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The Mohawks blocking rail traffic south of Montreal held firm Monday in the face of an injunction ordering them to clear the tracks and a spike in online threats.

Their blockade has been in place for 23 days, halting a commuter rail line and hundreds of freight shipments into the city. It has also sparked a “disturbing” rise in hate speech and death threats directed at the protesters, according to experts.

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“In Quebec, the far-right has really begun to mobilize against Indigenous people and Mohawks in particular,” said Xavier Camus, a CEGEP professor and blogger who reports on far-right groups. “Online, you’re seeing very specific calls to violence and racist, dehumanizing language. It’s radicalizing people within these groups.”

Members of a Facebook group called ‘Les Amis de la CAQ’ say the protesters are “savage … terrorists” who should be murdered. The group has about 2,800 members and uses Coalition Avenir Québec’s logo but has no affiliation with the party. It emerged shortly after the CAQ won a majority mandate in 2018.