Due to recent events, it’s time to "rip off the band-aid.” My name is Josh Chernofsky. I used to be part of the racist right and now I’m an anti-racist and an anti-fascist. I’ve wanted to tell my story and come clean to the community for a long time, but I didn’t know how.

In 2019, I walked by a PEGIDA event and started talking to them. They convinced me they were patriots. We traded numbers. I joined their chatrooms and started going to their demonstrations. I didn't understand why they encountered so much resistance so I wanted to learn more.

I ended up joining various groups online and in person. I went to events organized by a variety of groups. I went to the Mohawk College PPC event and Roxham Road. I got to know some of the more known people in the extreme far right, including Bryan Trottier.

There’s no better word to describe Bryan than pure evil. He’s a racist, he’s a harasser, and he wants to get people hurt or killed. Unfortunately, I helped him for a while.

It was during this time that I was doxxed by Anti-Racist Canada. I was angry at the time, I wanted payback.

Bryan gave me the addresses of Evan Balgord’s family and told me to post it on Stormfront. He told me that he wanted a neo-Nazi to use the info and kill @ebalgord or his family. He knew that I knew Kevin Goudreau, who had already asked people to kill Evan.

When Thomas Zaugg was going through a mental health crisis on livestream, members of Plaid Army and Bryan himself called the RCMP. They showed up, and there was a standoff. Bryan gleefully emailed people with a link to the livestream.

https://www.ckom.com/2021/01/07/police-arrest-man-after-standoff-in-dinsmore/

These are just a couple examples to explain what Bryan is. He’s a liar. He tries to turn people against each other. He plays both sides. Then he stabs them in the back. I keep watching him do it. Today he outed me. That’s okay. I’ve wanted to stop being anon for a long time.

When an anti-racist activist took her own life, everybody in the far right chatrooms started celebrating. They started sending messages to her friends and other anti-racists telling them to kill themselves too. It was gross. That’s when I started to second guess things.

Getting out is a process. I back-slid a few times, and wasn’t ready to cut all my ties right away. I reached out to members of the anti-racist and anti-fascist community and they were willing to talk. They showed me so much compassion during this time, and helped me get out.

Then one day, during break, I was walking down Church St., and I was struck that everyone around me was just going about their lives, as a community. The LGBTQ+ community were not the enemies I was told they were. It was a moment when I realized I could not go back.

I was already exposed by Anti-Racist Canada as a member of the Proud Boys in an article. I wanted to put that behind me, and reached out to ARC and @antihateca. We started talking too.

Eventually, I told Evan that it was me that put his family’s info on Stormfront for Bryan, because Bryan wanted Evan and his family killed. I said I was sorry. Evan listened to me and forgave me.

Some people suspected that I was passing info to anti-fascists. They were right. I was threatened/assaulted by Jordan Justein. I can’t go back to who I was before 2019. Once you’ve seen inside the racist right and how cruel it is, it can’t be forgotten. I want to help stop them.

I’ve told a few people in the anti-racist community who I am and my story. Now it’s public. I’ve made apologies and I’m working to make amends. I hope the community can continue to show me compassion. I will be more accountable and keep making amends.

So if you have any questions for me, just send me a DM. My name’s Josh Chernofsky. I used to be in a hate group, but I got out. I want to be even more involved in the anti-racist community, and be open about it.

And if anybody is reading this that’s in a hate group or in their chatrooms right now who is having second thoughts -- you can reach out. I’ll talk to you and introduce you to some cool and compassionate people. /thread