A Canadian nationalist comedy and speaking tour has sparked a meltdown across the country and led to a series of failed attempts by far-left extremist group Antifa to shut it down.
The coast-to-coast Diagolon Road Rage Terror Tour event is organised by podcaster and political activist Jeremy MacKenzie and features fellow Canadian nationalists Derek “Rants” Harrison, Alex “Ferryman” Vriend, and Jeremy’s partner Morgan May.
The tour began with a private show in Ottawa in July 6, followed by meet and greets in Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Regina, with the next event set for Calgary on Saturday night.
But despite the organisers stressing that the tour is lawful and peaceful with no incidents so far, Antifa has tried to pressure venues into pulling out, corporate media outlets have attacked the group, and local politicians have shared fearmongering posts.
Mr Vriend told Noticer News: “In response to the tour, the far-left has undertaken a campaign of harassment and intimidation, threatening venues and service providers and attempting to dox attendees and supporters.
“This has been fuelled additionally by the media and numerous politicians and municipalities.”
Hamilton has no place for hate. Please see my statement below: pic.twitter.com/HpUx6pDQnu
— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) July 11, 2024
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath posted a statement about the tour on social media, saying “this group is not welcome here”, but locals commented in response that she should fix the city’s social problems instead of focusing on a comedy show.
“Have you seen your streets lately? Gotham city over there,” one wrote.
“Maybe you should worry about the fact that Hamilton looks like the set of Robocop instead of scary mouth sounds on the internet,” said another.
In its coverage of the tour some Canadian news outlets have called Diagolon, the name of a fictional meme country which is also used to describe Mr Mackenzie’s podcast fanbase, an “extremist” and “far-right” group.
CityNews approached police for comment about the tour and then used the response to frame an article implying the Ottawa event would be a threat to public order, and quoted a far-left group saying they feared for “minority groups in the capital”. Capital Current published a near-identical piece.
An article in the Saskatoom StarPhoenix used similar loaded language to describe Diagolon, while a CTV News Ottawa report quoted an “openly queer person” saying they were frightened by the event in the captial, even though it took place without incident.
None of the articles quoted the tour participants, or mentioned that only disturbances so far have been caused by Antifi activists trying to get venues to pull out and throwing eggs at the group’s RV.
A message from the road to all the spiteful mutants doing everything they can to stop Diagolon’s Road Rage: Terror Tour. pic.twitter.com/nu0j1WJn3s
— ◽⨁ The Ferryman’s Toll ⨁◽ (@ferryman4747) July 11, 2024
In a video on Monday posted to his popular X account The Ferryman’s Toll, Mr Vriend told “goblins and spiteful mutants” trying to cancel the tour to give up and leave them alone.
“Every time you draw attention to this tour, all you do is make it bigger and highlight your own hypocrisy,” he said.
“So let me give you a piece of advice here – just stop.
“Let us do the tour, we’re going to be quiet about it, we’re going to be peaceful about it, nobody’s going to get hurt, everybody going to have a good time, and then w’re all going to go home.
“Or you can keep doing what you’re doing, and the tour will get bigger, and draw more attention, and highlight your hypocrisy, and show you for what you are.”
During the tour Mr MacKenzie also took photos of a store in Dryden, Ontario, which has been forced to put up signs telling Indian customers not to wash their feet in the sink.
The Road Rage Terror Tour will visit Vancouver on July 19, Kamloops on July 20, Edmonton on July 24, Saskatoon on July 25, Hamilton on July 31 and finish in Halifax on August 4.
The outrage over the tour comes as police in Montreal were forced to use tear gas on militant pro-Palestinian protesters who refused to leave an illegal encampment at McGill University described as a “a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence” by the university’s president.
