According to Peter Collins, a forensic psychiatrist with the Ontario Provincial Police and a professor at the University of Toronto, there were 10 Active Club chapters across Canada as of last month, as stated in a recent edition of a law enforcement magazine. Read more.
Michael Nesbitt, a law professor at the University of Calgary who studies extremism, has reported a “significant increase” in the number of terrorism charges related to far-right groups like the Atomwaffen Division in Canada. According to his data, there have been seven terrorism arrests this year, including three linked to right-wing extremism. In contrast, only six cases since 2000 have been associated with right-wing extremism.
In July, the R.C.M.P. charged 26-year-old Patrick Gordon Macdonald of Ottawa with participating in, facilitating, and committing terrorist activity. He was involved in the creation, production, and distribution of three terrorist videos for the Atomwaffen Division, which were intended to promote the group, recruit members, and encourage the commission of terrorist activities.
Earlier this year, federal law enforcement officials in the United States arrested Brandon Russell, a founding member of the Atomwaffen Division, and another individual. They were accused of conspiring to “completely destroy Baltimore” in a racist plot to demolish the power grid in a predominantly Black city. Mr. Russell had previously been convicted of bomb-making and was released from prison in the summer of 2021.
Kaleb Cole, a leader of the Atomwaffen Division in Washington State, was sentenced to seven years in prison last year for plotting to threaten and intimidate journalists and individuals who exposed antisemitism. Read more.
Professor Nesbitt expressed that it is positive to see the R.C.M.P. and others prosecuting a wider range of extremist behavior. However, as a Canadian, he finds it depressing and somewhat alarming to witness the overall increase in charges throughout the year.