We should all be against pedophilia, that’s fine, right? Yes, and also not like this,’ says McMaster prof. White supremacist groups are using issues of wider interest — like pedophilia — and disinformation to recruit new members and build support, according to experts in Canada and the U.S. A McMaster University professor in Hamilton says, in the wake of another demonstration by Hamilton-based group Nationalist-13, that should be worrying. Understanding how these groups are recruiting should also inform how elected officials, police and others combat hate, Ameil Joseph, a McMaster University social work associate professor, said in an interview this week. On Sunday, neo-Nazi group Nationalist-13 gathered in front of city hall dressed all in black, wearing masks and performing a Nazi salute, according to pictures viewed by CBC Hamilton. Members of the group were also seen in pictures holding a banner that said “no mercy for pedo scum.” (,..) Joseph said these hate demonstrations can’t be looked at as one-offs, but rather as a growing, organized movement that institutions need to be worried about. Nationalist-13, also known as NS13, is a group known as a fight club, also called an active club within white nationalist circles. As reported by CBC, active clubs are part of a white supremacist and neo-Nazi network that has grown globally in recent years, increasingly moving from online forums to real-world training groups and anti-immigration protests. Active clubs were also found to be training in Hamilton parks. These training sessions are also part of the groups’ recruitment and propaganda. Joseph said extremist hate groups also make antisemitic claims related to pedophilia conspiracy theories. He pointed to research from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a legal advocacy group dedicated to fighting extremism in the U.S., that looks at that link. In the research, the SPLC says neo-Nazi groups claim Jewish people manipulate society to erode “traditional” family and social norms. The research also points to these groups’ anti-2SLGBTQ+ views.
via cbc: White supremacist groups using pedophilia conspiracies to grow support, warns Hamilton researcher