A new Canadian neo-Nazi online accelerationist organization formed across social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Telegram, and quickly drew in young people from across the country. The organization branded itself initially as “Atomwaffen Canada,” then quickly became the “Atomwaffen Atium Cell,” and then finally “Kernatium Division.” Creating new Telegram chat rooms each time the group changed names, the founder and subsequent members would make statements glorifying violence and claiming to be preparing to kill their perceived racial and political enemies.
Videos from the organization began appearing on TikTok on June 20. Using the platform’s video editing tools, the group's founder created and posted four original videos to the TikTok account, with a fifth posted to a hastily put-together website. Some of these videos combined existing propaganda—images and footage—from terrorism-promoting neo-Nazi organizations like The Base and Atomwaffen Division. The other pieces of propaganda were original creations that directly threatened Canadian Muslims and another that promoted patches the founder was hoping to sell. In a video posted shortly before the founder abruptly left the chatrooms and organization he created, he placed the words “Atomwaffen Canada” over an image of a man wearing a skull mask holding a shotgun.
Click here to read the full report
Inside a series of Telegram channels set up by the founder, individuals seeking membership reported to be between the ages of 15 and 19 years old. Through the identification of these members, CAHN determined at least one was found to be several years younger than he claimed, around the age of 13 years old. This particular youth frequently uses TikTok, Instagram, and Telegram to repost footage of the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting.
Most, but not all, identified as holding National Socialist or neo-Nazi beliefs. Others identified as nativists or adherents to other far-right ideologies. Conversation in the chat was usually led by the founder. Often making statements that were violent in nature, he twice discussed his plans to target nearby immigration centres, though was not specific if this was for flyering, harassment or an attack. In another conversation with a new member, he stated the goal of the organization was to “kill Jews and immigrants.” He specifically spoke of a desire to recruit a terrorist and paramilitary branch of his organization.
Besides the founder, the individuals attracted to the chat were also explicit in their desires to form local militias. One man, who became the administrator of Kernatium Division after the founder’s departure, shared images of the Canadian Armed Forces armoury in Regina, SK, noting ingress and egress points. “Surveillance for future purposes and intelligence gathering,” he wrote when he shared the images. Others have shared footage of school shootings and repeatedly posted edits of the attack in Christchurch, New Zealand against two mosques that left over 50 people dead.
Perhaps most disturbing has been the speed at which this organization was able to attract a small cadre of extreme ideologically motivated individuals. While the claims of the leader seem to be somewhat dubious, including posts about firearms—some images of firearms prohibited in Canada—he claims to have purchased online, members of the group with more credible backstories do appear to have access to weapons. The sudden emergence of a group of young individuals recruited at least in part through the use of tactics and aesthetics developed on Iron March is a pressing concern, not the least of which is due to the use of the materials of a designated terrorist group.
