An individual from Ontario has been convicted by an Ontario Superior Court judge for involvement in the operations of a terrorist group. Kristoffer Nippak, aged 33, was apprehended and charged in December 2023 for knowingly engaging in or supporting the activities of a terrorist organization after an 18-month investigation conducted by the RCMP across central Quebec, eastern and northern Ontario, and the Niagara Region. He was apprehended together with another individual, Matthew Althorpe, from the Niagara Region, who had previously received a 20-year prison sentence in March for three terrorism-related offenses.
Nippak’s charge was linked to actions associated with the Atomwaffen Division (AWD), recognized as a terrorist organization in Canada. AWD is identified as a “militant accelerationist” neo-Nazi extremist group founded in the United States in 2015, as stated on the Canadian government’s official website. The organization, also referred to as the National Socialist Order, has conducted “training camps” where members undergo hand-to-hand combat and weapons training, as well as engaged in violent activities during public demonstrations, according to the website.
A recruitment video produced by AWD played a significant role in the ruling of Superior Court Justice Maureen D. Forestell in finding Nippak guilty, according to court records. The video features armed individuals wearing skull masks and AWD insignias, seen “marching through a forest, shooting firearms, securing a building, and burning the flags of the United States, Israel, and the European Union,” as described in Forestell’s decision. The court determined that the Crown had successfully demonstrated “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Nippak was aware of AWD’s terrorist nature when he participated in the production of the recruitment video.
