Alt-right group posts names, photos of ‘potentially dangerous’ Cornwallis protesters – CBC.ca

A group of self-describednational socialists in Nova Scotia has posted personalinformation about people who haveshown interest in protests calling for the removal of an Edward Cornwallis statue in Halifax, labelling them as "potentially dangerous."

Cornwalliswas a governor of Nova Scotia. In 1749, he issued a so-called scalping proclamationoffering a cash bounty to anyone who killed a Mi'kmaqperson.

On Saturday,a large crowdprotestedaround the statue and demandedthe likenessof Halifax's controversialfounder be removed from adowntown park.

Demonstatorshad earlier threatened onFacebookto remove the statue but relented when municipal crews covered the monument in black cloth for the duration of the event.

An anonymous Twitter user affiliated with Cape Breton Alt Right published a list online last Thursday, releasing the names, photos and other identifying detailsof 28 people interested in the removal of the statue in a process known on the internetas "doxing."

The list, latershared and discussed on Facebook, also includedcategories like:

The final "notes" column identifiessome people as being "mentally ill andunstable," "extremely militant and dangerous,"having histories of being "drunk and disorderly"and being on police watch lists.

The list included a 'notes' column, labelling some people as violent or mentally ill. (Twitter)

Adam Lemoine ofNorth Sydneywas doxed as having affiliations with Antifa, a far-left, anti-fascist organization. Hesaidhewas "blown away" when he found out, as he hasnever evenbeen to a protest.

"The only information they had correct was my name and my hometown," said Lemoine, who caught wind of the list after it was posted on Facebook.

"They have me playing an instrument I didn't play, in a band that no longer exists."

Lemoine saidhe clicked "interested" on a Facebook event for a protest last Saturday at the Cornwallis statue to get updates on what happened.

He believes the Twitter user who posted the list saw that, put his name into a search engine and listed whatthey found.

Activists protest at the base of the Edward Cornwallis statue last weekend after Halifax staff covered it with a black sheet. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

Lemoine said that when he asked the Cape Breton Alt Rightgroup to remove his name from the list, it responded by saying even if he could prove his details were wrong, the rest of the information would stay.

The group continues to maintain anonymity andrefused to be interviewed by the CBC over the phone or inperson on the grounds that it would be "inappropriate."

In anemailedstatement, however, the groupsaid ithasreceiveddeath threats almost daily since the list was posted.

The statement goes on to compare the actions of Cornwallis demonstrators to the destruction of historical sites in Palmyra by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,and indicates the list was compiled over the course of about two months "in the interest of public safety."

"The community at large has a right to know the identities of those around them who may pose a threat to their immediate safety and a threat to their property," saidthe two-page statement, signed onlyby "leadership."

Tanner Leudy, a student at Cape Breton University, sharedthe same event page for the Cornwallis protest on Facebook though he knew he couldn't attend.

Leudysaidhe hadnever even heard ofAntifabeforethe list linkedhim to the organizationand he's worried about how beingassociated with such a groupcould affect the futureofthose who've been doxed.

"I've never done anything to warrant [the inclusion]," said Leudy. "Being labelled as a dangerous protester, even if it's not true, isn't something that employers will want in their workplace."

Anthony Leudy says he shared a Facebook event and then was wrongfully labelled 'potentially dangerous' by an anonymous Twitter user. (Twitter)

The group maintainsall of theinformationwas gathered within the public domain, referencing social media and news interviews, but DavidFraser, an internet privacy lawyer in Halifax, saidit's thelanguage of the list's "notes" columnthat may push legal boundaries.

Information compiledfrom social media platforms is fair game when it comes to doxing, saidFraser.

However, he added that legal proceedings on doxing, as rare as they are,require that what hasbeen published is explored as much as whyit hasbeen published.

"To be defamatory, all something has to do is to harm your reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person,"saidFraser.

"It would seem to me that [the notes]at the end of the listwould be, on its face,defamatoryandthe onus would shift to the person who said themto justify them as being true."

FrasersaidtheHalifax Proud Boys provide a good example of doxing.

He saidtheywere "implicitlydoxed" by volunteering theirpersonal information when showing up at an Indigenous rallyon Canada DayinCornwallisPark.They were recordedand the videos eventually made it to their workplace, resulting in their reprimand.

But, Frasersaid, it's part of the "rough and tumble"of freely expressed politics.

CBC News reached out to the Cape Breton Regional Police, the Halifax Regional Police and the RCMP.They say no investigation is ongoing because no one has come forward with a complaint.

El Jones says the doxing proves the extremity of the racism surrounding the Edward Cornwallis statue issue. (Twitter)

El Jones, Halifax's former poet laureate and a well-known, outspoken activist,saidshe isnotsurprised sheended up on the list.

"You hope that this is just some form of extreme reaction that's perhaps just intended to intimidate people," said Jones.

"[But] you have totake seriously the intent behind it, which is an attempt to harm."

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Alt-right group posts names, photos of 'potentially dangerous' Cornwallis protesters - CBC.ca

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