U.S. white supremacist videotapes anti-Nazi rally in New Westminster

Antiracist activists at Braid SkyTrain station show up on white pride Web site

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      A significant figure in the American white-supremacist movement was videotaping people who attended a March 21 antiracism rally at the Braid SkyTrain station in New Westminster.

      Craig Cobb posted the footage on the Podblanc video-sharing Web site, which is soliciting donations by mail to his address on East Pender Street in Vancouver.

      According to a 2007 report by the U.S.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, Cobb has been active in the World Church of the Creator, White Revolution, and other neo-Nazi groups. He has distributed copies of a racist tabloid called the Aryan Alternative and was “the first person to prominently post the home address of a federal judge whose husband and mother were later murdered there”. The SPLC stated that the killer was not connected to racist groups.

      In a 2009 report, the SPLC maintained that Cobb had been deported from Estonia and Finland. He went abroad to create an "International Office of White Diaspora".

      “He promotes violence on Podblanc, which he founded in April 2007,” the SPLC stated. “Keith Luke, a mentally disturbed young man in Brockton, Mass., who in January allegedly murdered two black immigrants and attempted to murder a third, told police he was inspired by white supremacist web sites such as Podblanc.”

      The SPLC’s director of research, Heidi Beirich, told the Georgia Straight by phone that Cobb has been on her organization’s radar for a long time.

      “Craig Cobb is a hard-core white supremacist who has been involved in the movement in multiple countries,” Beirich said. “Podblanc, which he runs, is one of the nastiest hate sites on the Web, hands down.”

      Cobb, a Missouri native in his late 50s, is seen on one video on the Podblanc Web site condemning individual Jews by name, and acknowledging that he might go to prison for talking about them. In the same video, he states that members of the Tea Party—a right-wing anti-Obama movement—are willing to accept that Jews control their currency.

      “Why do you allow your civilization to be destroyed and why do you make laws against those of us who dare to speak English words against our oppressors?” Cobb asks in the video. “Because you’re cowards, the great lot of you. There are a few exceptions.”

      On the site, Cobb, who goes by the name Chain, has an avatar with a photo of Barack Obama. Underneath are the words “The Depression Prez”. Within the avatar, a huge revolver presses up and down against Obama’s head.

      Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, a foreign national is inadmissible on security grounds for “being a danger to the security of Canada” and for “being a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage” in espionage or subversion against a democratic government, institution or process.

      Cobb is also visible on his video from Braid Station, as well as on a Straight video focusing on two young men who showed up to board the SkyTrain during the rally. Protesters demanded to know if the two men were racists. When one of them asked for police help, Cobb can be heard saying, “They’re not going to protect you, brother. Selected protection. That’s what they do. Selected prosecution. Selected protection.”

      Cobb can also be heard on the Straight video at the SkyTrain station saying the proper term is racialist, but the term racist was coined by a translator who worked for “Lev Bronstein”. (Bronstein changed his name to Leon Trotsky, and became a famous revolutionary.) The March 21 protest was organized to confront a supposed neo-Nazi rally, which never took place.


      Craig Cobb appears in this video shot by the Straight at the March 21 antiracism protest at the Braid SkyTrain station.

      Comments

      14 Comments

      RodSmelser

      Mar 25, 2010 at 9:56am

      From the article:

      Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, a foreign national is inadmissible on security grounds for “being a danger to the security of Canada” and for “being a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage” in espionage or subversion against a democratic government, institution or process.
      ==================================

      On what date did Cobb enter Canada?

      What is his status here? Visitor, temporary worker on a visa, or landed immigrant?

      Has a copy of this article been sent to the Immigration authorities?

      Rod Smelser

      Charlie Smith

      Mar 25, 2010 at 10:20am

      I read these posts and it appears that Cobb is claiming to have dual citizenship. The government of Estonia asked the Southern Poverty Law Center about his citizenship before he was deported from that country. The SPLC didn't have any records about his citizenship.
      Charlie Smith

      Max

      Mar 25, 2010 at 12:49pm

      I don't know why the Straight has chosen to inflate the "nazi threat" over its last two issues. The so-called "nazis" behind the mythical "demonstration" are a figment of the imagination of well meaning liberals who have forgotten what it means to fight for change, but instead engage in symbolic politics, e.g. congregating in large numbers at a Skytrain station to fight a non-existent threat. But it sure makes'em feel good about themselves. Black Block Liberals!

      In 2000 Ken Silverstein wrote a piece on the SPLC in Harpers, at that time, Silverstein pointed out, the SPLC was “the wealthiest civil rights group in America,” with $120 million in assets. In May 2009, Alex Cockburn wrote the following in Counterpunch: "As of October 2008 the net assets of the SPLC were $170,240,129, The merchant of hate himself, Mr. (Morris) Dees (CEO of the SPLC Franchise), was paid an annual $273,132 as chief trial counsel, and the SPLC’s president and CEO, Richard Cohen, $290,193. Total revenue in 2007 was $44,727,257 and program expenses $20,804,536. In other words, the Southern Poverty Law Center was raising twice as much as it was spending on its proclaimed mission. Fund-raising and administrative expenses accounted for $9 million, leaving $14 million to be put in the center’s vast asset portfolio."

      Groups like the SPLC, (like most large enviro groups), serve a clear function: allowing liberals to feel good about themselves, as though they are doing something to change the world. In fact, they are vehicles for self-promotion for people such as Dees. Politics is about confronting the powers that be, not chasing minor figures at Skytrain stations.

      HRC

      Mar 25, 2010 at 1:21pm

      If he is posting to this site from Canada, is he not then subject to prosecution under the Human Rights Code?

      White bread has no taste

      Mar 25, 2010 at 1:44pm

      Just a tangential thought: For all the white supremacists' gibbering and frothing about "genetic purity", you'd think they could find a better spokesman for their movement than a skullet-wearing slackjaw like Cobb. He'd be first against the wall in his own ideal world. How pathetic is that?

      jason

      Mar 25, 2010 at 2:01pm

      Max:
      seems like totally missed the mark with this article: it is about a well-known white supremacist who is now living in vancouver. someone who promotes hates and violence.
      why are you making this about the SPLC? or 'liberals'? or the straight?
      what does it matter what the SPLC does or what vancouver activists are doing - this article is about a hateful bigot.
      i hoped that for once, with such a clear example of racist hate, people would take this seriously.
      i'm really disturbed that this is what you got from the article.

      Amanda

      Mar 25, 2010 at 4:31pm

      Re: Max
      The white pride parade was going to happen; I saw the event pages PERSONALLY on several websites.
      If they didn't show up, that means the protest was a success, not arbitrary.

      g-unit

      Mar 25, 2010 at 5:47pm

      Cobb the reject, nothing threatening or interesting about this genetic reject. We should feel sorry for him and give me a bath and a piece of bread to eat or something.

      DTES resident

      Mar 25, 2010 at 10:31pm

      Craig 'Chain' Cobb lives in the Downtown Eastside. He has been seen cruising the streets on his bicycle with trailer. People in the community should be aware that this racist is on the streets, he appears harmless but he represents the most violent of white supremacist terror.