Online activity suggests accused Montreal shooter Seth Hatfield watched videos about weapons, the outdoors and a tangle of conspiracy theories and grievances.
However, experts warn against drawing conclusions about the gunman.
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They also urge people to stop sharing online images of Monday’s shooting, which occurred outside a Montreal hotel.
Police said two officers were shot — one was killed along with a bystander, and the shooter died in the crossfire. Quebec media have reported Hatfield wrote a manifesto expressing hatred toward women and called for more violence.
An account named S Hatfield left a Google review of a watch repair shop in Lethbridge, the southern Alberta community where Quebec officials say a 25-year-old Hatfield lived.
The Google review’s account used a profile image of a white wolf against a black background.
The same image is used in a LinkedIn profile for an account named S Hatfield, listed in Lethbridge, and for a now-deleted YouTube account with the username Seth Hatfield.
Site snapshots from 2023 show the YouTube account subscribed to channels about fishing and guns and had a playlist of 51 videos.
More than a dozen of those videos were six- or seven-year-old clips by Paul Joseph Watson, a former editor of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars platform.
In 2018, Watson joined the UK Independence Party, which the Canadian Security Intelligence Service lists as an example of contemporary right-wing extremism in Europe.
In the videos gathered on the YouTube account, Watson takes aim at immigration policies, feminism and popular music. The playlist includes a four-year-old video claiming “Germanic nations” were in the midst of “extermination and replacement.” The same video has Nazi imagery and suggests the COVID-19 pandemic was planned.
David Hofmann, an associate sociology professor at the University of New Brunswick, said the videos are typical of the “buffet extremism” common for lone actors.
Hofmann said these people tend to pick and choose theories aligning with their grievances and “cobble together their own ideology.”
But he said information about Hatfield is still emerging and motives for the shooting are not settled.
Dr. Ghayda Hassan, a clinical psychologist and director of the Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence, agreed with Hofmann’s “buffet extremism” characterization.
“You will see some of these individuals use all sorts of theories — replacement theories, some conspiracy theories, Nazi theories, Marxist theories … to create a narrative that basically makes sense for them when it comes to their grievances,” she said in an interview.
Online, there are myriad theories to choose from, she said. Graphic video and pictures of the Montreal shooting have also been circulating online, which Hassan said could lead to more violence.
“The more people share those contents, the more extremist people or vulnerable people will use those contents to further groom other individuals,” Hassan said.
“I think the main message (to counter extremism) is really to become a responsible citizen,” she added. “And part of being a citizen is to understand the impact of the online environment on oneself and on the people around us.”
The University of Lethbridge confirmed Hatfield was a student at the school, and an online honour roll shows he studied philosophy.
The Holy Spirit Catholic School Division confirmed in an email Wednesday that Hatfield was a former student. Catholic Central High School in Lethbridge included Hatfield in a list of its 2019 graduates.
“We mourn the lives lost and our thoughts, hearts, and prayers go out to all those who have been impacted by this devastating act,” said the statement from Chantel Axani, the division’s superintendent.
