1. When the convoy organizers were arrested, the participants went home, and the #OttawaOccupation ended, a lot of people decided that the crisis was over and they moved on to other concerns.
In fact the people who were radicalized and motivated by the convoy are still active.
2. In communities across the country and despite mandates ending (we can argue about whether this is justified), the same rage based in large part on misinformation continues to fuel slow rolls, protests, and harassment campaigns.
3. Among the people still agitating are people like Chris Saccoccia (aka Chris Sky) who, having found a credulous audience who doesn't mind his frequent verbal abuse directed at them, continues to gin up fear and anger for his own aggrandizement as well as for fun and profit.
4. Yesterday Saccoccia was at another event that included a speaker named Marcus Ray.
His rhetoric is very concerning as he claims (and I do take it with a grain of salt) that 1000s of former soldiers and RCMP have been in training to take direct action against the government.
5. Having claimed that he is willing to die and that the alphas are taking over, he goes on to suggest that health professionals will be put on trial for "crimes against humanity" for providing vaccines he claims are poison.
6. So who is Marcus Ray?
A Tik Tok influencer with 90,000+ followers, ray has an... uhm... interesting CV.
7.
8.
9. And at the start of the pandemic he appears to have had a very different attitude towards Covid-19 than he does now.
10. But he does have a different attitude and was in Ottawa participating in the occupation.
11. Though he doesn't have many followers, his rhetoric on Twitter is no less concerning.
12. This tweet offers a clear view of an individual who has gone deeply down into the rabbit hole.
13. So should we take Marcus Ray's claims seriously?
I'm of two minds.
On the one hand, he seems like someone who engages in significant hyperbole and self-promotion.
On the other hand, who thought Ottawa would be what it was? Or the border blockades.
14. All things being equal I think it is important to take this seriously rather than not because as we all know it doesn't matter if his claim that there are 1000s ready to overthrow the government isn't true.
It only really takes one with a gun to cause a tragedy.
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1. Today @antihateca published this story by @misterEpete which is probably one of the best investigative and undercover journalistic efforts I have ever had the fortune to witness.
3. The story in many ways has its origins during the summer of 2019 when Pegida held another of their hate rallies which resulted in a major incident at the Eaton's Centre.
1. Hey folks. I've been focused on my classes the last few weeks but thought I would post a thread.
Almost two months ago, Pat King posted a video that included this clip suggesting that he had a "get out of jail free" card by just saying the right magic words.
2. Those who have been following this particular saga know how that all went as Pat King remains, along with his side kick Tyson Billings, the only #OttawaOccupation leading figure still in jail almost 2 full months after his arrest.
3. If one were to believe King however, the reason why he is still in jail is because he is looking (or "shopping") around for the absolutely best team of lawyers he can find.
1. Yesterday Randy Hillier turned himself in to the OPS.
2. Suffice it to say his supporters are not handling it well, many of who are outraged that their favourite politician is facing charges they believe politically motivated and are instead demanding politically motivated charges against politicians they don't like so... okay?
3. This very short comment, at least for me, really encapsulates who these people truly are however and is the most telling.
2. So how are Mr. Randy Hillier's supporters dealing with this news?
Uhm, with quiet dignity?
Yeah, not so much.
Ezra Levant engages in the usual hyperbole.
3. And Diagolon de facto leader Jeremy MacKenzie (and far-right pseudo-journalist Leigh Stewart), who routinely call for the arrest of politicians they want charged for enforcing legal mandates, are outraged that politicians they like might be held to account.
1. Learning the Cyrillic alphabet wasn't on my Saturday morning bingo card when I woke up today.
Canada's QAnon self-proclaimed queen Romana Didulo is still touring the country.
Today she claimed to have received a personal gift from Vladimir Putin.
What a time to be alive.
2. What a time to be alive.
3. Now I automatically jumped to the "'Thing That Never Happened' for $2000 Alex" conclusion however her spectacularly credulous followers were credulous as always.