Warrant issued for alleged neo-Nazi

Man, 32, accused of promoting hatred

Montreal police have obtained a warrant to arrest Gabriel Sohier Chaput, an alleged neo-Nazi who was the subject of a series of investigative articles published by The Montreal Gazette earlier this year. According to court records, a warrant for 32-year-old Sohier Chaput’s arrest was issued through the Montreal courthouse on Oct. 30. The mysterious man’s whereabouts appear to be unknown as his address is listed as “unknown” on the warrant. It lists only one count that falls under a section of the Criminal Code covering the wilful promotion of hatred. A conviction under the charge carries a maximum twoyear prison sentence. The warrant was issued based on an investigation by the Montreal police. In May, The Montreal Gazette published an exposé on an influential neo-Nazi who goes by the name Charles Zeiger, who lives and recruits fellow neo-Nazis in Montreal. The Gazette investigation linked Zeiger to Gabriel Sohier Chaput, a local IT contractor who was believed to have resided in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie earlier this year. B’nai Brith Canada alleges that Zeiger and Sohier Chaput are the same person. On Monday, the group issued a statement that it was pleased to learn about the warrant following a complaint it filed in May. “We appreciate that a warrant has been issued for this man’s arrest. It’s important that, when antiSemitism or racism crosses the line into criminal activity, police take these matters seriously and lay charges. We commend Montreal’s hate crime unit for taking this matter seriously,” Harvey Levine, Quebec regional director for B’nai Brith, was quoted as saying in the post on B’nai Brith’s website. According to the articles published by The Gazette, a person who used the pseudonym Zeiger was the second-most prolific writer on the Daily Stormer, an extreme right-wing news website that attracts upwards of 80,000 unique visitors a month. The site traffics in conspiracy theories, uses racist and homophobic slurs and devotes coverage to what it calls the “Race War” and the “Jewish Problem.” The investigative team that worked on the series linked the person known as Zeiger to Sohier Chaput through a series of documents. The person who used the pseudonym listed his home as a rendezvous point for a local neo-Nazi group. The same apartment in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie was Sohier Chaput’s home address at one point. The neo-Nazi group is believed to have met at downtown Montreal bars, apartments and a hotel between August 2016 and January. At various points, members self-identified as alt-right, altreich, Nazis, fascists and white supremacists. A Montreal police spokesperson who was reached for comment late Monday night said she was not aware of the warrant.