Jeremy Mackenzie, leader of the controversial Diagolon movement, arrested on Canada-wide warrant

Saskatchewan RCMP have confirmed that Jeremy Mackenzie, the leader of the controversial Diagolon movement, was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant on Wednesday.

According to Mackenzie's partner, Morgan May Guptill, he was detained at their Cole Harbour home by the Halifax Regional Police late Wednesday afternoon.

May said she and Mackenzie had noticed earlier in the day when reviewing their surveillance footage that police had stopped by their home. 

"So we had called them and they made us aware that there was a warrant," May told CBC in a phone interview. 

She said she and Mackenzie "waited in the driveway for them and co-operated."

Mackenzie was arrested by members of the RCMP and Halifax Regional Police on charges that had been laid months ago.

On July 18, Saskatchewan RCMP charged the 36-year-old with assault, pointing a firearm, use of a restricted weapon in a careless manner and mischief during an incident near Viscount, Sask., in November. There's no word yet on a court date. 

Mackenzie is a prolific podcaster and the leader of an online group known as Diagolon. A June 2022 House of Commons report identified the organization as an ideologically motivated violent extremist organization.

"It's made up of former members of the Canadian Forces, individuals with real combat training, with real capabilities and who have grown increasingly radicalized, especially because of COVID," the report says, quoting Mubin Shaikh, a professor of public safety at Seneca College. 

The report notes there are connections between Diagolon and extremists who were arrested at the Coutts, Alta., border crossing during the February convoy protest. It said those extremists "were ready to engage police in a firefight." 

Members of Diagolon have been tied to the convoy protests and two Diagolon patches were found on body armour seized during the execution of RCMP search warrants at Coutts.

Mackenzie and his followers have scoffed at the suggestion this group is some sort of American-style militia group, arguing they are simply trolling a gullible media.

In reference to a photo of Mackenzie and others posing with guns, Guptill explained it's all a ruse. 

"He knows you guys will fall for it and you'll post it and look ridiculous," she said, explaining that the purpose is "to make people understand that reporters have no idea. They don't do the research. They don't actually know what they're talking about. They'll take anything and run with it."