Suspect in Quebec Mosque Attack Quickly Depicted as a Moroccan Muslim. He's a White Nationalist.

[TubbersUK]

25. for several hours, there's been quite a lot of local Canadian press saying he's right wing

though largely in French.

More recently picked up by Globe and Mail

Quebec City mosque attack suspect known for right-wing online posts

The suspect in the deadly attack on a Quebec City mosque was known in the city's activist circles as a right-wing troll who frequently took anti-foreigner and anti-feminist positions and stood up for U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mr. Bissonnette's online profile and school friendships revealed little interest in extremist politics until last March when French nationalist leader Marine Le Pen visited Quebec City and inspired Mr. Bissonnette to vocal extreme online activism, according to people who clashed with him.

Vincent Boissoneault, a student in international relations at Laval University, grew up with Mr. Bissonnette and was friends with him on Facebook. He said they frequently clashed on politics when Mr. Bissonnette attacked refugees or expressed support for Ms. Le Pen or Mr. Trump.

"I can tell you he was certainly no Muslim convert. I wrote him off as a xenophobe. I didn't even think of him as totally racist, but he was enthralled by a borderline racist nationalist movement," Mr. Boissoneault said.

François Deschamps, an employment councillor who runs a refugee support Facebook page, said he immediately recognized Mr. Bissonnette's photo. "He was someone who made frequent extreme comments in social media denigrating refugees and feminism. It wasn't outright hate, rather part of this new nationalist conservative identity movement that is more intolerant than

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-city-mosque-attack-suspect-known-for-right-wing-online-posts/article33833044/