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Canada parl. asks govt. to designate armed US militia group as terrorist entity

Tuesday, 26 January 2021 7:14 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 26 January 2021 7:30 AM ]

Members of the Proud Boys militia join other supporters of the then-US President Donald Trump as they demonstrate in Washington, the US, on December 12, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Canada’s parliament has approved a motion calling on the government to formally designate an American group that supports former US president Donald Trump as a terrorist entity, alongside outfits like al-Qaeda and Daesh.

Canadian lawmakers unanimously passed a motion on Monday that called on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to declare as a banned terrorist group the so-called Proud Boys, a white supremacist group and one of the staunchest supporters of Trump.

It urges the government to “use all available tools to address the proliferation of white supremacists and hate groups starting with immediately designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity.”

Although the move is symbolic, Trudeau’s government said authorities were monitoring the Proud Boys and collecting evidence that could support designation.

A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said that security and law enforcement agencies were “very actively engaged in monitoring the activities of these groups.” According to Mary-Liz Power, authorities are “gathering the evidence required to support a determination of listing as a Terrorist Organization.”

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Earlier this month, Trump incited armed supporters, including members of Proud Boys, to storm the US Capitol building, where lawmakers were in the process of confirming Trump’s defeat and Biden’s win in the 2020 US presidential election.

The mob assault resulted in the killing of at least five people, including a police officer who was guarding the Capitol building.

The attack also prompted a historic second impeachment vote against Trump at the US House of Representatives. Lawmakers cited Trump’s incitement of an insurrection against the US government in the article of impeachment.

The Proud Boys had previously offered to serve as Trump’s private militia.

If the Canadian government designates Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, the group would be joining a long list of other organizations including al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and Daesh terrorist groups.

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