Teens Sought For Multiple BC Murders Have Far-Right Links: Report
Credit to Author: Mack Lamoureux| Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2019 16:21:51 +0000
Two teens sought by police in connection to three killings in northern British Columbia have expressed far-right ideology online, and one posed for photos of himself in Nazi wear, reports the Globe and Mail.
The Globe reports that Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky are “linked” to a YouTube page called Illusive Gameing [sic]. VICE viewed a Facebook account with a similar username that was connected to the two men on Tuesday, but it has since been deleted. The Globe reports that there are similarly-named accounts on the video game streaming platform Twitch and digital games marketplace Steam. These accounts reportedly feature a heady mix of far-right ideology, hentai, and Soviet imagery.
Globe reporters spoke with a gamer who claimed to have interacted with the two on Steam. The person provided the outlet with pictures of Schmegelsky showing off a Nazi armband, and another showing him in military fatigues. The Globe reports that their source cut ties with Schmegelsky after he praised Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Steam looms large in the gaming community, and its hands-off approach to moderation has allowed hate groups and communities that glorify real-life violence to proliferate openly. On Facebook, Schmegelsky also liked the Young Communist League of Victoria page.
In current photos of the teens taken on security cameras from a cafe while on the run, Schmegelsky is seen wearing camouflage.
The two teens are wanted in connection to the murders of tourists Chynna Deese, 24, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Lucas Fowler, a 23-year-old from Australia who was found shot in the ditch of the Alaska Highway. The two were believed to have been killed on July 14, on July 19, the truck the two teens were travelling in was found on fire a six hours’ drive from the bodies. The discovery of the burning truck led the RCMP to find the body of a deceased man two kilometres away. Police have not released the man’s identity, and the teens are wanted in connection to the man’s death.
An Instagram account connected to Schmegelsky features a profile image with the teen’s arm draped over McLeod’s shoulders in a friendly embrace.
Initially, the men were considered missing, but on Tuesday the RCMP confirmed that the pair were wanted in connection to the deaths. BC RCMP said that the two were travelling across Canada and asked for the public’s help in finding them.
On Sunday, two days after their truck was found burned, the teens were spotted in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. The RCMP say that Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were last seen in Gillam, a town in Northern Manitoba. By almost all measures, Gillam is in the middle of nowhere, 11 hours north of Winnipeg and surrounded by the deep black spruce bush of the northern prairies.
“Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky MAY be in Manitoba and are considered dangerous. We have reasons to believe they were recently in the Gillam area,” Manitoba RCMP tweeted. “If you spot them – take no actions – do not approach – call 911 or your local police immediately.”
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