A former Vancouver resident who is wanted in Canada for hate crimes has alarmed residents of a North Dakota community with his plans to turn the area into a haven for white supremacists.
Craig Paul Cobb has purchased 12 lots in Leith, N.D., over the past two years and hopes to buy more there and in neighbouring towns as his finances allow. He?s encouraging like-minded ?white nationalists? to move to the area and do the same.
?I?ve always had the Little Europe concept in mind,? said Cobb during a telephone interview Monday.
Cobb, 62, was arrested in June 2010 for allegedly promoting hatred through his website Podblanc. He was released from custody and fled Canada before he was charged in December 2010 with wilful promotion of hatred. Cobb holds dual citizenship in Canada and the U.S.
Authorities in B.C. are aware of Cobb?s activities and location, and are in regular contact with U.S. law enforcement, but Cobb cannot be extradited. Extradition is allowed only for offences alleged as crimes in both jurisdictions, and there is no charge similar to wilful promotion of hatred in the U.S.
Grant County Sheriff Steve Bay said his office knows about Cobb and has increased patrols in Leith since Cobb?s plans came to light. Beyond keeping an eye on the situation, there?s nothing he can do because Cobb hasn?t broken any laws.
?There has been a tremendous amount of concern,? Bay said Monday, noting that his phone was ringing off the hook last week with calls from Leith residents. ?They were worried that he was going to take over the local city government or start a community of like people ... There?s no doubt about it, that?s still his intent.?
In a May 2012 posting on the Vanguard News Network forum, Cobb said Leith is a town that ?we can politically control post haste.?
He advised that potential residents should commit to flying at least one racialist banner (such as a Nazi flag) 24 hours a day, try to import ?more responsible, radical, hard-core white nationalists? and register as a legal resident of Leith so they can vote in local elections and elect like-minded people.
Cobb said Monday that, to some extent, he?s still deciding how the community would look. A racial history theme park and museum, private parks dedicated to racist icons such as Adolf Hitler, a prison for ?white-hating lefty Bolsheviks,? a bar and Western-style storefronts have been floated as ideas.
Drawing on a suggestion from someone in an online forum, Cobb said the new community could be called ?Cobbsville.?
The notion of ?Cobbsville? or an all-white territory is not new, said Alan Dutton of the Vancouver-based Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society.
?It?s been tried before, but I hope it fails,? he said. ?It?s something we should abhor. It?s ridiculous of him to try to set up an all-white town.?
There is likely little town officials can do at this point because the sales were private transactions, said Dutton. But authorities should keep an eye on Cobb should he begin promoting racism openly, he noted.
While Cobb should be brought to justice on the hate charges in Canada, Dutton said, he will also be glad to see the last of him.
?The further away Craig Cobb moves ... from Canada, the better for everybody.?
Although he was fired from his job with a paving company last week, Cobb said he?s planning to stay in Leith and continue encouraging ?armchair activists? to move to the area.
Bay described Leith (population 19) and Grant County as rural, farming communities and said he?s not convinced Cobb will be successful in setting up a racist enclave.
?I just don?t believe it?s going to happen, especially now that the word is out,? Bay said.
Even though the Canada-wide warrant for Cobb?s arrest remains in effect, and if he is discovered in Canada he will be arrested, Cobb said he has crossed the border on more than one occasion. He expressed love for his country and at the same time lamented how ?intolerant? Canada has become.
?I?m still a Canadian. You guys don?t make me feel like it, but I still am,? he said. ?I miss Canada ? I wish there were a national movement to let Craig Cobb come home.?
jensaltman@theprovince.com
twitter.com/jensaltman
? with a file from Cheryl Chan
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