MONTREAL (JTA)—Montreal is home to one of North America’s “most influential neo-Nazis,” who is trying to build a white supremacist network in his city, according to the Montreal Gazette.
But the man, who uses the pseudonym “Zeiger” and is identified in the article published on Thursday as 32-year-old IT consultant Gabriel Sohier Chaput, only has managed to recruit a core group of 10 to 15 “members” over an 18-month period, since August 2016.
Still, the story characterizes Sohier Chaput as “probably” the “second-most prolific writer” on the Daily Stormer – an extreme right-wing news website, after website founder Andrew Anglin. The site is described as getting 80,000 “unique visitors” a month.
The article says Sohier Chaput emerged “as a key figure in the [neo-Nazi] movement” four years ago, though he does not have public profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media.
Zeiger attended the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last summer with a small group of Quebecers, according to the article.
The Gazette reported that for Zeiger, the “path of questioning” began in his early teens. In a white supremacist podcast, he describes his process of radicalization, saying: “I think I was about 14 when I was reading about the Holocaust and realized that it was a hoax.”
Later, he was exposed to a blog post that described Jewish people as racist. “This resonated with me, because my sister she had dated a Jew for a while, but his family forbade him from marrying her,” he said in the podcast.
From there, Zeiger began binge-consuming hundreds of hours of white nationalist radio shows and YouTube videos.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
