WARNING: This story contains distressing content.

White supremacist groups are using issues of wider interest and disinformation to grow support — and that should be worrying, says a McMaster University professor in the wake of another demonstration by Hamilton-based group Nationalist-13.

Understanding how these groups are recruiting should also inform how elected officials, police and others combat hate, Ameil Joseph, a McMaster University social work associate professor, said in an interview this week.

On Sunday, neo-Nazi group Nationalist-13 gathered in front of city hall dressed all in black, wearing masks and performing a Nazi salute, according to pictures viewed by CBC Hamilton.

Members of the group were also seen in pictures holding a banner that said “no mercy for pedo scum.”

Joseph said messaging like this is used by similar groups all over Canada and the U.S. to purposefully and opportunistically gain support from the public by denouncing things like pedophilia.

“We should all be against pedophilia, that’s fine, right? Yes, and also not like this, not in the way that’s tied to hate and tied to white supremacist groups,” he told CBC Hamilton.

Joseph said these hate demonstrations can’t be looked at as one-offs, but rather as a growing, organized movement that institutions need to be worried about.

Nationalist-13, also known as NS13, is a group known as a fight club, also called an active club within white nationalist circles.

As reported by CBC, active clubs are part of a white supremacist and neo-Nazi network that has grown globally in recent years, increasingly moving from online forums to real-world training groups and anti-immigration protests.

Active clubs were also found to be training in Hamilton parks. These training sessions are also part of the groups’ recruitment and propaganda.

Lack of consequence ‘sends a message’

Joseph said extremist hate groups also make anti-Semitic claims related to pedophilia conspiracy theories.

He pointed to research from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a legal advocacy group dedicated to fighting extremism in the U.S., that looks at that link. In the research, the SPLC says neo-Nazi groups claim Jewish people manipulate society to erode “traditional” family and social norms. The research also points to these groups’ anti-2SLGBTQ+ views.

Groups like Diagolon-off shoot Second Sons, another white supremacist group in Niagara, have also organized rallies against a sex offender in the Niagara Region that received widespread support from the public.

Hamilton police said they were made aware of NS13’s gathering on Sunday afternoon, but the group members had already dispersed by the time officers got to city hall. They said there was no sign of any criminal activity.

“When [these groups] go untouched, it sends a message that they can continue as they are,” said Joseph.

On Nov. 9, 2024, at least 10 masked demonstrators from NS13 stood outside Jackson Square in Hamilton holding a banner advocating “mass deportation.”

Around one year later in late November, 2025, the same group gathered on Main Street East and John Street South on a Saturday, holding a banner with a hateful message.

“Those things are connected,” said Joseph, adding that NS13 will often tie itself to other public discourses like mass deportations in the U.S. in the case of the Jackson Square gathering. This week, the group posted a comment on social media on Monday, following their Sunday demonstration, that mentioned the Epstein files. It has also posted about anti-Semitic conspiracies and anti-immigrant views.

Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Support Centre said in a statement on Monday accusations involving child exploitation “trigger strong emotional reactions, which makes them especially effective for mobilization.”

Allegations of cover-ups align with these groups’ ideas of intensifying distrust in institutions to accelerate systemic collapse.

“Context is always important with these groups,” said George.

“Standing in front of city hall with a sign saying ‘pedo scum’ is a provocative, emotionally charged narrative, especially when involving crimes against children, which can be weaponized to deepen division and erode trust.”

What should be the next steps?

On Monday, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath condemned the gathering and said “hate is not welcome, and it will never be tolerated in our city,” while police also said “hate has no place in Hamilton.”

Joseph also said the city and police need to prove hate truly has no place in the city.

“At what point do [the mayor and police] take a look at what’s happening there and what they’re saying? Clearly, maybe [hate] does have a place here, because it’s happening over and over again,” said Joseph.

Horwath declined CBC’s request for an interview. Police did not respond to CBC’s request for an interview.

Joseph said actually listening to demands from marginalized groups “should be the starting point,” as well as addressing existing concerns, like the disproportionate use of force towards Black and Middle Eastern people.

“Those kinds of things need to be responded to before we can trust the system to ask it for something else,” he said.