Early in the morning of August 31, a young man walking through Red Deer's City Hall Park was stabbed in an attempted robbery. The assailant approached the 15-year-old boy with a knife, demanded all of his stuff and, when the boy didn't comply, a scuffle occurred. During the struggle, the teenager was cut severely on the chin with a knife. On September 5, police issued a press release seeking information on the suspect. At the same time, on a popular Facebook page a graphic image of the boy's injuries started to circulate. It didn't take long for the people of Red Deer to get outraged.

One Canadian chapter of the Soldiers of Odin is escalating from street patrols to vigilante investigations in an attempt to help local police.

Craig told VICE it seemed "they came down there ready to go to battle" and their aggression wasn't well hidden. VICE spoke to people in Red Deer on background who reiterated these claims but didn't want to speak on the record out of fear of retaliation.

"I approached them as a group to ask them some questions, I wanted to know what they stood for," Craig told VICE. "When I did, they kind of slowly just circled me while only one guy would talk to me. It had an eerie feel to it, it was mob mentality, intimidation stuff."

A homeless man named Craig, who asked that his last name not be used out of fear of retaliation, told VICE that he was one of the people the group interacted with that night. According to Craig, who has sporadically lived on the streets of Red Deer for the last three years, decided to talk to the group after seeing them patrolling.

Within this group of outraged citizens were the members of the local Soldiers of Odin chapter, and the far-right anti-immigration group took it upon themselves to attempt to hunt down the suspect. On September 6 they attempted to do this by gearing up ten men, taking to the street, and demanded information. For the most part, Soldiers of Odin chapters in Canada have been content with just patrolling the streets in a show of force and intimidation. This is the first time in this country that the group has publically gone out seeking vigilante justice.

For Dr. Barbara Perry, an expert in hate crimes and far-right groups in Canada, this excursion into vigilante investigations marks a natural escalation for the group—one she believes is serious and needs to be addressed by the RCMP.

"This is in line from what they've done from the outset. To keep our streets safe, to do these street patrols," said Perry. "Many of these groups started to protect people from the 'Islamist [terror] threat' and I can't imagine there's much of that in Red Deer... Whether or not there is violence, there is intimidation."

"Other groups are likely to emulate them, they are likely to follow suit," she added. "The potential for violence in both directions is possible."

The Soldiers of Odin were formed in Finland by self-described white supremacist Mika Ranta, and Canada quickly followed suit in 2016 by setting up their own chapters. While Ranta has said members don't need to share his views, the Canadian group was likewise formed from a fiery anti-Islamic sentiment. The Red Deer chapter is careful about what it posts online and has yet to bring up Islam on their support page, but it is unknown what is discussed in the group's organizational pages. In 2016, VICE got an inside look into the Edmonton organization page and it showcased members celebrating the arson of mosques and calling for the killing of Muslims.

While the Soldiers of Odin, and other far-right groups in Canada, often publicly denounce white supremacy, several of their members have been linked back to organizations like Blood and Honour or the Creativity Movement—two white supremacist groups. In April of this year, the Canadian Odin chapter split off from the mother (Finnish) chapter because saying they "are here to help and protect the people of our great country, not to adhere to some racist, unorganized, reckless wanna be thug collaboration." Still, it leads one to ponder about why they continue to use the name of a notorious anti-Islamic and anti-immigration group.