An Ottawa man has become the first individual charged in Canada with both terrorism and hate propaganda for allegedly advocating a violent, far-right ideology, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
RCMP announced Wednesday that they have arrested Patrick Gordon Macdonald, 26, of Ottawa. He is charged with participating in an activity of a terrorist group, facilitating a terrorist activity and an offense for the benefit of a terrorist group — that is, of willfully promoting hatred.
According to the RCMP, Macdonald contributed to the production of propaganda material for the benefit of the terrorist entity “Atomwaffen Division”.
This group, also known as “AWD”, is a US-based neo-Nazi organization that was listed by Canada in February 2021 as a “terrorist entity”.
A second person has been arrested in connection with this investigation by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, but no charges have yet been laid in this case.
Public Safety Canada says the Atomwaffen Division “calls for violence against racial, ethnic and religious groups, as well as informants, police and bureaucrats, in order to bring about the collapse of society”.
“The Atomwaffen Division has previously held training camps, also known as ‘hate camps’, where members are trained in weapons handling and hand-to-hand combat,” Ottawa says on the listed terrorist entities. Members of the Atomwaffen Division also carried out violent acts at public gatherings, including the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.”
The Department of Public Safety adds that the co-leader of the group, an American, was inadmissible to Canada by the Immigration and Refugee Board in July 2019, “because he was determined to be a member of an organization that engages or will engage in terrorist activities”.
RCMP say Macdonald is scheduled to appear in Ottawa later Wednesday.