Ontario man pleads guilty in Toronto to 3 terrorism charges
Matthew Althorpe, 29, admitted involvement in international neo-Nazi terror group
An Ontario man pleaded guilty in Toronto on Thursday to three terrorism charges for his participation in an international neo-Nazi terrorist group.
Matthew Althorpe, 29, of Niagara Region, pleaded guilty to facilitating terrorist activity, instructing others to carry out terrorist activity and committing an offence for a terrorist group.
Althorpe admitted he created recruitment material for Atomwaffen Division (AWD), an international neo-Nazi group that was declared by the Canadian government in 2021 to be a terrorist entity. He also admitted he facilitated terrorist activities in Canada.
The alleged incidents occurred in Ontario and Quebec between 2018 and 2022. His trial was scheduled to begin in January.
On its website, the federal government says the Atomwaffen Division was founded in the United States in 2013 and it expanded its operations to a number of countries, including United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.
The listing doesn't say if the group is still active.
"The group calls for acts of violence against racial, religious, and ethnic groups, and informants, police, and bureaucrats, to prompt the collapse of society," the website says.
"AWD has previously held training camps, also known as hate camps, where its members receive weapons and hand-to-hand combat training."
After the group was listed as a terrorist entity, many former members joined "Active Club Canada," according to the RCMP, which announced the charges against Althorpe in December 2023.
At that time, the RCMP said the Active Club network was made up of decentralized cells of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, which operated in many U.S. states and in other nations, including Canada.
"The network was created in January 2021 and it promotes mixed martial arts to fight against what it asserts is a system that is targeting the white race, as well as a 'warrior spirit' to prepare for a forthcoming race war," the RCMP said in a news release on Dec. 8, 2023.
Man being detained in provincial jail in Toronto
Initially, Althorpe was charged with eight offences, but the Crown negotiated a plea with the defence on three of them. He was denied bail after his arrest and is being held in custody at the Toronto South Detention Centre.
Althorpe and his co-accused, Kristoffer Nippak, were arrested in December 2023 after an 18-month investigation by the RCMP in central Quebec, eastern and northern Ontario and the Niagara region. Nippak was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
Nippak, who was granted bail, will face a judge-alone trial in January.
Prosecutor Amber Pashuk presented the court with manifestos, videos, thumbnails, photos and documents contained on two hard drives seized from Althorpe's computer at his home in Fort Erie.
Althorpe wrote, reproduced, published, filmed, edited and distributed propaganda material for recruitment purposes, according to Pashuk.
The prosecutor said the Atomwaffen Division promoted racist and violent ideas against Jews, Muslims, Indians and Black people and LGBTQ2+ communities.
According to Pashuk, Althorpe encouraged hate against minorities by producing posts on a messaging website called Terrorgram and an affiliated sites called Terrorgram Collective.
The Terrorgram Collective, according to the RCMP, is a group of channels on the messaging app Telegram that police have said share "neo-fascist ideology and that produce and share manuals on how to carry out racially-motivated violence."
The prosecutor also showed several videos in court that depict members of the Atomwaffen Division dressed in black, their heads covered with hoods and their faces masked and covered a skeletal image.
In the videos, members of the group set fire to flags of the U.S., Israel, the European Union and the former Soviet Union, while other members practice with rifles in a wooded area or on an outdoor shooting range.
In one video, a voiceover says the group must secure the white race for the future of their children.
Pashuk also showed photos of the Active Club Canada group, which organizes combat training sessions in community parks.
Before court adjourned, Althorpe's lawyer, Robb MacDonald, told the court that his client has distanced himself from his past behaviour.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly has ordered a psychiatric report. The next court date is set for Nov. 5, where a date for sentencing hearing is expected be set.
The Crown has already indicated that it will seek 20 years in prison, while the defence has called for no more than 14 years.
The judge has said she will give credit for the time spent in pre-trial detention since his arrest.
