Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Canadian police raid homes of suspected neo-Nazis

Canadian Public Safety Department put Atomwaffen Division on official list of terrorist groups in 2021

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Friday 17 June 2022 19:33 BST
Comments
Canadian police have carried out a string of raids at the rural homes o suspected members of the Atomwaffen Division neo-Nazi group
Canadian police have carried out a string of raids at the rural homes o suspected members of the Atomwaffen Division neo-Nazi group (Twitter/RCMP)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Canadian police have carried out a string of raids at the rural homes of suspected members of the Atomwaffen Division neo-Nazi group.

More than 60 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers conducted the raids southwest of Quebec City, officials say.

“It’s a far-right affiliated group, which could be described as having neo-Nazi allegiance,” RCMP Cpl Charles Poirier told CBC.

Two search warrants were executed in the towns of Saint-Ferdinand and Plessisville for what officials described as a “national security operation.”

“Searches underway in St-Ferdinand and Plessisville. Investigation targeting individuals with suspected ties to the Atomwaffen Division terrorist group. All measures are in place to ensure the safety of the public and our police officers,” tweeted the RCMP, along with pictures of heavily armed officers.

Atomwaffen Division is a neo-Nazi group founded in the United States in 2015, and described by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups in the US, as “a series of terror cells that work toward ushering in the collapse of civilization.”

The SPLC also describes the group as trending “younger and fetishises violence as the only vehicle for apocalyptic, racial cleansing.”

The group claims Charles Manson as a leading influence and bases its ideas on using violence to trigger “apocalyptic collapse so a white ethnostate or whites-only utopia can be constructed in its wake.”

The Canadian Public Safety Department put the Atomwaffen Division on its official list of terrorist groups in 2021.

In May, a 19-year-old man from Windsor, Ontario, was charged with terrorism over alleged links to the group.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in