An analysis of 150,000 chat room messages paints a picture of a group that is actively recruiting new members, buying weapons and trying to influence political parties
The article explains how members of the alt-right movement have organized into something most of us would call a terrorist movement if the perpetrators were not white and christian. According to the findings, these people, despite calling themselves an "alternative" right-wing group, appear to be nothing more than young neo-fascists who have adapted into 21st century life and have successfully influenced young people, including children.
My question to NSG is this: Is this the birth of a huge international terrorist movement? Will the world have to crackdown on these people eventually? And what can governments do to stop the resurgence of fascism for good?
My opinion is that the alt-right movement was going to become a terrorism organization eventually. From the very beginning, their beliefs were similar to 20th century fascism. In practice, they are fascists who pretend to be nice and concerned about the world, while leading young, frustrated men into committing terrorist acts. Under different circumstances, people would call them terrorists. To be stopped, governments must treat them like they treat radical Islamists and arrest the ones who play a pivotal role into organizing the whole thing.
Some quotes from the article:
They come from all walks of life: tradesmen, soldiers, a student teacher, a financial analyst, an aspiring lawyer, among others. And they are in every province, in communities large and small. They gather on the internet to strategize and seek pathways into mainstream politics. They are anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, sexist and racist. They are young and radicalized. They are the new far right in Canada.
The size of this particular group discussion is modest, at 180 users. But its members do more than simply engage in online talk. They meet in person, spread propaganda and encourage each other to recruit and expand the movement. They purchase weapons and discuss training. They have also attempted to join, influence and volunteer for Canadian political parties, usually adopting a restrained and more palatable guise.
Dank told the online group that he was using his position as a student teacher to influence young minds. He described one classroom scene in which the students were learning about the Second World War and the Holocaust. “In a moment where the actual teacher wasn’t in the room, I casually asked them their thoughts and opinions,” he wrote. The children, he continued, generally saw the Holocaust as “really bad,” but one of them asked why it had happened. Dank asked the young girl, “What was the point of the train cars and the deportations if it was just to kill them all?” He then encouraged the students to look into it on their own if they were curious.
“l’ll play their game and recite what they want to hear,” he said, adding that he was “acing the diversity class because I know all their narratives.”
He encouraged group members to join the reserves in order to benefit from training in firearms and strategy. Several members of the group posted messages indicating they had either done so or were considering it.
A number of current and former Forces members have been tied to the far right in recent years. In 2017, Forces members who also belonged to the anti-feminist, all-male group Proud Boys disrupted an Indigenous-led protest in Halifax. Among the founders of La Meute, the largest far-right group in Quebec, are military veterans. In media interviews, Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance has admitted that extremism is present in the Forces – and has said he is determined to stamp it out.
