A white supremacist group is cultivating its ranks in the areas of London and St. Thomas of southwest Ontario with the location of several meeting places now identified by CBC News.
Nationalist-13 has held several meetings and protests against immigration recently. It is based on Hamilton, and is what is known as an “active club.” Active clubs are part of a neo -Nazi network that has grown worldwide, going from online forums to real world communities, including some in the southwest ontarium.
The group celebrated a demonstration against the London City Council at the end of June, during which masked members held banners with slogans that said “mass deportations now” and “No Blood for Israel.”
After that protest, the members published a photograph with their faces digitally darkened by the Totenkopf, the smiling death mask used by the Nazi SS. The photograph is subtitled “Nationalist-13 in London, Ontario, Canada”.
The CBC visual research team looked at the image and combined the location with the Flying J truck stop at Highbury Avenue, south of 401.
The group is holding its own nationalist flag-13, and the red Ensign flag that was the precursor of the Arce sheet. White nationalists call it the “true” flag of Canada, which represents the country before saying that it was spoiled by immigrants.
In a second photograph published in the group’s telegram account on May 30, two men are standing next to a boxing bag in a park at night. “The members of the training of the Youth Division of NS13 during the day of the week. Training is a daily search, not a weekend activity,” says the publication.
As the photo bottom with Parks in the southwest, the CBC visual research team drew the photo stage to the Pavillion next to the Marshall Field Lakes in the Pinafuertes Park in St. Thomas.
It is part of the current work, in collaboration with The fifth estateThat shows how the groups that experts consider an extremist threat are recruiting and gathering.
They announce themselves as defenders of the European roots of the country, and train, according to experts, so they believe it is an upcoming racial war.
“He is deeply disturbing and worrying,” said Sunil Gurmukh, a human rights lawyer and assistant professor at Western University who teaches courses on hate speeches and investigates hate crimes.
“Young people themselves are often more vulnerable and impressionable. That is extremely worrying,” he said.
While the group works to recruit more people, many of their online publications ask men of related ideas “of European people” to communicate with them.
A message on the group’s telegram channel praises a group of supposedly non -affiliated men who, while darkening their faces, showed a banner that said “mass deportations now” in the White Oaks Mall in London in December.
According to Gurmukh and other extremism experts, the advent of social networks has made it easier for people with related ideas to connect and that this type of groups grow.
But his tendency to hide his identities shows that his ideas are still far from being widely accepted, he said.
“They are cowards. If they really believe what they are spreading, then they should deal with any consequence,” Gurmukh said. “For me, when you look at the [SS symbol] They used to obscure their faces, with signs that they asked for mass deportation and the eradication of the Jewish people, which is equivalent to criminal hatred. “
Conscious Police of the groups
On Thursday, a man from Windsor was declared guilty for participating in the activities of a terrorist group when he tried to join the Atomwaffen Division of extreme right, also called the National Socialist Order or the National Socialist Resistance Front.
The Canadian government has considered it a terrorist organization since 2021. The nationalist group-13 does not have that designation.
CBC News contacted the Police in London and St. Thomas about the groups of white supremacists that meet in their cities, and at a time when municipalities compromise thousands of dollars to anti-aspiece campaigns.
London received $ 500,000 From the province for his campaign ‘Stop Tolerhating’ last year.
The London Police Service said in a statement that it is “aware of the concerns related to the self -proclaimed white nationalist groups operating in the region”, and that all accusations of criminal crimes are investigated.
The St. Thomas Police Service provided a statement echoing that, and added that “participation in a group or club, including the use of public or private facilities for training purposes is not, in itself, a criminal offense.”
In a previous investigation, the Visual Research Unit found that the groups were carrying out combat training in martial arts studies and other parks in southern Ontario.
In St. Thomas, people who enjoy the park near Marshall Field Lakeside Pavillion said they were shocked and disappointed when they heard the presence of the group in an area frequented by children and families.
