far-right extremists have war plans, windsor terrorism trial hears
a terrorism trial in windsor to determine whether a loc...
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the ontario superior court of justice building in downtown windsor is shown on nov. 18, 2024.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
a terrorism trial in windsor to determine whether a local man sought to join and support a banned neo-nazi group is shining a disturbing spotlight on far-right extremism in canada. seth bertrand is on trial before superior court justice maria carroccia for “participation in the activity of a terrorist group.” arrested in may 2022 following an rcmp-led undercover operation, bertrand, now 21, is accused of seeking to join the atomwaffen division, listed in canada and other countries as a “terror group” that has called for acts of violence.
the “goal and ambition” of such fascist-leaning groups, an expert witness testified at the trial this week, is to use violence, including murder, to trigger “a war that will ultimately be won by whites.”
what motivates these “virulent far-right extremist groups” is their belief that “the white west is under attack and needs to defend itself,” said garth davies, an expert on ideologically motivated violent extremism.
adherents believe “what’s needed is a race war to re-establish whites as the rightfully dominant group in society,” said davies, an associate professor who teaches at simon fraser university’s school of criminology in b.c.
the trial has heard that, in his application to join atomwaffen division (awd) — also known as national socialist order — bertrand is alleged to have stated he wanted to be part of a group “actually doing things to help save/protect the white race.” the crown alleges bertrand also described hate-motived acts of vandalism he’d already committed in windsor, for which he was later convicted, and expressed interest in getting military training and a firearms certificate.
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the crown is not alleging bertrand engaged in any actual terrorist activity.
davies, brought in by the prosecution to also help interpret symbology and terms used by such extremist groups, said much of their communication is hidden in private chat groups and using encrypted technology. but a treasure trove of information on awd and other far-right extremist groups was revealed after the hacking of iron march, a now-defunct web forum with a russia connection that acted as a hub for neo-nazi and white supremacist groups around the world.
awd is described as being among the most radicalized groups within that movement, those which believe political or other lesser “piecemeal” efforts are insufficient towards creating a “white ethnostate.”
to get there, “what is needed is to force a race war,” said davies, by way of “direct confrontation” with what they view as “outgroups” — including muslims, jews, blacks and gay people — as well as governments that don’t agree. once that war is underway, davies told the court, the extremists believe enough whites will join the fight to “ultimately win.”
on trial for terrorism-related criminal offences, seth bertrand is shown arriving at the ontario superior court of justice building in windsor on monday, nov. 18, 2024.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
the bulk of davies’s two days of testifying was spent under cross-examination by defence lawyer bobby russon, who sought to discredit information in the expert’s 40-page report compiled earlier this year for the prosecution.
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davies agreed that much of that information was sourced from newspaper and other media reporting. russon also questioned how much of it related specifically to atomwaffen division.
davies conceded more than once to having “overstated” his conclusions directly linking atomwaffen division to reported murders connected to the aims of far-right extremists.
“you can’t say awd was responsible for many of the violent incidents (cited in the report)?” russon asked. “agreed,” davies replied.
the defence also questioned the timing of the charge laid against bertrand, with the young man’s alleged criminal activity only being around the same time as awd was added to canada’s list of banned entities.
much of the trial that began earlier this fall has been consumed by voir dire deliberations — trials within a trial to determine the admissibility of prosecution evidence.
after davies’s two days of testimony concluded on thursday, the next step is justice carroccia’s rulings expected on dec. 20 on the admissibility of key crown evidence, including whether the accused was properly instructed of his charter rights during police interrogation, as well as on secretly recorded statements bertrand gave two undercover rcmp officers during the preceding three-month project sueno.
