1. So Tyson Billings, known to the convoy crowd as "Freedom George" or to my readers as the discount QAnon shaman, was released today after pleading guilty to counselling mischief.
2. Because this was expected, all of his fans showed up to greet him.
Those numbers were not especially impressive.
3. But what they lacked in numbers, they made up for in... I don't know... the ability to bellow "freedom" and "let's go" over and over again which after a while sounded like the bleating of sheep.
That's something I guess?
4. But they did wait with breathless anticipation as the "freedom" crowd awaited the release of Billings. In this clip the camera person notes an #OttawaOccupier who never left the city and comment on a car driven by a Saskatchewan supporter.
5. And let's talk about that car.
There is a lot to unpack here.
6. I'm not even sure where to start so I'll simply point out that for some reason the word "goyem" (which I can only assume is a misspelling of "goyim") appears scrawled on the back which is sort of a red flag among many other red flags on the car... literally and figuratively.
7. At a certain point, doesn't this just become a hazard?
8. But back to the video, the crowd continued to await the release of Billings, noting at the end his sentence resulting from his guilty plea.
9. Finally the big moment occurs and Billings is greeted like a conquering hero.
10. Certainly that was the reaction of those who posted about it online.
11. An individual in the crowd suggests that 1000s would have shown up had they been able to. A woman shouts that it wouldn't be 1000s, but millions who would have greeted Billings as he was released.
12. Right.
Again, these are the numbers who DID show up.
13. More inane chanting. More autographs signed.
14. But they do add a third chant to their rather limited repertoire.
"Fake news."
Because really, these folks are as predicable as a metronome.
15. More pictures, some with children (whose identities I try to conceal) who don't have a hot clue what is going on, Billings does one final interview before ambling off to find his truck to drive back to Alberta in order to "heal."
16. Now when I tried to post this thread last night I noted that Pat King was scheduled to be in court on Thursday which is now today.
Should be interesting.
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1. I haven't written a lot about the Soldiers of Odin for some time, mainly because it sort of fell apart and most members moved on to other groups or drifted away entirely.
However the SoO out of Red Deer is still active and, as seen here, are still jackasses.
2. One of the "men" bravely giving a sign the finger before scampering away is a new recruit but someone who isn't new to readers.
For those not familiar, meet Ricky Rush/Miller/Vincent/Tollekko/etc
See Rick has many FB profiles but there is always a lot to unpack.
3. If you know Rick it is likely as a result of his jumping from leather vest hate group to leather vest hate group.
He has been (in no particular order) a, Canadian Crusader, Urban Infidel, Norther Guard (briefly), and the group he created, the Woke Onez Rebellion.
1. So this is going to be a stream of consciousness that may or may not make sense but what the hell?
I'm sorry to say when I heard of another mass shooting in the United States resulting in more dead children, my initial reaction was:
"Yeah. And? It is a Tuesday in the US."
2. It isn't that I'm not horrified, disgusted and furious, but in the end, that isn't going to change anything.
I know millions of Americans feel the same way but that isn't going to change anything either.
This is American life. It just is what it is.
I'm just numb to it all.
3. The US is a country whose "pro-life" politicians are also pro-death penalty and anti-anything that would actually improve the lives of their citizens in any appreciable way because, you know, socialism.
1. When looking at the tragedy in Buffalo, NY where a murderer (inspired by another murderer in Christchurch, NZ) took the lives of 10 human beings, I've seen a lot of Canadians being smug and saying, "at least that can't happen here."
2. In fact Canadian right-wing extremists have punched above their weight when spreading the "Great Replacement" conspiracy which motivated both the Buffalo and, earlier, Christchurch murderers who rationalized their murders in racist screeds (I won't call them "manifestos").
3. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
When the murders took place I checked to see what the reaction of right-wing extremists was.
1. I'm sure that most people have seen the video of Jagmeet Singh being accosted and threatened outside an NDP campaign office in Peterborough. If not I'll include the video but be warned that it is awful.
However I want to look at what happened in a broader context.
2. In September 2017 during the NDP leadership campaign I was among the first to publish a story about Singh being accosted by a woman linked to an anti-Muslim hate group.
"Woman Who Verbally Attacked Jagmeet Singh Tied to Rise Canada"
3. Of course this wasn't the last time Singh would be targeted. In October 2020, Brian Kidder also accosted and threatened to "arrest" Singh for... reasons?
1. So, y'all interested in a bit of deep dive into Marcus Ray (aka Mark Chilcott) who claims to be the spokesperson for a movement of millions of former cops and veterans aiming at "taking back" Canada?
Well as it turns out, it will be rather shallow.
2. Originally, Marcus Ray came onto my radar due to this speech where he implied some sort of armed insurrections by ex police officers and CAF veterans.