Hamilton police seek public help after neo-Nazi group holds masked rally at Gore Park

Hamilton police are asking for the public’s help while it investigates a hate incident at Gore Park over the weekend. 

A neo-Nazi club called “Nationalist-13” say they held the rally, which included more than a dozen masked men holding a sign expressing white supremacist views. 

The latest incident comes on the heels of recent Hamilton police statistics showing a continued rise in hate crimes.

A profanity-laced video was posted anonymously on the Facebook page “Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch,” showing a group of masked men — one who called for mass deportation while another appears to throw up a Nazi salute.

The video was posted yesterday — roughly 24 hours after reports came in about the group holding a rally at Gore Park Saturday evening.

“They held up a banner that talked about ‘White Men, Fight back’ but we don’t have anything else in regards to them targeting any type of group,” said Hamilton Police Insp. Carolyne Rashford.

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Hamilton police have confirmed they are looking into the incident and determined the masked group was composed of 10 to 15 individuals who had their faces covered and held a sign with a hateful message. 

Police say by the time officers were dispatched to the scene, the group had already marched away.

“The information that we received is that there was a lot of yelling and shouting at people who were walking by,” Rashford said.

“We know some of the language used was offensive. Unfortunately at this time, we don’t have anything that meets the threshold of criminality, but we’ll continue to look into it.” 

Nationalist-13 said on social media that they were the group rallying over the weekend in Hamilton.

“We don’t want to give them any more attention, but we’re here to call them out,” said Lyndon George, executive director of Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre.

“We say ‘that is not acceptable in our community. For the individuals who are impacted from this hate – know you’re not alone.”

Local advocates continue to highlight a growing trend of hate incidents.

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A similar group of masked individuals appeared at Jackson Square in November 2024, holding an anti-immigration sign.

Meanwhile, another area so-called nationalist club named Second Sons, have also made appearances in Hamilton, Niagara and most recently, London, Ont. 

Hamilton Ward 2 Coun. Cameron Kroetsch is calling for a unified response at city hall amid Hamilton police’s latest statistics that show hate crimes have risen 173.2 per cent in the last five years.

“I think it’s deeply disturbing. I think everyone in our community needs to be aware this is happening,” Kroetsch said.

“They need to take this seriously and make sure the people who continue to do this kind of thing are not welcome to keep doing it.” 

Kroetsch said Hamilton police have many projects and programs that they engage in. 

“Whether it was trying to collect illegal drugs or guns or other kinds of things in these special projects, I’m hopeful they will treat this as important as well,” he said. 

Hamilton police are requesting help from the public and asking anyone to come forward if they have more information or video of Saturday’s incident. 

Police will also connect those impacted with the necessary resources.

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