Canadian police have yet to identify the motive for the Toronto van attack in which 10 people were killed, but before the dead had even been counted, many rightwing commentators were rushing to depict the attack as Islamist terrorism.

Within minutes of the attack, Faith Goldy, an “alt-right” provocateur, tweeted that she was “en route” to the scene, from where she posted a string of videos suggesting that the attacker was Middle Eastern – despite official statements that he was white.

Goldy was previously a contributor to the far-right outlet Rebel Media, until she was fired for being too cosy with neo-Nazis during her coverage of the Charlottesville protests last year.

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