Like heavy music? You might be in a hate group

A Canadian music fan has criticised Calgary’s police service for apparently suggesting listening to “heavy rock music” could be a sign a young person is a member of a hate group.

In an information leaflet entitled Signs of a child being part of a hate group, the police force lists “playing loud, heavy rock music with violent lyrics” as an ‘early warning sign’, and police spokesman Corwin Odland says there “tends to be a correlation” between members of extremist groups and being “involved in that kind of music”.

The list has been rebuked by Calgary heavy metal fan Robert Riggs‎, who tells the Toronto Metro the idea of heavy metal fans as violent is an outdated stereotype. “My son, he listens to heavy metal, and he’s one of the nicest kids ever, but I tend to see him lumped into a group he doesn’t belong in,” he says.

“It’s kind of gone the way of [the idea that] video games cause violence and things like that. It’s not monkey see, monkey do. Kids see their parents go to work all time, and they don’t suddenly get up and find a job at seven years old.”

The list has since been updated to remove the word “rock” from the description, although the reference to “heavy music” remains.

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