Hamilton Police have suspended an officer for a long time while reviewing their publications on social networks, which include content that shares again of extreme right groups, anti -immigrant messages and publications in support of a coup d’etat against the government.
After a visual investigation of CBC on the nationalist training of “active clubs” in the area of Hamilton, a reader contacted CBC Hamilton to share that they had noticed a user of social networks with the same name as a Hamilton agent, Renato Greco, reinforcing extremist content.
A publication dated July 14 of this year was a part on the social media site X of an account that said “You love to see” with a photo of the second children group that gathered in Nueva Scotia in July.
Second Sons is one of the groups that CBC research identified as accommodation of active club meetings recently in the area.
Police spokesman Adam Kimber told CBC on August 5 that the service “was not aware of the activity of social networks in question”, but an investigation began once CBC Hamilton reported it.
Kimber said that Hamilton’s police suspended Greco with pay, and “if the investigation determines that the behavior violates our standards, will follow the appropriate discipline.”
The Hamilton Police also issued a press release on Monday that reiterated that a service member has been suspended after discovering “disturbing” publications in social networks “that brought the service of the service through a means of communication.” He said an investigation was underway.
“The Hamilton Police Service keeps all members with the highest standards of professionalism, behavior and impartiality. Any expression of points of view or support for groups that promote hatred or discrimination is contrary to the values of our organization and our duty to serve all in our community,” according to the statement.
“Such behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the policies, ethics or expectations of the Hamilton Police Service,” Kimber added in his email to CBC.
Officer with force since 2002
Greco has been with force since 2002, Kimber said. A publication on the website of the General Governor of Canada said that he received the police service medal in 2023. The HPS website refers to him as an agent in a publication in 2022.
After CBC contacted the police, his account X was public to private.
CBC Hamilton arrived at Greco on the phone and asked if he would comment on his publications and research. He declined. CBC also sent a detailed message to its Facebook account, but did not receive an answer.
In an email, the president of the Hamilton Police Association, Jaimi Bannon, told CBC Hamilton that the police union is aware of the accusations and investigation against Greco and is helping him navigate the investigation process. “The association will not comment on the accusations while the matter is under investigation.”
The agent published by the Police and the Army must organize a coup d’etat
CBC Hamilton reviewed Greco’s account, from 2020 to this summer. The very active account shared publications that included racist stereotypes on marginalized groups on July 18, one that said “diversity means white genocide” on July 14, and the resumption of Jeremy Mackenzie positions, the founder of Diagolon, on July 10 and 18.
Greco’s account also shared content related to Diagolon-Floot Second Sons on July 14 and 18.
The RCMP has described Diagolon as an “extremist organization, similar to the militia.”
In a video that Greco shared with the threads on May 26, Mackenzie says that immigrants are deliberately arriving in North America in mass in an effort to destabilize the western world.
In June 2020, Greco published in X saying “Hitler was democratically chosen and once in power he wore his brown shirts and, finally, his ss to eliminate all and any political opposition!
In December 2020, Greco published in X saying: “The only way Canada will survive our committed politicians is a coup d’etat of the Canadian military and police.”
The expert says that the police and the army vulnerable to extremist influence
CBC shared a handful of publications in Greco’s social networks with Kawser Ahmed, professor in the Department of Policy of the University of Winnipeg.
Ahmed directed a public security project called extremism and radicalization to the prevention of violence in Manitoba.
He said that “he was not surprised” to see a police officer publishing extremist content.
Referring to a recent case in which the RCMP arrested and loaded Two active military in an alleged plot to form an anti -government militia, Ahmed said that police and military members are vulnerable to the influence and recruitment of extremist groups.
He said that forces are attractive recruits for these groups because they are highly trained, they know how to fight and have the mentality of defending the country that extremist groups can “adjust.”
They are also vulnerable in the way anyone is, he said, noting that economic recessions and polarizing world events, such as pandemic and wars in Ukraine and Gaza, have “prepared” people to institutions.
Ahmed said he was “happy” to hear that Hamilton’s police are investigating Greco’s publications.
In his experience, said Ahmed, it is “super difficult” to counteract radicalization in the application of the law because “nobody wants to listen to it.”
The forces are very island, he said, and “we have to convince them that there is a problem.”
It is unlikely that none of Greco’s colleagues has known what he was publishing, Ahmed added.
Constable publications ‘deeply worrying’: anti -racism defender
Lyndon George agrees that there is a problem and says it is very serious.
“You cannot be a day and racist police officer at night,” said Hamilton’s anti-racism resources center. “That does not work in the various communities we have. It is not one or the other. You cannot be so much in this case and think that you can continue in your work.”
George described that Greco’s publications requested a coup as “incredible” and said that their extremist content and publications that refer to the racist replacement replacement theory “should not be taken lightly.”
“This tells him that there is an individual here who does not see himself reflected in the community as a whole and that is deeply worrying,” George said. “Community [members] He would worry if this person appeared at his door with these retweets if you knew it … especially because the men and women of the service carry weapons. “
He added that hate crimes in Hamilton have RisenAnd having an officer who shares racist feelings online could make one wonder if hate reports are taken seriously.
There should be an independent investigation of third parties about Greco, George said, examining not only his social networks but with whom, if someone may have been in contact in extremist spaces.
A “transparent and open” investigation is necessary for community members to look at Hamilton’s police service with the “respect it deserves,” George said. “If not, there will be a cloud of suspicion in all officers who use that uniform.”
