Jeremy Mackenzie is seen shaking hands with Pierre Poiliev. (Telegram/Raging Dissident)
Shortly after the image appeared on Mackenzie’s public Telegram channel, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on Poilievre to “denounce Jeremy Mackenzie and Diagolon,” who he said “have been designated as violent extremists by his Integrated Terrorism Assessment Center Canada”. Story continues below ad Singh was referring to a report by Press Progress, which last week published a document obtained through access to information from the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, a federal organization that assesses terrorism threats in Canada. The document, dated February 17, 2022, lists Mackenzie as one of the “key supporters of IMVE (ideologically motivated violent extremism)” who attended the so-called “freedom convoy” protests in Ottawa earlier this year. The Canadian government has not expressed official concern about Diagolon or listed the group as a terrorist entity. “During my campaign I have shaken hands with literally tens of thousands of people at public rallies. It is impossible to do a background check on every person who attends my events,” Poilievre’s campaign team said in response to Global News’ request for comment on Aug. 20. “As I have always done, I denounce racism and anyone who spreads it. I did not know and did not recognize this particular person.” So who is Mackenzie — and what is Diagolon? Here’s what you need to know.
Diagolon: Meme Land or Extremist Threat?
A drug-addled demon goat named Phillip. A fantastic diagonal country stretching from Alaska to Florida. An alleged plot to kill RCMP officers in Coutts, Alta. Story continues below ad There is a common thread that unites these themes: they are all, in some way, connected to Diagolon.
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The group’s founders say it’s all a big joke, a meme, and they’re just a group of anti-establishment comedians. The demonic goat and fantasyland was the product of “many edibles,” to hear Diagolon founder Jeremy Mackenzie tell it. His Telegram channel has more than 13,000 members and has at least 10,000 subscribers on YouTube. But after a patch bearing the group’s insignia was found along with weapons seized by RCMP near the border in Coutts in February, some extremism experts say they are concerned about what the hour-long live streams could inspire their viewers. “It’s not just an innocent podcast. It’s not just irony,” said Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen’s University and an expert on extremism. These podcasters give their viewers a new “lens” through which to interpret their struggles, he said — a lens that portrays government as the bad guy and societal breakdown as inevitable. “The louder it gets, the more people that message gets, then you automatically create an opportunity for one or two of them to do something about it.” Story continues below ad Jeremy Mackenzie is live streaming with a Diagolon flag behind him. (Raging Dissident II/YouTube) In a statement sent to Global News, Mackenzie rejected any suggestion that his live streams could incite violence or aggression. Trending Stories
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The goal of his podcast, Mackenzie said, is “to make people laugh and de-stress, to build a sense of community to combat the social and spiritual isolation that exists in society, to make it abundantly clear that these incredibly rich and powerful people push the buttons in our house we should not be trusted blindly without thinking.’ It all started with a single livestream. Story continues below ad Mackenzie said he was “pretty fed up” one evening in 2020. That’s when the 36-year-old military veteran realized that states without COVID-19 orders, when highlighted, formed a diagonal line across the North American continent. “I was like, ‘It’s going to end, this is where all the sane people live.’ The rest will go crazy, California will probably sink into the sea, New York will explode and everyone will be living on that line,” he told a fellow podcaster on a July 7 live stream. The fictional country ‘Diagolon’ appears on a map in Jeremy Mackenzie’s podcast. (Raging Dissident II/YouTube) The joke was getting more and more elaborate. The live stream called the series of states and provinces “Empire of Diagolon,” Mackenzie said. In fact, Mackenzie said that Diagolon is a “cultural clique”. “There is a community. It’s like a fan club of a podcast, basically. That’s really all there is to it — and it’s just like-minded people,” he said. Story continues below ad The Diagolon flag can be seen in this screenshot from Jeremy Mackenzie’s YouTube channel. (Raging Dissident II/YouTube) Currents regularly express their deep distrust of political institutions, hinting at a social breakdown they believe the political elite is heading towards in Canada. The Canadian government has not expressed official concern about Diagolon, although Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino referred to “a far-right extremist organization” in connection with the blockade at Coutts. “Several of the individuals at Coutts have strong ties to a far-right extremist organization with leaders located in Ottawa,” he said at the time. He did not name the organization. Diagolon is not listed as a terrorist entity under Canada’s anti-terrorism law — and according to Amarasingam, it doesn’t fit that definition. He said the danger with Diagolon, rather, lies in how its viewers might internalize the cynical worldview of Mackenzie and other affiliated broadcasters present. Story continues below ad “I don’t get the feeling that they know what they want to do next…. There is this kind of constant enjoyment in the complaint itself. But there is no real question,” Amarasingam said. “That does not mean specific individuals and this movement will not undertake to do so – as we (allegedly) saw in Coutts.”
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As protests against the COVID-19 order paralyzed the border at Coutts in February, RCMP said they were made aware of a small, organized group at the protest that had a “willingness to use violence against police.” In a subsequent raid, Mounties uncovered 13 long guns, pistols, a knife, a large quantity of ammunition and armour. They also found two tactical vests — emblazoned with what Canadian Anti-Hate Network investigators believe were Diagolon patches. A 2023 trial date was set for the four defendants in that July 11 raid. A cache of weapons and ammunition seized by the RCMP at the illegal Coutts blockade is on display in a photo released Feb. 14, 2022. handout / Alberta RCMP Mackenzie denies the patches are connected to his team. A post on a website dedicated to Diagolon suggests that the patches are fake and “being used to frame members of the community”. Story continues below ad Meanwhile, Diagolon’s founder said on live streams that he’s “doing nothing.” He is simply “commenting” on the “destructive” behavior of others – including those in positions of power. “I’m just pointing it out because I don’t know what else to do,” he said. “And if enough people see it, maybe something will happen.” © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
