A local activist is defending a counter-protest in St. Catharines this week.
On Tuesday a group of four people arrived outside St. Catharines' MP Chris Bittle's office carrying signs stating 'Patriots on guard against Trudeau' and 'Jail ISIS fighters.'
Counter-protesters from the Niagara Anti-Racism Coalition stood outside in opposition chanting, 'No hate, no fear.'
While speaking to CKTB News on Tuesday, Bittle termed the original group as 'white supremacists,' and Founder of the Niagara Anti-Racism Coalition Karrie Porter stands by the categorization.
"We call this dog whistle politics - it's stirring up fear and hatred with a certain message that seems benign but there's really something behind it."
One member of the original group has been causing concern for the Anti-Racism Coalition for some time.
Porter did not want to identify the man by name, but she says she has noticed a disturbing trend on his social media.
"He posts racist things all day every day. The night before [the protest] his post was 'I got this cold, I'm going to bring some bacon to the mosque to see if I can get beheaded,' to deal with his cold because he has to go to Chris Bittle's office. So this is what prompted the action on our behalf."
Porter also points to another post on the man's social media. It depicts a gun with the caption, 'Introducing the new 'Smith and Wesson' selfie cams specially designed with Liberals and Muslims in mind.'
"I can assure you that the 15 of us who showed up wouldn't just show up because of an anti-Trudeau demonstration," Porter says. "We showed up because we know who this person is - we've been monitoring what they're doing and we know which groups they're involved in across Canada, lots of online hate groups, and we want to make sure these groups don't start forming in Niagara."