Pro-Nazi social media posts lead to courtroom argument between Calgary teen, judge

A 19-year-old Calgary man who was once placed on a terrorism peace bond for social media posts promoting ISIS and the killing of gay men got into an argument with a judge Monday about his pro-Nazi beliefs.

The teen was caught posting more ISIS videos and pro-Nazi materials, in breach of court-ordered conditions that he stay off social media. He was also caught taking a selfie at a synagogue, also a breach of a court-ordered condition.

The young man, who can’t be named because of a publication ban under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was convicted of the breach by youth court Justice Todd LaRochelle on Monday.

“The behaviour is racist, the behaviour is homophobic, the behaviour is bigoted,” said Justice LaRochelle.

LaRochelle attempted to reason with the 19-year-old, who told the judge he uses the internet to educate himself about the Nazis who, he argued, were also the victims of “horrible acts” and “a lot of deaths.”

The judge told the teenager to stop arguing but acknowledged that, “I can’t order him to change his beliefs.”

The judge urged the young man to begin counselling and a program that addresses ideological extremism ahead of his sentencing decision set to take place in four months time.

“I want you to do the right thing,” LaRochelle said. “I want you to think hard about all the people who died over the last 100 years because of racist, homophobic and bigoted ideologies.”

The Nazi material “appears to be a new strain of interest for the young person,” said prosecutor Kent Brown. 

In 2023, a major RCMP national security investigation saw the then-17-year-old arrested alongside two other youths and a 20-year-old.

A report prepared ahead of the peace bond hearing found that the boy had "a pathological fixation with Islamic extremist ideology, violence and weapons.”

At the time, Justice John Shaw found the boy was a "moderate" risk to the community and was considered a high risk of joining an extremist group. 

Justice Shaw urged the teen’s lawyer to make him aware of the consequences of failing to comply with the conditions, which "could very well result in him actually seeing the inside of a jail cell."

On Monday, Brown and defence lawyer Curtis Mennie asked LaRochelle to impose an 18-month probationary period with conditions including a ban on viewing, accessing, producing or distributing media or social media that promotes hatred or depicts terrorism.