October 2020 Bits and Bites: Halloween Edition

We haven't really done a bits and bites article in some time but we thought we would do so now. Please forgive our omissions in this purposely irreverent look back at the month of bigots behaving badly, often towards each other.

In the last article we discussed the antics of Brian Kidder who, since it was published, has continued on in his campaign to arrest a politician. He is not surprisingly being egged on by some of the bad actors who have profiled consistently on this blog:

The Walrus Interviewed WEXIT Members. We Dug a Little Deeper.

The Walrus recently produced a photo essay about WEXIT in which they interview various, including some who have previously had a relatively low profile. Photo-journalist Brett Gundlock states in the introduction:

It would be easy to fall back on stereotypes of Albertans and vilify Wexiteers as resentful, oil-spoiled rednecks. Instead, I wanted to present their voices in an unbiased fashion, to let them air their grievances without judgement. The separatists often represent the extreme side of the issue, but their views don't stray far from opinions you are likely to hear in many homes across the province.

That last line is quite the take when discussing a fringe, far-right group like WEXIT, so we felt an examination of the interviewees was in order. 

Let's get out of the way that The Walrus interviewed Peter Downing who we've already written about on ARC.

Other Wexiteers profiled include Kathy Flett, who is a member of the Yellow Vests, is a climate change denier, and shares antisemitic conspiracy theories:

Jake Eskesen, like Flett, is a Yellow Vest member, follows other far-right groups, and is friends with many figures on the far-right, including Gus Stefanis of the neo-Nazi Canadian Nationalist Party; Plaid Army member, Red Ice contributor and antisemite Derek Harrison, and Brad Salzberg of the anti-Muslim Canada Action Party. In the photo essay Eskesen claims that WEXIT includes members of the LGTBQ community, yet he 'likes' The Westboro Baptist Church Facebook page:

Also of note is that it seems Eskesen is "Deathhunter77," according to his post of the print version of The Walrus in the Unify the West Discord server:

A screenshot from the Unify the West Discord server from Deathhunter77 showing Eskesen's part in the photo essay

Eskesen/Deathhunter77 has previously been included in the blog, where he was participating in conversations with other Discord users like "MISG" and "HeftyFinesse" about "social trust," how immigrants are self-serving while only Canadians are altruistic, and how immigrants are taking jobs. Even if Eskesen doesn't share these views, he made no efforts to speak up against this racism and xenophobia.

Michael Wagner and Darren Esayenko also appear to embrace far-right ideology. Michael follows a couple of right-wing media groups and Darren seems to favour the Yellow Vests.

Todd Brown shares Islamophobic conspiracy theories on Facebook, and thinks Canada will be controlled by communists:

Sam Bell is a member of the Yellow Vests, and follows many far-right groups on Facebook:

Bell also runs a popular Facebook page called Make Alberta Great Again, which is essentially a meme page. Much of what he shares is bigoted, with plenty of dog whistles and far-right/neo-Nazi cultural references, including Kek, Honkler, Pepe the Frog, glowing/laser eyes, and Evolian concepts popular with accelerationists. His boomer audience may be clueless, but he's sending a clear message to those who know.

 

 

A concept by Julius Evola, popular with accelerationists and neo-Nazis

A concept by Julius Evola, popular with accelerationists and Neo-Nazis

A reference to "white pill" in the OP - an alt-right method of implying optimism, vs "black pill", meaning sadness or despair

Jon Mihalich appears on 'The Myth is Canada' livestreams with known Islamophobes like Ed Jamnisek:

CW Alexander completes the list of Walrus interviewees. He is a member of the Yellow Vests, and follows white nationalist Ronny Cameron on Facebook:

I realize The Walrus was going for "unbiased" in an effort to focus specifically on WEXIT ideology, but anytime reporting is done on the far-right it's important to not gloss over the bigoted aspects. When one element of their belief systems is separated out and examined without acknowledging the rest, it runs the risk of sanitizing and legitimizing movements that, were they to gain traction, could cause real harm to many people.  

Toronto Protest For Greece Draws Far-Right and Neo-Nazis

On March 8, 2020 AHEPA Toronto held a rally in support of Greece's refusal to allow asylum-seekers through the Greek border. Their position, as indicated in an email campaign they've encouraged supporters to participate in, is one that has appealed to far-right ideologues:

...pressure has been exerted on Greece's eastern land and sea borders with the purposeful round up and transport of thousands of people seeking entry into Greece and, ultimately, the rest of Europe under the guise of being refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.

It's not surprising that they've latched onto this cause, however for those not familiar with the background, we recommend the following two explainers:

• Explainer from Amnesty International

• Explainer from The Journal (Ireland)

Paul Fromm attended the event, with Lily and Josh Chernofsky. All three flew red ensigns flags.

Lily at the rally 

Josh Chernofsky at the rally

Chernofsky has previously expressed support for American neo-Nazi organization Patriot Front, and indicated his desire to see rallies of a similar nature in Canada.

A Telegram screenshot where Chernofsky ("J Snowden TO") replies to a post from Tim Kelly ("Rick The Man") about Patriot Front

A reply from Chernofsky to Dean Clifford, calling the Patriot Front march on DC "beautiful"

Gus Stefanis, failed federal candidate for the neo-Nazi Canadian Nationalist Party (which has recently put out a call for "roman salute people," and whose leader, Patron, is currently facing charges in Regina for assaulting two women) also made an appearance, complete with a CNP hat.

Yes, the CNP is a neo-Nazi party

Stefanis with a Greek flag, replacing his usual red ensign, at the rally 

Stefanis has not hidden his feelings about the situation, having recently liked comments on his own feed about murdering the asylum-seekers en masse.

A comment from Dane Dainard on Stefanis' wall praising Golden Dawn 

Stefanis liking comments about open firing on the asylum-seekers

Stefanis liking a comment that states "Open fire, this is war" 

Ronny Cameron also livestreamed the event, in addition to taking advantage of the open mic, using the opportunity to preach about European solidarity:

We also meet Helen Carlson: 

Still of Helen Carlson from Cameron's live stream

Remember that comment on Stefanis' wall praising Golden Dawn?

He also met other far-right ideologues - George, and an unnamed younger man (George's son, perhaps?) They discussed and praised Paul Ray Ramsay (ramzpaul,) Jared Taylor, and David Duke, with George referencing how he watched Happy Homelands, a series by Ramsay, the previous night. 

Cameron, who previously spoke with two men who were uncomfortable with his particular brand of white supremacy and felt refugees should be permitted through the "right process," decides what they really meant was they're just anti-immigration period. They just don't know it yet. 

He continues to explain his purpose on Facebook is to persuade people who are anti-"illegal immigration" to be more like him. 

The saddest part about this? Eventually even the Greeks won't be white enough if these people get their way.

February 2020 Bits and Bites: (Fake) Posters, Win Nay is Embarrassing, Robert Jones Escalates, and Tim Jones Goes Mask Off

February has been a ride. We're still working on collecting the worst of the worst with the far-right's response to Wet'suwet'en, which we'll publish in other article(s) as it deserves. For now, here are some highlights from the last month.

A video was posted to YouTube by Hamilton Ed (last name unknown), who is a staple at the Yellow Vest and other far-right rallies around the city. The posters were promptly ripped down by some stellar Hamiltonians, and police were called, who advised Ed that people had as much right to rip them down as he had to put them up.

Screenshot from YouTube comments

"Diversity hire," huh. And about those posters Ed...

* * * *

Leigh Stuart found some rather silly posters in Kitchener-Waterloo apparently attributed to Kitchener-Waterloo Against Fascism, which seemed a little strange.

Fake posters in Kitchener-Waterloo are being falsely attributed to local antifascist collective Kitchener-Waterloo Against Fascism.

We confirmed via the group that they did not design nor put them up in the city. #Kitchener #Waterloo #cdnmedia pic.twitter.com/BpZWKMhi0F

— YVCE 🧛‍♂️🧛‍♀️🧛‍♂️ (@VestsCanada) February 24, 2020

 Here they are in full view: 

These posters are exactly what one would expect from someone who 

was anti-antifascist pretending to be antifascist. 

If this strikes you as odd, you'd be right. 

We reached out to folks involved with Kitchener-Waterloo Against Fascism and confirmed that they did not produce or put these posters up. In fact, they scoffed at the poor workmanship and design of the posters. 

Now, we don't know exactly what transpired, but these are obviously fake and it's possible someone took a cue from Ronny Cameron. 

* * * *

Everyone's favourite hate group hopper Win Nay continues to be...interesting. We thank Edmonton Against Fascism for their tireless contributions. 

📣 Win Nay's Sex and Fighting Update 📣

Edmonton Against Fascism's Research Department said this was very important to share.

I will be contacting human resources to see about the Department's dismissal.

Until then, the post remains. pic.twitter.com/sHiKe4Ruru

— EdmontonAgainstFascism (@EdmontonAgainst) February 8, 2020

This is a long one.

Highlights: Win Nay says he has police training and another colleague has military training.

Win Nay claims he is a member of the III%era but is corrected by an actual member. (1/2)@ARCCollective @VestsCanada pic.twitter.com/KQvMISGQ06

— EdmontonAgainstFascism (@EdmontonAgainst) February 29, 2020

 This led to a bit of a feud: 

Win Nay, realizing being a III%er isn't just a state of mind, decides to call out III%ers. @ARCCollective @VestsCanada pic.twitter.com/wIXK8pVP5d

— EdmontonAgainstFascism (@EdmontonAgainst) March 1, 2020

Where a ...duel?...was discussed. 

Win Nay and Admon, part 2. Posts have been deleted, but before they were we captured Win and Admon discussing having a duel.

Other so-called patriots intervene to try to get them to stop.@VestsCanada @ARCCollective

Part 1: https://t.co/YcQpCSNAfo pic.twitter.com/BaslcWveKF

— EdmontonAgainstFascism (@EdmontonAgainst) March 1, 2020

 * * * *

Robert Jones, former Proud Boy Grown Ass Man, has upped his extremist ante, re-joining Twitter to share some siegepilled garbage and describing himself as a neo-fascist, with a skullmask and a sonnenrad. 

Jones, who would increase the average age of Atomwaffen by 7 years all by himself, has evidently become further radicalized since his days with Proud Boys, Northern Guard, and Soldiers of Odin. 

Boomer Division reporting for duty. 

He's gone full antisemite. We're wondering how Meir feels about this, given his previous relationship with the JDL: 

And is engaging George Burdi's (RaHoWa, Heritage Front) new folk music partner, Cat Weiss:

It's safe to say that the radicalization pipeline worked on Jones. 

 * * * *

Tim Jones, of Nova Scotia and previously/currently of Northern Guard, has recently showed off his fancy new vest from yet another "motorcycle club," Rogue Brothers, that features some interesting patchwork: 

And that's a wrap on February, 2020.