Members of a Canadian far-right group pose for a photo at an unknown location in Canada. (Image: RCMP)
The men participated in hate crimes and instructed others to carry out terror strikes.
Canadian federal police announced Friday the arrests of two Ontario men for allegedly creating recruitment videos and statements in support of a far-right group banned as a terrorist organization.
The pair, who were not identified by police, face a total of nine charges including committing hate crimes, participating in a terrorist group’s activities and instructing others to carry out terrorist activities.
The arrests come after an 18-month investigation that included police searches in the Niagara and Toronto regions and help from Canada’s spy agency and anti-money laundering watchdog, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’s counterterrorism squad said in a statement.
The two men “are alleged to have participated in the creation of Terrorgram Collective manifestos and Atomwaffen Division recruiting videos in support of far right extremism and the neo-Nazi terrorist movement,” the RCMP said.
The Atomwaffen Division, which originated in the United States but has spread to Britain, Germany and elsewhere, was listed as a terrorist entity in Canada in 2021.
Since then, several former members, under a new affiliation, were “observed performing combat training exercises in local community parks,” police said.
The neo-Nazi extremist group calls for violence against racial, religious, and ethnic groups, police, and bureaucrats in order to provoke the collapse of society.
Canada started targeting far-right groups with sanctions for promoting violent extremist views following a spate of attacks including the killing of worshippers at a Quebec City mosque.
The RCMP in July charged a 26-year-old Ottawa man for also making propaganda material for the Atomwaffen Division.
