Thread by @CarymaRules

🧵

You’ve probably seen photos of the Prime Minister yelling back at a protester during a 🇺🇦 war vigil in Toronto.

I spent many weekends documenting Derick at rallies.

Listen to this speech in full.

📸 Dec 10, 2022

#cdnpoli #Peterborough

Derick has posed with Pierre Poilievre, Maxime Bernier, and Christine Andersen.

He recently promoted a rally with Chris Sky, only to be shoved off “stage” by King Nico before getting to intro the “keynote.”

He seeks clout in a social media-driven world, but he is not a Nazi.

https://twitter.com/carymarules/status/1627794687837741057

I have said throughout that many people who joined the protest circuit are misfits seeking community.

Derick’s song choice says it all:

I wanna be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I wanna be the minority

🎶

I wrote graduate-level papers using a feminist constructivist paradigm about how patterns of violence in real life can be directly related to constructions of identity.

I spent two years boots on the ground observing the mutation of “fringe” politics.

I am an expert.

Having heard dozens of Derick’s speeches and spoken to him on & off camera, my opinion is well-informed:

He is not a Nazi.

Some will call me “NAZI SYMPATHIZER” in response to this thread. They are not only wrong, but also engaging in Holocaust distortion.

This is similar to Holocaust distortion by the “freedom” movement in liberally comparing the federal government to Nazis.

Words have meaning.

Smear-by-association based on selfies with politicians is not strong evidence of Nazism.

Speculation about secret employment or psyops based on such photos is conspiracy thinking.

Everyone, take a deep breath.

I understand the urge to apply labels, but mental shortcuts are not good enough when throwing around loaded words like “Nazi.”

I say this from personal experience, having been subjected to the term both online and in real life.

Words matter.

Personally, I would not yell at a vigil.

Nor would I block a hospital.

Nor would I throw eggs.

Nor would I go to a politician’s home.

But it doesn’t matter what I would do or not do as protest. These are all controversial yet defensible forms of political expression.

I am nothing if not honest in sharing my observations and analysis.

There are short-term benefits for extreme positions & snap judgments, but less integrity.

We must accept that not everyone with whom we disagree is a Nazi.

Engage with facts.

Avoid hyperbole.

Elevate the discourse.

My $0.02.