The Plaid Army is a group of Canadian internet
live streamers
An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience.
History
Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...
know for
trolling and far right politics. The group has been accused by the
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) is a Canadian nonprofit organization that monitors hate groups, far-right groups, and hate crimes in Canada. It was formed in 2018 in Toronto, Ontario and receives funding from the Government of Canada. CAHN ...
of islamophobia and anti-semitism.
Activities and views
The Plaid Army is a group of far right internet trolls. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network describe the group as racist and antisemitic.
Membership and associations
The Ontario Provincial Police reported connections between the Plaid Army and the "Patriot Movement" who are known for their "opposition of provincial and federal government responses to the COVID-19 public health crisis.”
The group is also associated with the far-right protest group
Diagalon.
People connected to both groups were present at the
Canada convoy protest
A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy (french: Convoi de la liberté, links=no) by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created t ...
s.
Members include right-wing video bloggers
Jeremy MacKenzie
General Sir Jeremy John George Mackenzie, (born 11 February 1941) is a retired senior British Army officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1994 to 1998.
Early life
Mackenzie was born on 11 February 1941 in Nairobi, Ke ...
and Derek Harrison.
Harrison wanted the convoy protests to turn violent, akin to the
January 6 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...
.
MacKenzie oversees the group.
See also
*
COVID-19 protests in Canada
References
{{Authority control
Far-right politics in Canada
Internet trolls
Antisemitism in Canada
Islamophobia in Canada
Canada convoy protest