Pamphlets distributed on windshields claiming immigration is ‘white genocide’

By City Desk on July 18, 2018.

Medicine Hat News

Days after posters that stated “immigration = white genocide” appeared on a church in Medicine Hat, pamphlets proclaiming much the same were tucked under windshield wipers in another community on Tuesday morning.

The paper slips are titled “Stop Immigation (sic)… Stop White Genocide” and include phrases “White self-hate” and “Jewish supremacy,” directing the reader to a website of an Ontario-based anti-immigration group headed by a well-known “Neo Nazi.”

Medicine Hat police were investigating both matters on Tuesday, and officials believe the two episodes are likely connected.

“We’d like to know who’s doing it,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Christman, saying the material could be construed as hate literature. “This goes beyond free speech. Somebody is treading in territory that could get themselves into serious trouble.”

Police are asking that people come forward with complaints or tips about who might be responsible, and to report when they see materials being distributed.

A national director of B’Nai B’rith called the material “extremely concerning and disgusting, in fact” after viewing it on Tuesday.

“The point is trying to convince people that Jews in general are intending to carry out genocide,” said Aidan Fishman, with the Toronto-based League for Human Rights for B’Nai B’rith Canada.

“I haven’t seen this exact flyer before, but unfortunately it’s a fairly common conspiracy theory among Neo-Nazis and those on the far right that there’s some sort of Jewish directed plot to get rid of European people. It’s obviously ridiculous, but unfortunately there are people out there who think that.

“We’ve see similar acts of vandalism or graffiti trying to spread that message.”

“White genocide” is a popular theory among hate groups that posits that the ulterior motive of immigration is to overwhelm mostly Caucasian populations in European and North American countries.

The flyers found Tuesday in Medicine Hat direct the reader to a website run by Paul Fromm, an Ontario man identified by the U.S.-based anti-hate group Southern Poverty Law Centre as a leader in white supremacist activities.

It documents several high-profile appearances at rallies, his support for Ernst Zundel and his attendance in an Aryan Guard march in Calgary in 2009.

In 2011, Fromm ran against then immigration minister Jason Kenney in the Federal election on the issue of instituting a complete immigration freeze. In 2017, he was denied membership in the federal Conservative party prior to its leadership vote due to his extreme views.

It’s not clear whether Fromm or his group is behind the local incidents, or whether a reader of the website, which rails against the immigration system in Canada, took it upon themselves.

A different website that is equally critical of immigration appeared on posters found at Westminster United Church on Sunday. A pastor there complained that posters targeting homosexuals and visible minorities were offensive.

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