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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford issued a statement Thursday after a photo came to light showing the mayor at the 2012 New Year’s Levee smiling, with his arm around a neo-Nazi musician.

Former Liberal spin doctor and punk rocker Warren Kinsella found the photo and posted it on his blog, saying the man Ford was with was Jon Latvis, a member of the neo-Nazi band RAHOWA (Racial Holy War).

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The picture was posted under a Facebook profile with Latvis’ name with the caption, “Me meeting with Toronto’s Mayor, Rob Ford to get an endorsement for the Latvian Homeguard — at Toronto City Hall.”

George Christopoulos, Ford’s press secretary, says the mayor met up to 750 people during the New Year’s Levee, some of whom posed for photographs and in no way endorsed anything.

“At no time was the Mayor aware of allegations that this individual had made racist, hateful or otherwise offensive comments, nor were any such comments made during his meeting with the Mayor. Mayor Ford is a strong supporter of Toronto’s Jewish community and strongly deplores anti-Semitism in any form,” he said in a statement.

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Ford also briefly met with Latvis in March 2012, in which the Mayor’s Office says they discussed transit issues.

Ford is well-known for meeting many of his constituents and was famous for his one-on-one work when he was a city councillor.

Christopoulos says at both the Levee and the meeting, Latvis gave them a different name.

RAHOWA was a goth metal white supremacist band active in the late 1980s and through the 1990s. They were featured in a VH1 news segment called “Inside Hate Rock.”

Their last album, released in 1995, was called “Cult of the Holy War.”

Statement from the Mayor’s Office An online blog today posted a picture of Mayor Rob Ford meeting a citizen during the 2012 New Year’s Levee at Toronto City Hall. The blog alleges the man posing with the Mayor is a member of a hate group and has a history of making racist, hateful and offensive comments. The Mayor of Toronto meets, and poses for photos, with thousands of residents each year. Over the past two years, the Mayor has hosted two New Year’s Levees. These events welcomed over 800 visitors to City Hall, and 700 to 750 of them were personally greeted by the Mayor who posed with them for photographs. While having his photo taken with the Mayor, the gentleman in the photo requested a meeting with the Mayor to discuss issues of concern to him as a constituent. The Mayor routinely receives these requests from members of the public and makes every effort to accommodate them whenever possible. In March 2012, the gentleman met briefly with the Mayor to discuss his concerns which primarily focussed on transit issues. During both the Levee and the March meeting, the gentleman identified himself using a name different from the one attributed to him in the recent blog article. Once the photograph was posted online today, Mayor’s Office staff recognized the individual as someone who had met with the Mayor at the Levee and again in March. At no time was the Mayor aware of allegations that this individual had made racist, hateful or otherwise offensive comments, nor were any such comments made during his meeting with the Mayor. Mayor Ford is a strong supporter of Toronto’s Jewish community and strongly deplores anti-Semitism in any form. George Christopoulos Press Secretary, Office of the Mayor, City of Toronto