Kamloops top cop calls appearance by white nationalists ‘cowardly’

A group of white nationalists kept their identities hidden when they arrived in Kamloops, and the top local cop said the detachment is taking their tactics seriously.

The men appeared to be members of Second Sons, a Canadian white nationalist group, and they held a banner near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, calling for suspected graves to be dug.

Politicians and leaders from across BC spoke out condemning the group since they were spoteed on Tk’emlups land and in Kamloops on Sunday, Sept. 27.

“The posting banner bearing the words ‘got bones,’ combined with the use of masks to conceal their identities while making such public statements is a cowardly attempt to avoid accountability for actions and messages that are clearly intended to intimidate, provoke fear and division,” Kamloops RCMP Supt. Jeff Pelley said in a statementon Sept. 28.

He said police got reports of the group wearing all black with white face coverings near Chief Eli Larue Way around 7:25 a.m. on Sunday. Officers “engaged immediately” with the group, who departed to various other areas in the city.

They were later spotted downtown and near Aberdeen, where the suspected Second Sons members marched in a poorly organized formation near a parking lot.

“The RCMP is taking this matter seriously and will continue to engage the group as part of our response and current ongoing investigation,” Pelley said.

The group has staged their presence in other Canadian cities over the past year, apparently catering their messsage to the city they are in.

In Kelowna, for instance, they held a sign over a Highway 97 overpass that described fentanyl as a “chemical weapon.” Another in Hamilton called immigration an “invasion.”

While their Kelowna presence caught little attention, the group’s showing in Kamloops sparked condemnations from numerous leaders.

Tk’emlups te Secwepemc chief Rosanne Casimir said the band will not be intimidated by white supremacy and white nationalists.

“White supremacy will not instill fear in generations of Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors who have already carried fear for far too long. Our people know what it means to live with fear imposed upon us by others. Yet we also know the strength, resilience and courage of our Survivors, families, and community members,” she said in a news release. “We have endured fear, and we will not be intimidated. We stand together, day after day and generation after generation, to ensure that this history is never repeated.”

Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar and BC Conservative Party leader Lorne Doerksen said the group’s message has no place in BC.

From Penticton, Mayor Julius Bloomfield said he was “deeply disturbed” to see the Second Sons presence and that the city stands by Tk’emlups.

“On behalf of the City, I want to express our support for Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc, its leadership, survivors, families and community members. We stand with those affected by this incident and reject the ideology of hate in all its forms,” he said in a news release.

Kamloops RCMP is now investigating the group.