: Sep 30, 2016 6:53 PM PT 

Some relevant points:

Topham was convicted in November of one Criminal Code count of communicating statements that wilfully promoted hatred against Jewish people through his website, RadicalPress.com. 

The defence is expected to challenge that conviction based on the charter right to free expression and the contention that Canada's hate crime law didn't anticipate the nature of the internet. 

Although a Quesnel jury convicted Topham, the judge delayed a decision about shutting down his website until ​sentencing. If the charter challenge fails, Topham may be sentenced as early as later this week.

As the website wasn't taken down, Topham has spent much of the past year since his conviction ratcheting up the antisemitic screeds as well as promoting fellow antisemites such as Brian Ruh and Monika Schaefer:

• Former Green Party Candidate and 9/11 "Truther" Also Denies Holocaust
• Green Party of Canada Releases Statement on Monika Schaefer
• July 2016 Bits and Bites

"This is not a matter of Arthur Topham passing out pamphlets," said Paul Fromm, an avowed "white nationalist" who helped fund Topham's defence. 

"You have to want to read what he has on his website. You have to seek it out and sift through and read it." 

Fromm, director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, is a controversial anti-immigration and free speech activist who has been linked to neo-Nazi groups in the past. He sat through Topham's two-week trial last winter and said he would travel from Ontario to be in court today for the charter challenge.

We are pleased that the msm is now consistently referring to Paulie as a "white nationalist," however we are still somewhat troubled that they suggest that he, "has been linked to neo-Nazi groups in the past."

The past???

Still, baby steps we suppose.

Topham attended his court hearing today supported by Paulie, Schaefer, and Terry Tremaine whom we haven't seen in some time:

Frank Frost is also an interesting character and someone whom we might look into in further detail.

Not long ago, Topham posted his take on the court appearance. He takes exception to how the CBC characterized Paulie and referred to the state broadcaster as, "Zionist controlled." He alsomntions who he plans on calling as an expert witness which could also provide a window on the nature of his Charter challenge:

The Dr. Timothy Jay that Topham might be referring to, based on our best guess, is an MCLA professor of Psychology, Human Communication and Perception who in an NPR piece is credited with being an, "expert on swearing." According to his CV:

Dr. Jay is frequently sought for his expertise on psycholinguistics. He has served as a consultant to a number of school systems, and has been an expert witness in legal cases pertaining to obscenity and censorship. Furthermore, Dr. Jay has been interviewed or featured in dozens of radio shows, televisions programs, and documentary films.

We'll be keeping an eye on this case and will try to keep our readers up to date on any new updates.

July 2016 Bits and Bites

This writer is currently on vacation, however there have been a few stories that have come out lately that our readers may find of interest.

Back when we first wrote about Monika Schaefer, former Green Party federal candidate and current Holocaust denier, we anticipated that the like of Paulie, Arthur Topham, and now nutter Brian Ruhe would play the "persecuted German" angle. We haven't been disappointed:

Green Party of Canada Releases Statement on Monika Schaefer

UPDATE: Looks like the CBC picked up on the story as well.

Back in June we published an article about Monika Schaefer, a Green Party member and three time (at least) candidate in the riding of Yellowhead.

Or, perhaps it might be more accurate now to write that she is likely soon to be a former Green Party member:

The story has also been picked up by B'nai Brith Canada and by Ms. Schaefer's local newspaper:

Video denying holocaust causes uproar
Posted by: fitzhugh Posted date: July 13, 2016 In: Archive, Feature, News

A video shot by a local resident denying the Holocaust has been widely condemned by the community and at least one resident has filed a formal complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

On June 17, Monika Schaefer, a well-known Jasper resident and former Green Party candidate, appeared in a video on Youtube denying the Holocaust. The video was subsequently posted on her Facebook page.
....
Ken Kuzminski, president of the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, described the video as hate speech.

Former Green Party Candidate and 9/11 "Truther" Also Denies Holocaust

We would like to introduce our readers to Monika Schaefer, a three time (and perhaps four time) federal Green Party candidate in the Alberta riding of Yellowhead:

We first came across Monika Schaefer a few years back when Arthur Topham published an open letter penned by Schaefer to Green Party leader Elizabeth May regarding Schaefer's belief that the 9/11 attacks were a "false flag" operation:

Now, anyone being promoted by the likes of Topham in regards to this particular conspiracy theory is likely going to have some other suspect views. Ms. Schaefer confirmed this when she referenced, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as if it is a legitimate primary document rather than the plagiarized fraud it has been proven to be time and time again:

Topham: A Brief Reprieve

We learned today that, despite Arthur Topham's hate crimes conviction, his website will remain available online and that he can continue publishing his screeds at least until sentencing takes place in the new year.

Paulie is pleased as punch:

Turd Polishing During Topham Trial: Paulie Interviews David Lindsay

During the Topham hate crimes trial the ended in Arthur Topham's conviction, Paulie provided nearly daily updates, both written and video, though it should also be noted that these same updates also carried a wee bit of spin. In one of the write-ups and video, he suggested the ceiling lights were proof of a vast Jewish conspiracy controlling the court system because... reasons.

He had planned on taking a photo of the ceiling as proof, but when he wasn't permitted to do so he threw a self-entitled temper tantrum in which he also complained about the court security.

Cue detaxer/sovereign citizen/freeman/freeman-on-the-land or whatever he calls himself these days, David Lindsay:

Topham Trial: Jury Reaches a Verdict

We'll know more later we're sure, but the word is that Arthur Topham was acquitted on the second of two charges however he was found guilty on the first charge. Given what we've experienced with similar hate speech trials (ie, James Keegstra) we assume that Topham will appeal his conviction. On the other hand, there's nothing stopping the Crown from also appealing the acquittal on the second charge.

Topham Hate Crime Trial: Week Two

It looks like the trail might be winding down and that final statements could be as early as Monday. Earlier in the week Paulie continued to offer his $0.02 regarding the legitimacy of the Crown's expert witness:

We suppose there is some irony in Paulie impugning the objectivity of the the Crown's expert witness ( we've been told that the defense motioned for a mistrial based on supposed improperly sourced expert witness testimony for the Crown) since the only witness the defence appears to have called doesn't seem particularly objective himself. In fact, when Gilad Atzmon testified on behalf of the defence, the judge appears to have slapped him and the defence attorney down a number times and also seems to have called into question the "expertness" of Mr. Atzmon:

Topham Trial: Paulie's Summary

Not long after we summarized (as best we could) the Topham hate crimes trial, Paulie also posted his take. We won't include the entire missive; a few selected entries should suffice.

Though it appears to have been written on October 31, Paulie's piece wasn't uploaded until late Sunday. And it starts both with the general entitled whining that we've come to expect....

.... as well as the creepy, "ew" factor that we've come to know and squirm uncomfortably in response to:

Again, ew....

What Paulie does confirm is that the defence appear to be trying to argue the "truth" of the antisemitic blood libels reprinted and editorialized on Topham's website, focusing especially on the work of Elizabeth Dilling and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion which Paulie writes, "is a blueprint for establishing Jewish world dominance and world government," not even bothering with the pretense of including the word "allegedly."

Topham Hate Crime Trial: Week One

This past week saw the long awaited Arthur Topham hate crime trial. For years Topham had posted blood libel screeds against the Jewish people on his website RadicalPress and despite the trial he continues to do so. A few years back a criminal complaint against him was made, he was arrested, and.... well.... here we are today.

Paul Fromm Whines and Other Updates

This will be a very short update.

Currently Paulie is in BC where he is attending the Arthur Topham hate crimes trial and suggesting the anti-Semitic ravings of a raving loon are somehow justifiable because of (both accidental and willful) poorly translated Jewish writings.

But you know where Paulie isn't right now and is unlikely to be for some time?

The United States hanging out with his sugar daddies and mamas:

Yeah, we know. But sometimes being petty is fun.



November is shaping up to be an interesting month. Dean Clifford is going to be sentenced and the Topham trial should prove to be interesting, especially if he goes through with calling David Duke to testify on the veracity of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. That won't end well, by the way.

We also learned today that Kevin Goudreau's half-brother was convicted of murder in the killing of his mother back in 2012.

Finally, a shout out to some new readers and friends on Prince Edward Island. Thanks for kind words and know that we here appreciate your support.

Brian Ruhe Compares Paul Fromm to Hermann Göring

Paulie, who for some reason (we assume money was involved) was or is in Argentina according to a recent post on Stormfront, continues to plead for money on Stormfront to fund his lifestyle his fight for free speech:

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the well may have run a bit dry up in Canada as even many of the boneheads have clearly grown tired of Paulie's efforts to squeeze out every nickle he can get from them:

 

By the way Kyle, when Fromm appears to have used your most recent legal troubles to solicit donations, did he contribute to help pay your fine?

You know, never mind. We both know the answer to that question, and you can't say we didn't raise the alarm long ago.

One Canadian anti-semite though who remains quite smitten with Paulie is this fella:

The Company He Keeps: Meet Fromm's New Friend Brian Ruhe (UPDATED)

We briefly mentioned Ruhe a few weeks ago in reference to Paulie's horrible, rotten, no-good 2015, but didn't really talk much about the man himself other than posting a link to a recent article about Ruhe in the "Gerorgia Straight."

Brian Ruhe is was a continuing-education instructor at Capilano University teaching courses on meditation and Buddhist philosophy, however on learning of his other activities, some of which might have been taught in his classes according to one anonymous poster in the comments section of the "Georgia Straight" article, Ruhe's contract was not renewed.

You see Ruhe was also a UFOologist (which might be eccentric but otherwise harmless) and a proponent of antisemitic tropes (which was not harmless and would sort of damage the university's reputation if they remained associated with him) which he cloaks in eastern spirituality:

In short, Brian Ruhe is Canada's 21st century poor man's version of Savitri Devi, though he justifies his antisemitic Hitler worship based on a warped interpretation of Buddhism and, unlike Devi, Ruhe has the charisma of a lightly-used dish rag.

Ruhe is a prolific user of YouTube and so provides a great deal of material indicating what an odd duck he is, however we decided to profile one of his more recent videos (edited for length and cut into three sections) in which he discusses his own particular "solution" to the "Jewish problem":

London, UK Nazis' Canadian Content and Topham News

Continuing technology issues seem to have been thwarting our regular writer so I'm going to step in to provide much delayed content.

On April 11, an innocuous sounding conference called the London Forum was held at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, UK, but looking at the speakers left one with an impression best summed up by the great actor Sir Alec Guinness:



Yep, Nazis. Or Nazi supporters and Holocaust deniers. Really, is there a need to make a distinction?

And among this group of the infamous and reviled, two Canadians showed up to speak. We're sure you will be shocked [SPOILER: You will not be shocked] that one of those speaker's was Paulie:

Fromm Picks Up Levant's Islamaphobic Batton and Runs With It

On November 11, Ezra wrote an article accusing the Essex Board of Education in Ontario of exempting Muslims from participating in Remembrance Day and questioned the patriotism of Muslim Canadians. He suggested people who he outraged sign a petition that condemned the board's decision on a website his article linked to (Canada: Love It Or Leave) and, while there, to maybe purchase a charming t-shirt.

The problem with all of this is that none of it was true. Yes, there was a memo that went out from the school board which suggested alternative Remembrance Day commemorations, but the memo was directed at those schools where parents might have safety concerns as it had only been a couple of weeks since the murder of an honor guard at the Canadian War Memorial. The story was debunked as the product mainly of Levant's fevered, Islamaphobic, imagination, though he did do quite a good job of appealing to his xenophobic base of support.

One of those xenophobes though likely hats him as much as any Muslim though:

 

 

Yep, Paulie:

Really, it's not as if we should be surprised. Paulie might be an anti-Semite in addition to a racist, but he is also an opportunist and if there's any opening for him to inject his particular brand of Nativism and bigotry into the public sphere, he'll be in like Flynn.

Now, after a lot (and we mean a hell of a lot) of criticism, Levant backed down and even.... begrudgingly,... admitted he was wrong in the passive-aggressive way we have come to know and love from him. He also changed the website to omit mention of Muslims, though he still takes a crack at the school board:

He also noted that no parent in the entire Essex County School Board area had asked for an exemption for their child. In short, everyone participated.

So, the story ended in a bit of a whimper.

Except if you're Paulie Fromm and you want to continue to flog a dead horse:

Paulie posted the following video Sunday, a full 5 days after the original story Levant published was thoroughly discredited: