Four Canadian soldiers suspended
Four Canadian Forces soldiers who operated a Calgary-based online military surplus store have been suspended from the military following allegations they catered to a white supremacist clientele.
The web store, called Fireforce Ventures, features “world military history ” memorabilia and clothing “inspired by the legendary Fireforce soldiers of Southern Africa.”
And while the company’s slogan on its Facebook page reads “we sell history, not politics,” the retailer has come under fire for selling merchandise tied to the white-minority-rule state of Rhodesia, which later became Zimbabwe.
“Canadian Armed Forces members involved in the online business called Fireforce Ventures have been relieved from the performance of their duties (suspended) pending the conduct of a summary investigation,” Lt-Col. Andre Sullivan told Postmedia in a statement Saturday.
“This decisive action is necessary due to the severity of the allegations and potential impact on unit morale and cohesiveness.”
And while the Forces could not release the names of the suspended members, online news outlet Ricochet has reported one of the soldiers is Fireforce owner Henry Lung, who was also a religion teacher at Calgary’s Bishop McNally High School.
Tania Van Brunt, spokeswoman for the Calgary Catholic School District, said Ricochet that Lung “is no longer teaching at that school.”
But Lung told Postmedia that claims of Fireforce’s white supremacist ties have been blown out of proportion, saying the company sells Rhodesian equipment to honour “every Commonwealth soldier, black or white,” and the company’s selection of merchandise isn’t racially motivated.
“Zimbabwe still uses the camo we sell,” Lung said of the Rhodesian Brushstroke pattern used by Zimbabwe’s National Army.
“This is a black ethnostate,” Lung said of former Rhodesia, whose population was almost entirely black, aside from the white minority government.
“I don’t agree with Apartheid, I don’t agree with the nastier side of the politics, and that’s not what we sell.
“We want to recognize people that fought in the Cold War, no matter what side they fought on,” adding Fireforce also sells equipment used by “the guerrillas who fought the Rhodesians.”
Rhodesia was founded in 1965 by a white minority and sparked a civil war, known as the Rhodesian Bushwar, that lasted until 1979.
Lung said some of the controversy around Fireforce is due to comments he made being taken “out of context” by “some defunct neo-Nazi podcast,” referring to Canadian podcast This Hour Has 88 Minutes.
Despite the negative press, Lung said the company ’s sales have been “quadrupling ” in recent weeks.
A GoFundMe page was started to raise funds to take legal action against Ricochet, but the page was removed by the crowdfunding platform for a “violation of terms,” according to the company’s Facebook page.
Meanwhile, Fireforce has recently been in the news due to domestic politics.