Army says it’s investigating ‘abhorrent’ racist, homophobic and antisemitic Facebook group

The Canadian Army is investigating members who allegedly shared what the country’s top soldier called “abhorrent” content within a private Facebook group.

According to a statement from Lt.-Gen. Mike Wright, the “Blue Hackle Mafia” group featured “racist, misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic comments and images.”

In the message to armed forces members shared with CBC News, the army commander wrote that he is “disgusted by the content of some of the posts published on this group.” 

Wright called the group’s content “abhorrent,” and warned of consequences.

“I have ordered that any serving Canadian Army members currently on this social media group immediately cease their participation,” Wright wrote. 

Wright said the contents were reported up the chain of command “as recently as December” and that he was made aware of the alleged misconduct June 25. 

Military police investigating 

A message from the Office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, also shared with CBC News, said complaints about the private Facebook group were first investigated by the military police in Ottawa and were later transferred to the unit to conduct a disciplinary investigation. Those investigations are meant to determine if there are sufficient grounds to believe a serious offence may have been committed. 

“The transfer to the unit for a disciplinary investigation was considered the best use of options available in the military justice system, in this case,” said the statement.

The provost marshal’s office said the military police re-opened their investigation on June 27. 

“This new investigation is ongoing and no further information will be provided at this time to protect the integrity of the investigation,” it said. 

Not much else is known about the Blue Hackle Mafia group, including how many CAF members allegedly participated. “Hackle” could be a reference to the plume some infantry regiments wear.

Reports urge CAF to clamp down on extremism

The Canadian Armed Forces has been under pressure to better handle members drawn to hateful views and extremism.

A 2022 report from the military’s advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination found the number of Canadian Armed Forces members belonging to extremist groups on the rise.

The panel also found that the Department of National Defence (DND) has struggled to sniff out extremists in its ranks.

“The detection of extremist pockets or individuals is still very much siloed and inefficient,” the panel wrote.

In 2021, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, one of the country’s independent watchdogs, issued a report warning white nationalism is an “active” threat to the Canadian Armed Forces and stressed that more resources are needed to effectively address the issue.

“White supremacist groups actively seek individuals with prior military training and experience, or conversely, encourage individuals to enlist in order to gain access to specialized training, tactics and equipment,” said the report. 

A 2020 CBC News investigation of a Canadian Ranger unit uncovered how Erik Myggland, a British Columbia reservist who openly supported two far-right groups, was allowed to continue serving even after he had been identified by military counterintelligence and interviewed as a potential threat.

In 2021, a U.S. judge sentenced former Manitoba army reservist Patrik Mathews to nine years in prison for charges related to what the FBI described as a neo-Nazi plot to instigate a race war in the United States.