Bernier tweet to ‘play dirty’ with reporters spread in ‘white supremacist’ forum: expert

'When Bernier put out his message to 'play dirty' with these journalists ... that message was received immediately by white supremacists,' said an expert.

People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier had his Twitter account frozen for 12 hours after tweeting the emails of three journalists and directing his followers to “play dirty.”

But now, one expert says the tweet didn’t just circulate on Twitter, and it found its way into a chatroom he said represents “a youth white supremacist group,” too.

“When Bernier put out his message to ‘play dirty’ with these journalists and put up their emails … that message was received immediately by white supremacists,” said Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.

In a tweet Wednesday, Bernier called three journalists from mainstream news outlets, including Global News, “idiots” and listed their emails, writing: “They want to play dirty, we will play dirty too.”

He encouraged his 160,000 followers to contact the reporters, posting excerpts of their requests for comment after Monday’s federal election.

“(T)ell them what you think of their disgusting smear jobs,” Bernier wrote.

Global News contacted Bernier’s team to ask for his reaction to the disciplinary action taken against his Twitter account, as well as to his tweet appearing in reportedly white supremacist chat groups. His team did not respond to multiple emails.

In a screenshot Balgord shared with Global News, users on the messenger service Telegram could be seen discussing the contact information Bernier had shared. They also speculated about the reporters’ religions.