FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 4, 2018
New anti-hate organization calls on Canadian law enforcement to investigate and prosecute alleged neo-Nazi recruiter operating in Montreal
Toronto – A new anti-hate organization is calling on Canadian law enforcement agencies to fully investigate a neo-Nazi who is reportedly recruiting from his home in Montreal.
According to an investigation by the Montreal Gazette and anti-fascist activists, a prominent neo-Nazi figure and propagandist named ‘Zeiger’ has been exposed as Canadian Gabriel Sohier Chaput living in Montreal, Quebec.
“We cannot overstate how important it is to stand up to neo-Nazis like Zeiger, who are producing radicalization materials aimed at teenagers and defend the use of violence,” said Evan Balgord, Executive Director at the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAN).
CAN has been conducting its own months-long parallel but separate investigation into Zeiger. “We are confident that there is a basis for criminal charges to be laid against Chaput,” said Balgord. “We look forward to assisting the ongoing investigations into Zeiger’s activities and the alt-right movement in Canada.”
CAN is a non-partisan, non-profit which brings together Canada’s foremost researchers on hate groups and hate crimes, legal experts, and leaders in communities targeted by hate groups.
“Domestic hate groups are a growing threat in Canada, and civil society needs to further step up to counter groups like the alt-right neo-Nazis, Soldiers of Odin, Northern Guard, Blood and Honour, and the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam,” said Bernie Farber, founding board member and chair of the new organization. Farber is the former head of the Canadian Jewish Congress and of the Mosaic Institute.
“The mass killings carried out by Alexandre Bissonnette and Alek Minassian demonstrate how dangerous these hateful ideologies are to all Canadians,” added Farber.
CAN’s mandate is to research, monitor, expose and counter hate groups in Canada, to provide information to journalists, law enforcement, policy makers, and community organizations, and to provide education and raise awareness of hate groups in Canada.
CAN has been endorsed by the renowned U.S.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, and will operate as a similar, but independent Canadian organization.
The organization will be formally launched through antihate.ca in the coming weeks as a resource on hate groups in Canada.
For more information, please email info@antihate.ca