Dawson Creek RCMP Staff Sgt. and detachment commander Damon Werrell says the Soldiers of Odin recruiting and making their presence known in Dawson Creek is nothing to worry about.
Werrell was on hand Monday to fill city councillors in on the Soldiers of Odin, some of whom proclaimed little to no knowledge of the group.
“The Soldiers of Odin have been operating in Alberta for about 12 months, RCMP are aware of them, and have been monitoring them in Alberta. They are predominantly in Edmonton and Grande Prairie, but most recently moved to BC, recruiting in Dawson Creek,” he said.
“To my knowledge there are no chapters in Dawson Creek. For the year they have been operating in Alberta there has been no criminal element associated to this, and no criminal element associated with the self-proclaimed members in Dawson Creek," he said. A Soliders of Odin Peace Region Facebook group started nearly two weeks ago currently has 83 members in it. The BC SOO group has more than 4,000.
"At this time I do not believe there is any public safety concern related to that group, or their recruiting efforts in Dawson Creek,” he said.
Soldiers of Odin member Rob Terry spoke to the Mirror last week, noting that there were roughly a dozen members scattered throughout the Peace region, from Tumbler Ridge, Dawson Creek to Fort St. John.
“Fort St. John has the most of our members,” Terry told the Mirror last week.
Last summer northern based media photographed Soldiers of Odin members helping the clean-up of Beatton Park.