Photos show who organized and attended a white nationalist networking event in Vancouver, BC – including Hammerskins, Active Clubs, and Second Sons.
November 10, 2025
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Illustration: Hazel Woodrow
On July 26, approximately 50 people attended ‘Exiles of the Golden Age,’ a networking event and conference in Vancouver, BC organized by white nationalists. Some of the organizers have ties to the Vinland Hammerskins (VHS), a racist skinhead group with a decades-long history of criminality and violence. Other organizers and attendees are part of Active Clubs, white nationalist fitness and combat sports clubs that emerged as a response to the “alt-right” movement which was seen as too online and too discredited.
Advertised near-exclusively in white nationalist online spaces, promotional social media posts for the event include symbolism popular with neo-Nazis, including the kolovrat sun wheel and a table with an inlaid sonnenrad. The logo they created for the event uses the version of the sun rune used by Hitler’s Schutzstaffel (SS), and the promotional poster for the event features three Roman soldiers saluting—a salute more commonly recognized as a sieg heil. Other posts on their social media accounts feature swastikas.
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network sent a photographer and obtained images and video of people who attended, including the organizers. The EOTGA organizers didn’t announce the venue in advance, which has become a common tactic for white nationalist groups to avoid venues cancelling on them, or protests. On the morning of the event, organizers told paid ticketholders to meet at a public park, where they were then redirected to the event.
The venue, a cultural centre in Vancouver, was unaware of the nature of the event. They say they were “regrettably duped” and that they would “never knowingly rent to people promoting such vile beliefs.”
The speeches EOTGA has published from the event are mostly esoteric and philosophical in nature. Speakers talked about herbology, spirituality, and ideology, and described these kinds of discussions as one way to improve the respectability of their movement and to build community.
Given the organizers’ affiliations with the Hammerskins and Active Clubs, there is a public interest in identifying who attended this white nationalist networking event.
If you have any information about any of the named individuals, or recognize any of the unnamed individuals, please email us at [email protected] so that we can engage in a verification process. All tips are confidential.
CAHN identified 18 of the participants and provided the information to CBC’s Visual Investigations Team. CBC confirmed identifications and added two more. Every person named by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network has been given the opportunity to comment. However, EOTGA organizers told their audience on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) to ignore media requests.
Most of the attendees that were identified by CAHN are from BC, though organizers claimed people came from across Canada, as well as internationally. Attendees included people affiliated with Second Sons Canada, Active Clubs, and combat sports, boxing, and fitness coaches.
Source: Exiles of the Golden Age/Telegram
Ahead of the conference, two of the headlining speakers—Sweden’s white nationalist influencer Marcus Follin, otherwise known as The Golden One, and neo-Nazi Paul Waggener from the United States—had to cancel their in person appearances. Follin claims he was stopped at the airport as he entered Canada by Border Services and turned back to Sweden. Waggener, fearing what had happened to Follin, didn’t even try to make the trip. Both gave speeches virtually, instead.
The conference was philosophical in nature, and the primary topic was the mannerbund—a German word for brotherhood of warriors, the concept of which contributed to the establishment of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) and Sturmabteilung (SA). Speakers also focused on folkishness, an ethnocentric, ethnically exclusive pagan worldview and spirituality. Folkish heathenry, or folkishness, are distinct from more mainstream pagan beliefs. For years inclusive pagans have advocated against what they view as hateful co-optation.
According to Mike Maxwell, one of the speakers, “folkishness holds that family comes before tribe, tribe before race, and race before humanity; it is therefore not a form of white- or ethno-nationalism.”
In his speech delivered remotely (which was uploaded online by the organizers), Follin refers to himself and the audience as "white nationalist[s]" and "right-wing extremist[s]," describing how the point of these conferences are twofold. First, to network with likeminded people and create bonds irrespective of membership in formal groups. Second, to shed the old optics of their movement for new ones that demonstrate "moral leadership" that threatens the establishment or regime.
Speaking about the optics (or public perception) of their movement and the conference, Follin told attendees, “Had [their opponents] had their wish, we would've been like the white nationalist of the 90s and early 2000s, you know, skinheads with a lot of tattoos and a lot of, you know, listen to music and get drunk.”
“Whenever a conference is organized, it sort of breaks their narrative of who we are. So they can't any longer point to this horrible right-wing extremist, being loud, obnoxious, and, uh, you know, everything is deteriorating into an alcohol fueled, uh, music concert, something like that.”
The video of Follin’s speech became unavailable on the Exiles of the Golden Age YouTube channel after the Canadian Anti-Hate Network went to Follin and EOTGA organizers for comment.
Waggener is one of the founders of Wolves of Vinland, a pagan, neo-fascist cult with members in Virginia and Colorado. He operates Operation Werewolf, a broader, entrepreneurial outfit built around books, zines, workout programs, and other endeavours. He also runs Devotion Jiu-Jitsu out of their Virginia property.
In his speech he extolled the virtues of acquiring property and wealth in order to advance the movement. Speaking about his inability to fly to Vancouver to attend the conference in person, he said repeatedly that they are “at war,” and encouraged attendees to focus on offline networking.
Waggener declined the opportunity to comment.
Mike Maxwell, the Canadian-born author of the book The Cultured Thug Handbook: A Guide to Radical Right Wing Thought, also addressed the audience remotely. He lives in Australia, where he runs a publishing house.
EOTGA organizers said on social media that the conference would be selling books from Maxwell’s Imperium Press at the event. They posted a video showcasing a custom wooden shield in the shape of Nazi Germany Waffen SS divisional insignias created for the event, with books sitting on a table inlaid with a sonnenrad. The stacks of books include titles dealing with mythology, Maxwell’s own work, and classics by Homer.
Source: Exiles of the Golden Age/Telegram
In his virtual speech given to attendees at the conference, Maxwell said that Follin being refused entry into Canada was the “elephant in the room.”
“This fact shows you that we are over the target. And that means that you are currently in exactly the right place. The fact is that the machine is afraid. And it’s right to be afraid. It’s afraid because folkishness basically just is the answer. It’s like the kind of algorithm for reversing modern degeneracy.”
A ritual with swastikas posted to the EOTGA social media in October.
Source: Exiles of the Golden Age/Telegram
“We need to build now,” Maxwell continues. “The time to establish strong communities is yesterday. Other folk have been doing this already, in our own countries. That’s why we have no-go zones. That’s why we have Sharia courts. That’s why we have rape gangs.”
When asked about his comments by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Maxwell replied, “non-European peoples have built intentional communities in Western societies; there is no moral or legal argument against European peoples doing the same.”
Several of the organizers of the event are affiliated with the Vinland Hammerskins (VHS), the Canadian branch of an international white supremacist gang with chapters across the United States and Europe. Members of VHS founded the first wave of Active Clubs in Canada, which they used as a recruitment front.
Robertson (Rob) De Chazal is a longtime neo-Nazi and member of the Vinland Hammerskins since around 2012, as well as a former member of Blood and Honour, which was listed by the Canadian government as a terrorist entity in 2019.
Photos from a variety of sources place him at several Hammerskin clubs in Europe, where he can also be seen wearing clothing bearing their signature crossed hammers. He has previously played in white power bands, including those that headlined a Hammerskins’ event in Hamilton in 2019.
While still with Blood and Honour, De Chazal was one of three men accused by police of hate crimes. According to the CBC, “In one case, de Chazal pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault for allegedly setting a sleeping Filipino man on fire.” He was later cleared of all allegations.
Rob De Chazal outside the the white nationalist event 'Exiles of the Golden Age' held on July 26, 2025; he has a large sonnenrad tattoo on his left elbow.
Josh Bruce is a member of Crew 38, the feeder group for the Hammerskins and co-owner of Vinland Battlewear with De Chazal, a neo-Nazi lifestyle and clothing brand closely affiliated with the Hammerskins. According to business records for Vinland Battlewear filed in 2020, Bruce resides in Langley, BC and De Chazal in Surrey, BC.
Most of the organizers wore the same grey polo shirt with a Tiwaz rune on the breast, which was sold by Vinland Battlewear.
His Telegram account was previously listed as the west coast recruiter for Active Club Canada.
Bruce is also the former leader of the now-defunct Northern Identity, an identitarian bookclub active briefly in British Columbia. Initially connected to the Generation Identity offshoot, ID Canada, the co-founder of IDC once complained that they had used Northern Identity to interview people hoping to join, but that Bruce’s group siphoned these individuals into their own ranks.
Based on social media postings, Bruce was an organizer of a cancelled talk hosted by Marcus Follin and Thomas "Survive the Jive" Rowsell, both far-right influencers and YouTube personalities, in Vancouver. Rowsell, who is from the UK, appeared at the 2024 Exiles of the Golden Age conference.
Bruce is a former Proud Boy and was previously in the news after claiming to be the victim of a group assault in the bathroom of a BC bar in 2017. After the incident, the bar staff were reportedly subject to online threats and harassment by Proud Boy supporters who blamed them for the assault.
Josh Bruce at a cafe across the street from the white nationalist event 'Exiles of the Golden Age' held on July 26, 2025.
Jesse Rankin is another organizer and member of the Vinland Hammerskins. He remains close friends with De Chazal and models for the Vinland Hammerskin-affiliated clothing brand Vinland Battlewear. He often appears in images of other Hammerskins, including members of the German branch of the Hammerskin Nation, promoting the clothing line.
Jesse Rankin outside the the white nationalist event 'Exiles of the Golden Age' held on July 26, 2025.
Jesse Rankin (left) and Robertson De Chazal (right) pictured together in a European Hammerskin clubhouse.
Darren Lincoln is another organizer. He has also modeled for Vinland Battlewear on their social media. He, like De Chazal, has a large sonnenrad on his left elbow. He and Rankin appeared to function as security, often leaving the venue or opening the door to look around for any disruptions or problems.
Darren Lincoln outside the the white nationalist event 'Exiles of the Golden Age' held on July 26, 2025.
Darren Lincoln modeling clothing for Vinland Battlewear. Source: Vinland Battlewear/Telegram
David McGrigor is another Vinland Battlewear model who was wearing the VB organizers’ shirt outside the event. According to the company’s website, he co-owns Celtic Landscaping and Design, a landscaping firm which provides services “across the Greater Vancouver Area…Vancouver / Surrey / White Rock / Chilliwack / and beyond,” with conference attendee Zenon Shandro. He lives in White Rock, BC.
David McGrigor outside the the white nationalist event 'Exiles of the Golden Age' held on July 26, 2025.
McGrigor modeling a Vinland Battlewear shirt on their website. He’s identifiable by a scar on his left forearm, which was matched to other images on social media. Source: Vinland Battlewear
Lane Pommer, who also goes by Lane Jackson, is an organizer who also served as the emcee and keynote speaker at the conference. Previously, he was listed online as a boxing coach at Westshore Boxing Gym in Victoria.
Westshore Boxing Gym told the CBC: “We were not aware of this individual’s background. They are no longer part of our gym. Our gym promotes an inclusive and respectful environment that welcomes people of all backgrounds who respect others and our code of conduct.”
Pommer participated in a televised amateur boxing match in May, 2022 in Victoria. During the match, he wore a Vinland Battlewear shirt. Rob De Chazal, Josh Bruce, David McGrigor, and other men wearing the same shirt can be seen in the crowd.
During his speech, Pommer told attendees, “A universalist outlook that includes anything and just you believe something and you become a part of it, is not potent enough to save an ethnicity, we need an ethnic religion. We need something radical and particularist that you don't have membership to just because of what you believe. It's about who you are. And so that's why I think that paganism is so important for us.”
“The only force capable of establishing and defending such boundaries has been the mannerbund,” Pommer continued. “It is not enough to simply join a creative group that exists only online or confines itself to endless discussion. Such groups must be actively engaged in building wealth, strength, institutions, and in exerting real world and temporal power. I have argued that the reformation of the mannerbund must return to Indo-European first principles, principles that are ethnically exclusive, both biologically and spiritually.”
Lane Pommer outside the the white nationalist event 'Exiles of the Golden Age' held on July 26, 2025.
We have published names, images, and information on all identified and not yet identified people who attended the EOTGA event in an archive.
If you have information about any of the people who attended the EOTGA event, please email us at [email protected] so we may engage in a verification process. All tips are confidential.
In addition to the organizers named above, the following names are all the individuals we have identified at the time of publication:
Billy Buhler
Adam Droog
Joshua Easton
Mike Korchinski
Chase O’Reilly
Luke Olson
Ron Pearce
Mike Romses
Alec Saab
Zenon Shandro
Chandra Smeeton
Malcolm Stark (aka Sagnamaðr Stark), who also displayed an exhibit of artifacts at the conference)
Karl Storness-Bliss
Daniel Vindisch
We are asking for the public's help in identifying attendees of the white nationalist networking event 'Exiles of the Golden Age.'
Whether you measure it by number of supporters, fundraising ability, or by the size of its militant groups, the white nationalist movement in Canada has never been larger or more of a threat.
All the president’s men are trying to make resistance illegal.