Anti-racism groups want Hamilton venues to shut their doors to 'violent extremism' group Diagolon

Community groups in Hamilton are asking venues in the city to shut their doors to Diagolon, a far-right group named in a 2022 House of Commons report as an example of "ideologically motivated violent extremism." 

The group purportedly plans to stop in the city as part of a Canadian tour this summer. 

"It's important to have voices and coalitions of folks to shut them down," Caitlin Craven, who directs the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), told CBC Hamilton. 

On Wednesday, HCCI, Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre and Disability Justice Network of Ontario called on the city to act, after the group's founder advertised a list of cities Diagolon was planning to visit over the next few weeks, including Hamilton.

Community members, groups, elected officials and institutions should "take action by publicly denouncing and opposing Diagolon and their tour of hate," their post on social media said.

It also included a list of "tangible actions" to take, such as venues denying bookings to Diagolon, politicians denouncing the group, and community members attending or supporting counter-events. 

Diagolon was founded by podcaster Jeremy MacKenzie.

Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, calls it an "accelerationist" and "white supremacist" group. 

According to Perry, "they wish to accelerate what they see as a civil war" that will restore a white, Christian ethno-state.

She said the group became widely known during the 2022 Freedom Convoy — a big tent protest movement against the federal government and pandemic public health measures. 

MacKenzie and his followers have denied this characterization, saying onlookers are misunderstanding what they call jokes. They appear to play into the image of themselves as villains, using a demonic goat as a mascot and calling their upcoming travels the Road Rage Terror Tour. 

"They're gonna say it was all tongue in cheek," Perry said, noting other far-right groups, such as the Proud Boys, followed the path of couching their message in irony before becoming more hard line. 

"Their perspective is one of violence, and one that is extremely violent, racist, homophobic and transphobic," Craven said. "The way that people are impacted by racism tells us that this isn't a joke."

CBC Hamilton requested comment from MacKenzie but did not hear back before publication.