Thread by @ARCCollective

1. Nazi Flag and Claims of "False Flags": Brendan Miler's Accusations Amplified By Extremists and Conspiracy Promoters

tinyurl.com/57fk58ch

2. On November 21, the big news emerging from the inquiry was that CSIS had advised that the Prime Minister invoke the Emergency Act in response to the occupation in Ottawa and the border blockades in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.

globalnews.ca/news/9294108/e…

3. However soon a lawyer representing the "Freedom Convoy" made a bombshell claim in which he implicated an executive with Enterprise Canada in an incident that occurred in the early days of the occupation.

4. Brendan Miller suggested this executive, who he accused of carrying a Nazi flag, was a "Liberal plant" who was sent by the government in an effort to discredit the soon-to-be occupiers of the city of Ottawa.

https://twitter.com/TonyYvce/status/1595025895814991878

5. Miller's demand to order the executive as well as two others was ultimately dismissed as a fishing expedition, but the one witness that Miller wanted whom he claimed to have identified the executive in Ottawa is of some interest.

https://twitter.com/atRachelGilmore/status/1595427778169638915

6. Shawn Folkes was one of the attendees of the "Freedom Convoy" occupation on Ottawa and early on claimed to have spoken to the person carrying the flag.

7. It would appear that Brendan Miller put in all his eggs into the basket that is Shawn Folkes, a person who posted things like this during the occupation.

https://twitter.com/JoeAmite/status/1489331460586844162

8. But is worse than even just that as @atRachelGilmore notes.

https://twitter.com/atRachelGilmore/status/1595430167400284161

9. This appears to be the all evidence that Brendan Miller went with to help prove the Liberal government the "Freedom Convoy." It was enough to convince the many right-wing extremists however.

10. But it wasn't just these folks who ran with Miller's claim as gospel truth. We have frequently heard people who supported the occupation in Ottawa that had the Prime Minister simply talked to the occupiers that all could have been averted.

11. Among those "reasonable, moderate" voices put forth was Tony Marazzo of Veterans for Freedom (V4F) who, while not initiating the convoy to Ottawa, became a prominent leadership voice during the occupation.

orilliamatters.com/local-news/fir…

12. "Reasonable" and "moderate" Tony Marazzo also retweeted and commented from his personal Twitter account.

13. Tom Quiggin, V4F's intel chief who has his own rather sordid past concerning spreading conspiracies about Muslim-Canadian was all in on the Miller accusations too.

14. Leigh Stewart, a self-styled journalist who has hitched her wagon to a number of right-wing extremist movements (she is currently Diagolon aligned) also contributed to the narrative.

15. It is perhaps rather telling that many of those commenting on her Telegram posts are dubious about Miller's accusation and are more concerned that National Socialism and the Nazi flag are being described in negative terms.

16. And since I've already mentioned Diagolon, their propagandist/meme factory Jeremy Vriend also got in on the action in disseminating the Miller accusation.

17. And the comments?

Yeah, you know the drill.

18. Vriend was active in Ottawa during the occupation in February. A Holocaust denier, he has also been written about by CAHN.

antihate.ca/holocaust_deni…

19. Despite no evidence other than it seems, "trust me bro", those that believe the claim without question are falling for the argumentum ab auctoritate fallacy in part because the claim confirms a pre-existing bias.

20. Since they already accepted that the Nazi symbols were a "false flag" even prior to the accusations made by Miller, a lawyer they must assume "has the receipts" otherwise he would not make the accusation.

21. We also see this exhibited in the comments on the right wing "Western Standard" who ran with the story.

22. However we soon learned that much of what Brendan Miller had claimed simply was not true at all despite the confidence in which he made those claims.

23. Far from being a Liberal shill, the man Miller accused of carrying the Nazi flag in Ottawa is a card carrying member of the Conservative Party and a supporter of Pierre Poilievre and his successful leadership campaign.

https://twitter.com/PnPCBC/status/1595190436162727936

24. And I will remind readers that Pierre Poilievre was supportive of the events in Ottawa in February 2022:

25. Furthermore, the man Miller accused has claimed he has not been in Ottawa for years and suggests he has definitive proof that he was in Toronto on the day the Nazi flag was seen in Ottawa.

https://twitter.com/atRachelGilmore/status/1595180620887597058

26. By November 24, Brendan Miller seemed to have understood that MAYBE he MIGHT have made a boo boo.

https://twitter.com/cattunneycbc/status/1595941227702386688

27. Miller's apparent reasoning for what he seems to now be acknowledging as an error in identifying the executive as the person carrying the Nazi flag?

28. (a) A lot of white, middle-aged men with greying beards look alike and (b) don't blame me because that guy over there is who told me who it was.

29. And despite potentially damaging an innocent person's reputation and perhaps endangering their life, the best we get from Miller is an "aw, shucks!" and an oopsie doodle!"

30. Regardless of the truth, the horses have been let out of the barn.

When @atRachelGilmore noted that the man Miller had accused of carrying the flag was receiving death threats...

https://twitter.com/atRachelGilmore/status/1595163315936034816

31. ...these were among the comments that were left.

32.

33. It doesn't matter that the person accused is almost certainly innocent. He confirms a bias and fits the narrative.

34. They believe without question the government was trying to discredit the good, peaceful, people who came to Ottawa to voice their concerns. They are the victims of a government smear. A false flag. And the man Miller accused will be the fall guy.

35. As an addendum, even after coming to the conclusion that he may have gotten it wrong regarding who he accused, he simply couldn't let go of the narrative.

https://twitter.com/ThunderBayEd/status/1595837544050073600

36. For more detail and links providing further context, I would invite you to look at the article published in conjunction with this thread.

tinyurl.com/57fk58ch

37. #FreedomConvoy #FreeDumbConvoy #freedumb #OttawaOccupation #onpoli #EmergenciesAct #EmergenciesActInquiry #POEC #ottcity #ottawa #cdnpoli #convoy #ConvoyInquiry

38. I made an error in one of the names. Instead of Tom Marazzo I erroneously have referred to him as "Tony Marazzo". I can fix it in the article but the error remains in the thread.

Hey, I guess everyone IS Tony after all? ;)

39. Ugh!

Also, it is "Alex" Vriend, not "Jeremy" Vriend!

I am very much out of practice!

I will get better though. :)

40. Holy. Hell.

THIS was the star witness for Miller?

This guy?

THIS GUY!?!?!

https://twitter.com/Penny_024/status/1595940619880665089?s=20&t=6VPOf-bxARajO9Thh_EwAw