B'nai Brith wants Lethbridge professor Anthony Hall fired for allegedly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories
Hall being 'actively' investigated by University of Lethbridge, but cleared by police
A Jewish group is calling on the University of Lethbridge to fire a professor who it alleges is "well-known for using his academic credentials to deny the Holocaust and promote 9/11 conspiracy theories."
Anthony Hall co-hosts a weekly YouTube show called False Flag Weekly News, which allegedly promotes the notion of a Zionist conspiracy to foster hatred of Muslims through "false flag" terror events, beginning with 9/11.
B'nai Brith alleges that Hall "is a proponent of what he refers to as an 'open debate on the Holocaust,' a supporter of Holocaust deniers like Monika Schaefer, and has even accused Israel of 'playing a key role' in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks."
The university is investigating after several complaints were launched against him. He denies any wrongdoing.
Hall, a faculty member in the university's Globalization department, is the subject of a petition by B'nai Brith that has garnered more than 1,100 signatures since its launch last week.
The petition calls on the University of Lethbridge to investigate Hall, but B'nai Brith now wants him removed from his role.
"At first we said we would be happy with him no longer espousing the positions he holds publicly … [But] at this point, we were hoping the university would remove him from his position," said Ryan Bellerose, Western Canada Advocacy Coordinator.
Facebook post
Hall came to the group's attention a year ago. Then last month, an image was posted on his Facebook page that was "incredibly anti-Semitic", Bellerose said.
They launched a complaint with the Lethbridge Police Service, which has decided not to press charges.
"Investigation determined the post, while extremely offensive and inappropriate, does not meet the threshold for intent set out in the Criminal Code of Canada for advocating genocide or public incitement of hatred," the police said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the police, the image was posted to Hall's personal Facebook page by a third party.
It shows a photograph of an Orthodox Jew being assaulted, and is accompanied by a violent rant calling for the extermination of Jews. The post was removed from the Facebook account a short time later and the account of the person who posted it was deleted, police said.
Hall says he had no knowledge of the post, and has further come out to "strongly condemn the message conveyed in both the image and the text" in an article he wrote for the American Herald Tribune, a website of which he is editor-in-chief.
He could not be reached for comment by the CBC.
Internal investigation
In a statement, the University of Lethbridge said it was "actively engaged with this issue" following "numerous inquiries and expressions of concern regarding Dr. Hall's activities, views and teachings in the classroom."
However, it declined to provide details on any disciplinary action taken against him, citing privacy obligations.
"We can say unequivocally that Dr. Hall does not speak on behalf of the University or its faculty, staff and students," said the statement by Michael Mahon, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lethbridge.
"As a community we condemn any communication that promotes hatred, discrimination or violence to any individual or group," he added.
With files from the CBC's Tiphanie Roquette