NAZI RALLY FIZZLES IN CALGARY

We didn’t post the story yet, but last week the Aryan Guard’s (or Blood and Honour, depending on how much creedence you want to give THAT) Kyle McKee was sentenced to 60 days in jail for making racially motivated threats during a confrontation with the local antifa in Calgary, Alberta. We doubt that this is the reason why that crew had a rather diminished turnout for this year’s White Pride March. No, this group that used to be able to pull them out by the busloads must come up with another reason why they could get less than twenty to stand with them while antifa numbered in the hundreds. This is what happens when you pick a fight that you lost before you start it, and that’s what this crew of Nazis did. Not only did violent infighting made them a laughing stock and all but decimated their ranks, they were blindly attacking antifa in town and now they have mobilized! Whatever is left of this crew is a truly remarkable lot. We can’t wait to see what happens to them next, but maybe next year, they should just stay home.

Globe and Mail

Little more than a dozen white supremacists marched for their cause in downtown Calgary this weekend, in a show of force much smaller than some past demonstrations but large enough to raise questions about the public face of the neo-Nazi movement in this city.

A competing rally of about 200 anti-racism protestors also took place on Saturday. About 100 police officers were able to keep the two groups separate, avoiding a repeat of the violent clashes between the two sides that took place in 2009.

Calgary’s mayor, Naheed Nenshi, applauded police and defended his city. “Racism of any kind is unacceptable in Calgary and not tolerated by the vast majority of Calgarians,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there may be some people who wish to express their hatred. However, such people do not reflect the views of Calgarians as events clearly show.”

Two neo-Nazi supporters, who dressed primarily in black, many with faces hidden, were arrested – police said one was detained over an outstanding arrest warrant and that the other was arrested on a concealed weapon charge.

The largest factor in keeping the numbers down may not have been who was there, but who was wasn’t. Kyle McKee, who Calgary police call the “micro-fuhrer” and leads Blood and Honour here, is in jail, leaving white nationalists in Calgary without their chief organizer.

The reduced numbers shouldn’t be taken as a sign that such groups are waning, according Warren Kinsella, who wrote Web of Hate, a book about organized racism.

“They don’t need a whole bunch of people. They actually prefer to have smaller numbers because it makes detection and infiltration easier to avoid,” Mr. Kinsella said in an interview. “They operate on the basis that small numbers can do large harm.”

Calgary was alone among Canadian cities in hosting a neo-Nazi demonstration on Saturday. But Mr. Kinsella, a former Calgarian, argued this is no reason to believe white supremacists have abandoned those cities.

“There is a danger into being lulled into a false sense of security by minimal numbers,” he said.

While noting it is unfair to associate white supremacy with only Calgary, Mr. Kinsella slammed the way police have approached the matter. The Calgary police service employs a hate-crimes co-ordinator, rather than a dedicated unit.

Paul Stacey, a duty inspector with Calgary Police Service, said that the hate-crimes co-ordinator works with CPS’ diversity resources unit. “This is not something we’ve ignored,” he said, arguing that the city has a low rate of hate-crimes. The city’s hate-crimes co-ordinator was at the rallies Saturday, “taking names and… figuring out who’s who,” Mr. Stacey said.

White supremacy “is not a real strong movement,” in the city, he added.