The emergence of the group in Canada is a stark reminder that extremist groups, the likes of Atomwaffen—known for its underground organization, violent tactics, and near paramilitary features—have arrived in this country.

The Atomwaffen Division—a violent neo-Nazi terrorist organization linked to several hate crimes, an attempted bombing, and racially motivated killings in the US —has at least one prominent Canadian member.

The shadowy figure known as “Dark Foreigner”—one of Atomwaffen’s chief propagandists, once described as its “graphic designer” —is a 21-year-old Canadian man based somewhere in Ontario, and his extensive online footprint shows he is supporting far-right groups within Canada and elsewhere.

VICE is tracking other Canadians suspected to be members of Atomwaffen. To date, no member has been identified publicly as Canadian.

A recent and extensive ProPublica investigation into the American terror group, which venerates white supremacist ideologies and celebrates homegrown American extremists like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, says its members are “scattered across 23 states and Canada.” Some of those members are active servicemen in the US military .

“It is very likely that Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi terrorist organization of sorts, is operating in Canada,” Scrivens said. “Most of these types of groups tend to have some level of local or national support, and I suspect that he too has support from other adherents in Canada and is not operating alone. At the very least, I suspect that he’s in the process of or attempting to mobilize an Atomwaffen cell in Canada.”

Ryan Scrivens, one of Canada’s leading scholars on the far-right, told VICE that an influential member of Atomwaffen operating from Canada hints at a bigger movement.

Internal CSIS documents debated the significance of the threat from far right extremist groups, questioning the reporting of VICE in the process .

“CSIS analysts, regardless of their area of responsibility, are constantly required to understand and assess the evolving threat landscape worldwide and its potential implications for serious acts of ideologically-motivated violence against Canada and Canadians.”

“Over the past year there has been significant media coverage of Atomwaffen in the United States and their claim of opening a new cell in Germany,” she said.

VICE connected with Dark Foreigner for comment on this story. He simply answered, “send me the questions and we'll see if I answer them,” but has yet to reply further.

One of Atomwaffen’s members is currently awaiting trial in California for the alleged murder of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein. In hidden chat networks viewed by ProPublica, Atomwaffen celebrated the killing of Bernstein who was gay and Jewish. In 2017, another member murdered his two roommates by shooting them in the head with an AK-47 assault rifle and when police searched his home they found bomb making materials.

The name “Atomwaffen” is German for “nuclear weapons.” According to their own propaganda, the covert group is intent on the creation of the “Fourth Reich” an allusion to Nazi Germany’s Third Reich. Even within the alt-right political ecosystem, Atomwaffen is considered extreme.

Atomwaffen is known for its graphic propaganda featuring everything from videos of members clad in skull masks firing assault rifles to alarming images produced by Dark Foreigner.