Canada became the first country to declare the far right group the Proud Boys a terrorist organization, on Wednesday.
The Proud Boys were one of 13 groups now designated as terrorist organizations, including the Russian Imperial Movement and two neo-Nazi groups — the Atomwaffen Division and The Base.
“Their violent actions and rhetoric are fueled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny, and unfortunately, often in combination of all of the above,” Canada’s Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said at a news conference.
Blair said the decision to designate the ‘Proud Boys’ a terrorist organization was based on “evidence, intelligence and the law.”
The move will allow Canada to freeze the groups’ financial assets and criminalize financing, training and recruitment for all such groups.
The announcement comes little more than a week after Canada’s House of Commons, unanimously passed a motion calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to designate the Proud Boys as a banned terrorist group.
