A high-ranking figure in the world of Canadian kickboxing and a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces are just two of the previously unknown names in the Midgård leak.
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Source: Mika Baumeister/Unsplash
This article has been updated to include comment from Wolfgang Brutter.
We found new names and familiar faces after combing through customer information found in the leak of a Swedish neo-Nazi music and merchandise web store.
Leaked online by antifascist activist AFA Stockholm, Midgård is a web store distributing hard-to-find National Socialist records and merchandise to a global audience. The website features prominent clothing brands that either directly refer to or contain symbols linked to white power movements. Besides albums and clothing, the company also sells magazines, books, and other merchandise.
Containing the names of 79 Canadians, for 408 individual orders coming into the country, the leak provides a window into the business side of hate movements.
Midgård is run out of Alingsås, Sweden, according to AFA Stockholm’s website and Midgård’s business registry information, and connected to the publisher Ringhorne AB. The owners, Martin Flennfors and Martin Engelin, are connected to the Nordic Resistance Movement — a pan-Nordic white nationalist organization founded in Sweden. Midgård first went live in 1994, and has been a reliable forum for paraphernalia related to European neo-Nazi and white power movements for almost 30 years.
“We want the register to be a resource for anyone who wants to investigate and attack the Nazi movement,” AFA Stockholm writes with the leak. “With this publication, we want to show that one can never be anonymous when choosing to support the Nazi movement. We will always find you! It's only a matter of time.”
We are continuing to investigate many of the names on the customer list. Here is what we have found so far.
Image of Paul Cunningham in a shirt with symbols related to white nationalism and neo-Nazism. Source: Facebook
Based in Bowmanville, ON, Paul Cunningham placed 37 separate orders, according to the Midgård data. Each order is for a Rock Against Communism (RAC) or white power band, including well-known neo-Nazi artists Landser and the less ambiguous People Haters.
RAC music, a response to the Rock Against Racism movement in the United Kingdom, typically has little to do with opposing communism and is a veiled cover for racist and antisemitic white power rock.
Cunningham’s social media does little to hide his ideological leanings. In several images he is seen wearing clothing featuring symbols from Nazi Germany, like the Totenkopf — often referred to as a “death head,” it was the official seal of the Waffen SS. Other symbols he posts are much more modern, including a pair of black boots with red laces, a traditional symbol from racist skinhead culture. Other pictures show off his extensive flag collection which includes the “SS” symbol of Nazi Germany’s Schutzstaffel and the National Socialist Movement, a long-standing US neo-Nazi group.
Cunningham did not respond to a request for comment.
A person named Kyle Tattersall placed a single order for two books from Midgård. The first – a copy of the epic poem Beowulf – is one of the most important pieces of literature to come from what is now the United Kingdom, and was written by an anonymous author as early as the seventh century. The second book, an English translation of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, was written by a failed art student responsible for one of the greatest atrocities in human history.
The books were ordered to an address on the Canadian Forces Base at Shilo, in southwest Manitoba. There is a K. Tattersall listed on regiment documents as receiving a coin given to all members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI).
“We confirm that the Canadian Army has a service record for a former member by the name of Kyle Tattersall,” an army spokesperson said in response to a request for comment. “Kyle Tattersall was a Corporal with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry in Shilo, MB.”
They added that his service ended on July 12, 2022. The details for the release are protected under the Privacy Act.
“The fact that these texts were purchased on the Midgård website is deeply concerning,” they said, and citing the Canadian Army Order on Hateful Conduct makes affiliations and membership with hate groups “unacceptable for an individual with military service.”
Kyle Tattersall did not respond to a request for comment sent through his email used to purchase the items.
Source: World Federation of Kickboxing
Wolfgang Brutter runs a kickboxing school in Guelph, ON where he coaches and trains adults and children. He is a member of the World Kickboxing Federation and has served as president of the Canadian branch of the organization since 2012, according to the WKF website.
His students regularly compete in national and international tournaments. Pictures of his classes over the years show that many of his students are not white, including members of his staff.
Midgård’s records show Brutter ordering a German-language edition of Mein Kampf as well as eight different albums by white power bands Übermensch, Stahlgewitter, and more. The email used to order the items matches one that Brutter previously used for his business and athletic pursuits.
Stahlgewitter’s music praises national socialism with lyrics like “Honor and glory for the Waffen SS.”
"I strongly stand against any form of hate, including anti-semitism and white supremacy," Brutter said in a response to a request for comment. "I’ve been a part of the community in Guelph for over a decade. I take pride in running an inclusive club, where people from all walks of life train together."
He adds that he has bought books and music "from a variety of sources, in an attempt to better understand those events, and combat disinformation" and the items purchased "do not reflect my personal views."
"Hate has no place in my gym or anywhere in this world."
Toronto resident Geoff Huntley ordered multiple packages to the address of a local parish. While he primarily used the name of an acquaintance, his contact information was consistent throughout the orders.
When reached for comment, Huntley admitted he had ordered albums from the site. He wrote in an email to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network that he had “changed my ways” and that he had “not dealt with that nonsense for over a year and chose to leave that in my past.”
During a phone call, he maintained that the person whose name he used had allowed him to ship and pick up many different packages at the parish address. Neither the individual nor the parish were ever aware of the contents, according to Huntley. When reached for comment the parish maintained that their staff member was unaware of the contents of the packages.
Besides the new names, several individuals included in the leak are previously known to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network or have been reported by activists and media in the past.
Source: Facebook
Pascal Giroux is a Quebec man, an associate of many individuals involved in organized white supremacy, as well as an ardent fan of neo-Nazi metal, according to Montreal Counter Info. Reportedly a regular feature in the city’s National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) scene, Giroux was identified standing with members of the Soldiers of Odin on May 12, 2018, after Montreal neo-Nazi Philippe Gendron was identified and his residence protested. Giroux wore an SOO hoodie during the event.
Separate reporting from Montreal Counter Info indicates Giroux may also have had a physical run-in with anti-fascists in 2019 outside of a black metal music festival La Messe des Morts in Montreal.
His order from Midgård included a baseball bat with the words “Hail Victory” inscribed on the side, a slogan commonly used by modern neo-Nazis.
Source: Facebook/ARC Collective
Andrew Benson is a man with a long, quixotic history of affiliations with racist skinhead crews in Alberta and Ontario. While reports say he originally began his tenure as a political dissident as a self-proclaimed Trotskyist, he spent the late 2010s in groups like Aryan Guard and White European Brotherhood.
Often appearing in photographs masked and unmasked, Benson lives in Newmarket, ON, according to the Midgard leak. He frequently attends protests in the area, most recently for groups like White Lives Matter and Canadian Nationalist Patriots. CNP is a protest group formed from the former Canadian Nationalist Party, Canada’s first federally registered neo-Nazi party since the Second World War, after it lost its official party status in 2022 for failing to file paperwork.
Source: Jane Q Citizen/Twitter
Albertan neo-Nazi Jason Harley has participated in the last two anti-Pride protests organized by the Muslim Conservatives of Canada. Harley is currently a member of multiple neo-Nazi groups, and was a member of the now-defunct Aryan Guard.
Based in Calgary, he has been recently identified as attending a series of anti-2SLGBTQ+ protests focused on family-friendly drag story readings — non-sexualized events that include reading to children by people dressed in drag that have become the site of protests. Harley has posted videos of himself online burning the transgender flag.
In response to a request for comment, Harley wrote, “Eat shit you commie f****t.”
Source: Instagram
Jesse Rankin is a member of the Hammerskin Nation’s (HSN) Canadian branch, the Vinland Hammerskins, living in either Grand Prairie, AB, or Vancouver Island, BC.
He has previously appeared in images with other Hammerskins, including members of the German branch of the Hammerskin Nation, promoting the clothing line Vinland Battlewear. His orders make up an impressive collection of racist power metal.
Source: Montreal Antifasciste
Ian Alarie was a member of the faux biker crew and anti-Islamic organization Soldiers of Odin, according to Montreal Antifasciste. A Montreal resident, Alarie was also reported to have participated in multiple rallies with the neo-Nazi gang Atalante.
He ordered several items from Midgård, including a T-shirt and an album from the UK band Skrewdriver. Screwdriver’s frontman, the late Ian Stewert Donaldson, also founded Blood and Honor, a racist and violent skinhead organization that still has chapters across the world. In 2019, Canada listed Blood and Honor as a terrorist entity.
Some of the objects and books sold on Midgård - and the site’s name itself - relate to types of paganism that are popular among, but not exclusive to, fascist movements. While several online web stores use the name Midgård, this particular site’s landing page is filled with neo-Nazi symbols.
AFA Stockholm also added an email address for those who feel they have been added to the website erroneously and want to appeal to have their information removed. At least one of the names listed appears to be an academic researcher.
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