Patrick Macdonald, once known as Dark Foreigner, continued creating art for neo-Nazi movements after the Atomwaffen Division disbanded.
Peter Smith
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
A screen capture of the image used in a Will2Rise documentary crediting Vransith for “animation/post-production” (left) and an image from the Atomwaffen propaganda video Fission. Source: Odyssey/Telegram
It was so quick that anyone could have been forgiven for missing it.
In the final moments of court on Monday, Crown Prosecutor Katherine Legault read from the defendant Patrick Macdonald’s cover letters to two prospective employers.
In one, the accused propagandist for the terror designated Atomwaffen Division addressed the letter to the white nationalist livestream Red Ice. He wrote that his graphic design work was “cutting edge” and that he could handle animating and creating graphics for the frequent programs.
The second letter, to an unidentified individual, was much of the same, until Legault reached the end, reading out a social media account that Macdonald attached to the letter: Raven Atelier.
In a few words, the Crown confirmed that Dark Foreigner continued his artistic pursuits after the Atomwaffen Division, leaving behind the low-res, blood-splattered portraits of serial killers and Nazi Germany figureheads for 3D sculpting and an attempt at monetizing his abilities producing propaganda for far-right nationalist movements.
Raven Atelier is a small social media art channel run by a man who used the online pseudonym Vransith on the encrypted application Telegram. The channel frequently posted content and new designs since its creation on April 18, 2021.
Self-dubbed as a “Nationalist Design Studio,” the first content was posted in May 2021, with a message credited to Vransith, as does all the content created by Raven Atelier.
“We'll be looking at the process of creating Nationalist Art and Propaganda in a wide variety of forms,” he wrote. “From print propaganda to three-dimensional sculpture design, this is a center of Nationalist Creativity.”
Accompanying the text was a series of vertical lines that resembles a stylized Fasces—a symbol dating back to ancient Rome but used by many political movements, including 20th-century fascists.
The next day, the Raven Atelier channel released a bust of National Socialist propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Often the artist created graphics in support of established neo-Nazi and white supremacist brands and organizations independently of the groups themselves. This includes the neo-Nazi Azov Brigade in Ukraine, the French National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) band Peste Noire, and the American fascist protest group Patriot Front.
Some of the early artwork was reposted by the NSBM record label Militant Zone, based out of Kyiv, Ukraine. Small by conventional standards, Militant Zone hosts some of the most infamous names in neo-Nazi metal music, including groups like М8Л8ТХ, Sunwheel, and Whrwlf.
On his channel, Vransith claimed to have created the artwork for the video release of the Militant Zone concert video and helped with editing. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network contacted Militant Zone for confirmation, though the end of the concert footage credits Raven Atelier for video editing.
Images produced and posted to the Raven Atelier Telegram channel. Source: Telegram
Images created by Vransith include a poster supporting the white nationalist Will2Rise, a poster for the Militant Zone live concert video, and an image in support of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov battalion.
During the first week of the trial, an RCMP officer present during the search of Macdonald’s residence reported finding a flag they identified as belonging to a band with the words “white supporter” written at the bottom. Though the band was never named, М8Л8ТХ sells a flag with its logo and this phrase written at the bottom.
Perhaps Vransith’s most prominent work to date was his contribution to a documentary produced by Will2Rise, a merchandise and media company piloted by neo-Nazi Robert Rundo, founder of the decentralized Active Club movement.
Vransith is credited for contributing to the animation and post-production of a roughly 30-minute documentary about the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas Parade Attack in which one man drove his vehicle through a holiday event, killing six and injuring dozens of others. Rundo is credited as a narrator and director of the film.
A screen capture of the image used in a Will2Rise documentary crediting Vransith for “animation/post-production.” This is the same image used by the Vransith account on Telegram. Source: Odyssey
Vransith is only depicted in the movie’s credits through the same image he used as a profile picture on Telegram.
Macdonald was previously identified by multiple sources to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network as being part of the Ottawa, Ontario chapter of the Active Club in Canada. In a group shot of nine men, he was identified as an individual wearing a М8Л8ТХ shirt.
A group shot purporting to be of the Ottawa branch of the Active Club Canada. Patrick Macdonald was identified by a source as the fourth individual from the right. Source: Telegram
Both the Crown and Defence ended their submissions on Tuesday, bringing to a close what was scheduled to be three weeks in court several days early. Macdonald elected to have a judge rule on his case rather than a jury and Justice R Smith said he will make his decision in February 2025. Macdonald is accused of participating in the activity of a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, and the commission of offence for a terrorist group.
Prosecutors brought out several RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police experts and officers who found digital metadata and items in Macdonald’s residence they say link him to three propaganda videos produced for the Atomwaffen Division.
The Defence called no witnesses, instead challenging the digital connective tissue as inconclusive during their submissions to the court on Tuesday. They also challenged a report submitted by expert witness Barbara Perry as the defence noted a series of errors in details and dates relating to the Atomwaffen Division.
Atomwaffen was listed as a terrorist entity by the Government of Canada in 2021, but the charges relate to videos produced in 2019. As a result, the Crown must also prove that the organization was a terrorist entity at the time of the videos’ production and release.
Prosecutor Legault argued that even if the court were to not find that Atomwaffen was a terrorist organization during the time of the alleged infraction, that Macdonald and the other men in the footage recorded in St-Ferdinand, QC, and Belleville, ON, were, as they advocated for violence against numerous marginalized groups.
Two other alleged former members of the Atomwaffen Division, Kristoffer Nippak and Matthew Althorpe are awaiting trial on terrorism charges of their own. According to the RCMP, Althorpe and Nippak from Ontario are alleged to have participated in the creation of videos for the Atomwaffen Division (AWD).
Nippak is facing additional charges related to the creation of a series of manifestos and terrorism manuals for the Terrorgram Collective.
This article previously identified Robert Rundo as the correspondent in the film about Waukesha, Wisconsin, when it was Alan Goff under his alias Lucca Corgiat. Rundo is credited as a director and for providing opening and closing narration. We apologize for this error.
The Canadian Anti-Hate network provided live coverage each day of the trial, which you can find on Bluesky and X.
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