Why was the alleged leader of Atomwaffen’s Washington State cell travelling in Canada?

Kaleb James Cole was detained, deported and banned from the country

Canadian Anti-Hate Network

November 13, 2019

Kaleb James Cole (left) and posing in front of Auschwitz (right). Source: court documents.

On Sept 26, the Seattle Police Department seized a stockpile of weapons from 24-year-old Atomwaffen cell leader Kaleb James Cole. Thanks to court documents, we have learned that Cole was travelling in Canada and has a girlfriend in British Columbia.

Atomwaffen Division is an international neo-Nazi terror group founded in the United States which follow an accelerationist ideology – meaning they believe in the use of terrorist attacks to accelerate what they see as an inevitable societal collapse and race war. They are collectively responsible for five murders, and two members were arrested with weapons and explosives which they were allegedly planning to use to “harm civilians, nuclear facilities and synagogues."

Atomwaffen in Canada:

The now defunct Iron March forum for self-described fascists and neo-Nazis which spawned Atomwaffen had approximately 87 members with Canadian IP addresses, including some of its key admins and propagandists.

Atomwaffen-affiliated cells in Canada have operated under the names Northern Order and The Solar Contingent. Northern Order has put up stickers and posters in Toronto and Ottawa. The Solar Contingent involved at least four individuals who put up a series of posters in Toronto in May 2018, but has not since been public under that name. Artwork for both groups was produced by or copied from ‘Dark Foreigner’, Atomwaffen’s one-time graphic designer. Dark Foreigner posted on the Iron March forum in June 2017 that he and his friend ‘Bobby Fasher’ are from Ontario, and would now be in their early 20s.

Our investigation with VICE Canada revealed an Atomwaffen member who had served in the Canadian Armed Forces and was serving in the reserves. Thanks to the new Iron March data dump, we know that Montreal man Gabriel Sohier Chaput, aka ‘Zeiger’, was also in contact with Atomwaffen. Chaput, currently wanted and on the run from a Quebec warrant, was a key figure in the Iron March forum and to the Alt-Right Montreal group.

Canadian Atomwaffen members may have travelled to the United States to participate in hate camps.

Here’s what we have learned from the Seattle Police Department’s Petition for an Extreme Risk Protection Order against Kaleb James Cole:

Kaleb James Cole, born October 13, 1995, resides with his father in Washington State. His listed occupation is as a general labourer. According to ProPublica, he lives in Blair, Washington, a suburb of Seattle.

Cole, who used the alias Khimaere, was identified in a February 2018 ProPublica piece. He is believed to have organized hate camps in Washington State.

He travelled to Prague, Wroclaw, Kiev, and Krakow in December 2018, taking an Atomwaffen flag with him, and took a photo in front of Auschwitz. He was travelling with Aidan Bruce Umbaugh and Edie Allison Moore.

Cole was interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon returning to the United States. He told them he was travelling to see a music festival in Kiev and that he doesn’t use email or social media.

Cole was in Quebec in May 2019, and flew from Quebec to B.C. to see his girlfriend in late May/early June.

He was then detained for 42 days, deported under Section 34 (1)(F) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on the grounds that he is a “member of an organization that may engage in terrorism,” and banned from Canada for life. Note: While Atomwaffen has not been officially designated as a terrorist organization in Canada, this may indicate that the Canadian Border Services Agency and other security entities have internally (formally or informally) recognized Atomwaffen as a terrorist group.

We have filed an ATIP (access to information) request for Cole’s deportation order and any supporting materials, which we hope will shed light on his activity in Canada.

The Seattle Police Department says Cole “poses a significant danger” and confiscated a number of weapons, including weapon parts which could be combined to make untraceable firearms.

If you have additional information about the Canadian activity of Atomwaffen or affiliated groups, please write us at info@antihate.ca.