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CBC
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Hamilton mayor asks residents to report hate after CBC traces white nationalist 'active clubs' to the city
Social Sharing If you discover hate in your neighbourhood, report it. That's the message Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath has for residents following a CBC News investigation which found members of white supremacist groups have been preparing for a "race war" in Hamilton-area gyms and parks. "Hate has no home in Hamilton," Horwath said. "Hamilton is a city that values inclusion, diversity, and safety for all." Her comments follow a CBC visual investigation, in collaboration with The Fifth Estate, that identified local spaces where white nationalists are getting together to train, including in Myrtle and Gage parks. Known within white nationalist communities as "active clubs," these training sessions are also part of the groups' recruitment and propaganda. Although the clubs portray themselves as promoting community, fitness and Canada's European heritage, some experts told CBC News they're a growing extremist threat. "The minute you peel back even the slightest layer of this onion, it becomes far more insidious. These are virulent white supremacists. These are people that in many cases are training for what they believe is to be an upcoming race war," said Mack Lamoureux of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. That U.K.-based think-tank studies authoritarianism, hate and extremism. 'Creating an air of intimidation' "I think it's a serious public safety concern," Hamilton city councillor Nrinder Nann told CBC News after being notified about the group's activities in Hamilton. The Ward 3 councillor represents an area in which some club members were found to be training. "Fundamentally, what it ends up doing is creating an air of intimidation, especially for those neighbours who understand who they are and what they're doing," she said. "Our public parks and spaces are supposed to be places of belonging and fostering a sense of inclusivity and welcoming of all folks." Nann said she's heard "a lot" of residents share concerns about white supremacist organizing in Hamilton and noted a recent incident in which local shops were vandalized with racist graffiti. "The rise of extremist organizing is a national security threat and it isn't an issue to take lightly," she said. She hopes anyone who learns these groups are operating in their community will inform police, she added. CBC Hamilton asked Hamilton police if they are aware of and investigating any of the active clubs in the CBC News investigation, or any other such clubs they may be aware of. Police did not respond before deadline. Active clubs and similar groups are linked to designated terror groups like the Canadian Proud Boys and Atomwaffen Division, the latter of which has been linked to five killings in recent years. Despite group members' efforts to hide who they are and where they train, CBC's visual investigation unit found photos of active club Nationalist-13 training were taken in private Hamilton gym Amazing Fitness, in the city's Gibson neighbourhood. Journalists were also able to identify one of the group's most prominent members, Brandon Lapointe, in the photos. Gym manager John Moran told CBC News he didn't know an active club was training at his facility. In a statement, he later said, "we have no affiliation whatsoever with these individuals or their ideology, and we categorically reject any form of hate or discrimination." CBC also identified two Brazilian jiujitsu gyms used by Second Sons — "an active club in everything except name," according to Lamoureux. In one photo, open white supremacist Alex Vriend, also a member of far-right group Diagolon, stands with club members at Hammer BJJ in the city's McQuesten West area. Rob Barham, the owner of Hammer BJJ, told CBC News, "I don't affiliate myself with … any sort of white supremacy groups." "I have a firm policy that I don't want those types of behaviours or those types of energies in this place," he said. "I'm trying to protect that and trying to foster something good for the kids of the community that can come here and better their life." Vriend and Lapointe did not respond to requests for comment. Active club members preparing for violence The investigation also identified Second Sons members training at Welland studio Niagara BJJ. Kevin Mans, the owner of Niagara BJJ, called CBC's findings "f–king unacceptable," adding: "I have built a team that is pluralistic… these guys are scum." As soon as he saw the photos CBC shared, Mans said he called his staff and told them those Second Sons members couldn't come back. According to CBC's visual investigations unit, active clubs tend to be male-focused groups that proactively promote white supremacy in acts ranging from public protests to stickering campaigns to social media posts. Lamoreaux told CBC these groups are "training for what they believe to be an upcoming race war." The clubs also use white nationalist symbolism. For example, when Nationalist-13 members post training photos, they hide their faces with the Totenkopf, a symbol used by the Nazi SS. Nationalist-13, or NS13, has become more public, with masked members holding anti-immigration protests in Toronto, London and Hamilton, holding banners calling for "mass deportations." NS13 did not respond to CBC News's request for comment. In November, anti-immigrant demonstrators stood in the heart of downtown Hamilton. In response, community leaders called for solidarity and denounced what they say is a rise in hate against newcomers. Second Sons alludes to the Great Replacement, the conspiracy theory that white people are being driven to extinction. That group spun out of Diagolon, which the RCMP has labelled an "extremist, militia-like organization." CBC News contacted Second Sons and received an email response from Morgan Guptill, partner of Diagolon founder Jeremy MacKenzie, who said she does not speak for Second Sons. Guptill said she didn't understand why men in Canada fail to support other men "gathering regularly to improve their physical and mental well-being, as Second Sons does," and why anyone "with an IQ above 80," would not support "at minimum, a full moratorium on immigration given the current economic trajectory." Economists have in fact noted that higher immigration has had economic benefits for Canada. CBC News also determined active clubs were training in the John Wright Soccer Complex in Brantford, Ont., in addition to Hamilton's Myrtle and Gage parks, based on videos they shared. Nann said active clubs openly training in Gage Park — the site of violence involving people with ties to the Proud Boys during Pride festivities in 2019 — is a "very clear signal to my community." "They are claiming this space and that is absolutely unacceptable," she said. Hamilton needs more effective strategy to stop groups: researcher Chris Erl, a Hamilton-based politics researcher at Toronto Metropolitan University who has studied the violence at the 2019 Pride event, agrees with Nann, saying club members are likely trying to "assert their dominance." It's "upsetting but not entirely unsurprising" to see active clubs out and about in the city, he said, because there's been a lot of far-right organizing in Hamilton over the past few decades. Citing an "old adage" that "if you let one Nazi into your bar then you have a Nazi bar," Erl said this activity needs to be forcefully challenged by residents and the city's institutions. He said the mayor's statement that hate has no place in Hamilton is "really entering into the territory of 'thoughts and prayers'" comments following mass shootings, feeling like a "copy-and-paste response." Hamilton needs a program to address the reason why people join white nationalist groups, to address issues like economic insecurity and to combat propaganda that radicalizes people online, Erl said. Kojo Damptey, a McMaster University sessional instructor and PhD student, said he wants the mayor to back up her words with actions such as funding a hate crimes task force. "A number of us have been saying this for the last 10 years," he said. The former director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion and co-chair of Hamilton's community safety and wellbeing plan has experience organizing against hate. Damptey was also the target of hate during the 2022 municipal election when someone placed a sticker that said 'white lives matter' on one of his campaign ads while running for councillor. Damptey said socio-economic issues such as the housing crisis have driven up anti-immigrant sentiment in recent years and that unless leaders act, these groups will continue to grow. He added community members can also report hate to the community-run We Support Hamilton tool.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Great Notley 'white supremacist' plotted terror attacks
A white supremacist who "idolised Hitler" planned to carry out a terrorist attack at the Lord Mayor of London's residence, a court Coleman is accused of buying a pistol and 188 rounds of ammunition with a dream of "sparking a race war" in September he was snared by undercover police officers and MI5 in a "highly sophisticated operation" in a supermarket car park, after paying £3,500 in exchange for what he thought was the weapons, the Old Bailey was told. The 21-year-old, from Great Notley in Essex, admits possessing a firearm, ammunition and 10 offences of having a document useful to terrorism, but denies preparing an attack. The court was told Mr Coleman was inspired by Thomas Mair, who murdered the MP Jo Cox in 2016, and penned a manifesto and several detailed notes planning different terrorist scenarios and "seething with hatred".He was arrested by armed police after the supermarket snare in Stratford, east London, on 23 September 2023. 'Extreme right-wing ideology' Nicholas de la Poer KC, prosecuting, described Mr Coleman as an "aspiring assassin" who bought knives online and researched the "most advanced weapons used by terrorists".He alleged his manifesto ended with the line: "Someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world and I guess that has to be me."At one point during the prosecution's opening, a member of the jury cried out "brainwasher" when they were read documents Mr Coleman allegedly aged 19, Mr Coleman was caught after purchasing a Makarov pistol, five magazines and 188 rounds of ammunition from an undercover police officer, Mr de la Poer stash had been left inside a Land Rover at a Morrisons supermarket in Stratford, jurors heard, and Mr Coleman paid £3,500 in cash for it was a snare that led to Mr Coleman, of Tailors Close, being arrested by armed police less than 30 yards (90ft) from the car at 11:20 de la Poer continued: "Mr Coleman believed in an extreme right-wing ideology which included idolising the likes of Thomas Mair, who murdered the MP, Jo Cox."The defendant "believed in the supremacy of white people and neo-Nazism", the prosecutor added, saying he "idolised Hitler" and denied the Holocaust. Jurors were told Mr Coleman's arrest followed years of research and discourse online that had been "driven by hatred"."At the heart of it, is the claim that white people are superior to everyone else," Mr de la Poer started his journey to become a "military accelerationist" by downloading a document to his mobile phone, the prosecutor told Coleman has admitted also having nine other texts including The Anarchist Cookbook, the White Resistance Manual and the Terrorist Explosives Handbook. 'Seething with hatred' A manifesto he wrote on his phone was called "roofmanifesto", named after Dylann Roof, who went on a shooting rampage at a church in South Carolina in 2015, jurors de la Poer said it read: "Find and execute the enemies of our race wherever they manifest themselves, no matter the age or gender."Another note called "you can't see me" plotted the hijack of a plane, and in June 2022, the prosecutor said, he allegedly wrote a note for a terrorist attack, identifying his initial target as the "Mayor of London house".One note, entitled "collapse", made reference to putting an explosive in a cash machine and listed weapons including knives and crossbows, jurors court was told during this period, Mr Coleman also wrote racist comments about a Tesco colleague in Great Notley, calling her a "race traitor"."However he presented to the outside world when at work, Mr Coleman was seething with hatred on the inside," Mr de la Poer to murdered Batley and Spen MP Cox in a Telegram chat online, Mr Coleman allegedly said: "Everyone bleeds no matter who you are".The court heard he had been sharing extreme right-wing views with undercover police and MI5 agents online, and they began investigating him before setting up the allegedly told one MI5 officer: "I don't follow the words of anyone except Adolf Hitler".The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Washington Post
02-06-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Book Review: 'Charlottesville' a dramatic account of deadly 2017 rally and history behind it
Decades before the violent Unite the Right rally in 2017 in Charlottesville that drew white nationalists protesting the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, the city was targeted by a white supremacist who hoped to ignite a race war. To understand the 2017 Unite the Right rally, Deborah Baker writes in 'Charlottesville: An American Story,' readers have to go back to 1956 and John Kasper's trip to Charlottesville to protest school integration.
