Jeremy Mitchell MacKenzie (born ) is a Canadian far-right activist, military veteran, Plaid Army podcaster, the founder of

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

group Diagolon, and a

Canada convoy protest The Canada convoy protest, known as the Freedom Convoy (French: ''Convoi de la liberté'') was a series of protests and blockades across Canada in early 2022, initially organized to oppose COVID-19 vaccination in Canada, COVID-19 vaccine man ...

er.

Interests and views

Jeremy Mitchell MacKenzie is a right-wing activist who created the alt-right group Diagolon, which the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

reported as a "violent extremist group". He is a firearms enthusiast and a Plaid Army podcaster. MacKenzie has stated that there is a race war occurring in the US, and described the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

as a

kangaroo court Kangaroo court is an informal pejorative term for a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court ma ...

Career

MacKenzie joined the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

in 2003 and worked as infantryman for the

Royal Canadian Regiment The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canadi ...

, which included a deployment in Afghanistan. He left the army in 2017 with the rank of master corporal. MacKenzie is present on many social media platforms where he uses variations of the username ''Raging Dissident''.

Canada convoy protest

In early 2022, MacKenzie took part in the Canada convoy protest. In February 2022, he was identified by

Public Safety Minister The minister of public safety and emergency preparedness () is the minister of the Crown responsible for Public Safety Canada and a member of the Cabinet of Canada. The portfolio succeeded the role of Solicitor General of Canada in 2005. Gary ...

Marco Mendicino Marco Mendicino (; born July 28, 1973) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the 16th Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister since 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as the member of Parliament for Eglinton—Lawre ...

as a national security risk; Mendicino also identified MacKenzie's Diagolon organization as "a

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

extreme organization." MacKenzie and his lawyer Sherif Foda said the official description relied too heavily on what they described as misinformation from the Canadian Anti Hate Network. While giving evidence at the subsequent Public Order Emergency Commission, MacKenzie downplayed his connections to Chris Lysak, one of the men accused of plotting to kill police officers at the 2022 highway blockage near

Coutts Coutts & Co. () is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channe ...

, Alberta. MacKenzie's lawyer had requested that MacKenzie be allowed to testify in private. Commissioner Paul Rouleau rejected evidence presented by MacKenzie that downplayed the role of Diagolon at the protest and described Diagolon's presence at both the Ottawa and Coutts protests as "the most troubling connection between protest locations" in his concluding report''.''

Allegations and arrest

In January 2022, MacKenzie was charged with 13 firearms-related offences. The

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for MacKenzie in July 2022, and he was arrested on September 29, 2022 in Cole Harbour,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. MacKenzie was charged with crimes in three provinces, including

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and Nova Scotia. His charges include: criminal harassment, uttering threats, assault, pointing a firearm at someone, and ten counts of possessing restricted firearms and prohibited magazines. He was denied bail on October 7, 2022. MacKenzie fired his lawyer on October 13, 2022. After being held in

Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre The Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre is an adult male, provincial correctional centre located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is one of four provincial correctional centres in the province including the Regina Correctional Centre, ...

, bail was set at $10,000, on November 25, 2022. On May 31, 2023 MacKenzie did not enter a plea to harassing Nova Scotia's chief medical officer, Robert Strang, as the court case was delayed to enable more evidence to be disclosed. In late August 2023, all Saskatchewan-related charges against MacKenzie were dropped. MacKenzie was given a 12-month

peace bond In Canadian law, a peace bond (also known as a 810 order, after the relevant section of the '' Criminal Code of Canada'') is an order from a criminal court that requires a person to keep the peace and be on good behaviour for a period of time. T ...

, preventing him from naming complainants in the matter. Some Nova Scotia charges were also dropped, although in late August 2023, charges relating to events in Quebec and Nova Scotia remained untested in court. On June 7, 2024 provincial court Judge Jill Hartlen dismissed the harassment charges against MacKenzie and his wife Morgan Guptill, ruling that "the time between arrest and trial violates the 18-month ceiling set by the Supreme Court of Canada". MacKenzie made racist comments and discussed raping Anaida Poilievre (wife of Conservative Party leader

Pierre Poilievre Pierre Marcel Poilievre (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has been the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party since 2022. He was the Member of Parliament (Canad ...

) with podcast guest Alex Vriend, prompting Poilievre to ask the RCMP to investigate. An RCMP investigation was ongoing as of October 2022. In June 2024, ''sasktoday.ca'' reported that charges in all provinces against MacKenzie had been stayed or withdrawn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenzie, Jeremy 1980s births Living people Alt-right activists Organization founders Far-right politics in Canada Canadian Army personnel Canadian prisoners and detainees Canadian podcasters Canadian conspiracy theorists People from Pictou County Protesters involved in the Canada convoy protest Prisoners and detainees of Canada