White supremacist group's gathering in downtown Hamilton condemned as 'deeply offensive'
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing content.
Hamilton's mayor and anti-racism advocates are among those condemning a white supremacist group's demonstration on the weekend outside city hall.
In Nationalist-13's latest demonstration in the city, men dressed in black and wearing masks held a banner bearing the group's name and performed a Nazi salute, according to pictures viewed by CBC Hamilton.
Hamilton-based Nationalist-13, also known as NS13, is a group known as a fight club, also called an active club within white nationalist circles.
According to a months-long CBC visual investigation in collaboration with The Fifth Estate, active clubs are part of a decentralized white supremacist and neo-Nazi network that has grown globally in recent years, increasingly moving from online forums to real-world training groups and anti-immigration protests.
The CBC investigation found these groups are getting together to train in local spaces such as gyms and parks in Hamilton and Niagara.
Hamilton police said they were made aware of NS13's gathering on Sunday afternoon, but the group members had already dispersed by the time officers got to city hall.
“There were no reports of criminal activity related to this incident,” said a police news release.
In a statement, however, Mayor Andrea Horwath called the gathering a “blatant act of hate,” “deeply offensive” and “unacceptable.”
“I am deeply disturbed to learn that a white supremacist organization descended upon Hamilton city hall for a gathering glorifying hate," she said.
Horwath declined CBC’s request for an interview.
Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, said in a statement that elected leaders need to “pay close attention” to public and organized gatherings like the one held on Sunday, as well as the messaging these groups are trying to portray.
In late November, members of the same group gathered on Main Street East and John Street South on a Saturday, holding a banner with their logo and another with a hateful message.
At the time, Insp. Carolyne Rashford said Hamilton police were notified about a group of about 10 to 15 “masked individuals,” but by the time officers arrived, the group members had left the area.
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