This Goat-Blood-Drinking Pagan Running to Replace Rubio Isn’t Welcome in Canada

It's not every congressional race that features animal sacrifice, neo-Nazis, Aleister Crowley, Canadian border cops, and a bottle of urine. But that's the current state of Augustus Sol Invictus' bid to fill Marco Rubio's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat.

Invictus — his full name translating from the original Roman for 'majestic unconquered sun' — was denied entry to British Columbia last week after trying to reach a planned rally in Vancouver, the last leg of his west-coast road tour.

"Canadian Border Service then spent 3.5 hours investigating me," Invictus said in a statement posted to his campaign website. "I was interrogated about my affiliation with neo-Nazis, about the charges of Fascism, and about allegations of racism."

Ultimately, Invictus was invited to turn around at the border and leave Canada of his own volition, according to an official letter from the Canadian government posted to his Facebook page.

Invictus was scheduled to hold a rally in Vancouver this past weekend, and spent the days leading up to his speech taunting and threatening the anti-fascist protesters who planned to confront him.

"They have already caused the scheduled venue to blacklist me, on the charge of being a neo-Nazi," Invictus said on his podcast before heading to British Columbia, which has been played just over 100 times. "So we will be meeting in the street outside, where we will show the leftists what it means to have a backbone."

A note purportedly from Invictus warned followers "ASSUME DEADLY FORCE WILL BE USED."

While it's not clear exactly why he was refused entry, Invictus has garnered a litany of press online after admitting to some outlandish practises to the Associated Press.

— Augustus Invictus (@SenatorInvictus)February 29, 2016

"I sacrificed an animal to the god of the wilderness," he told the AP. "Yes, I drank the goat's blood."

Invictus, a lawyer, is the only Libertarian Party candidate who ran for Rubio's Senate seat in Florida — a fact that has sown discord in the party. He is also a practising Thelemite, a follower of the pagan religion founded by famed English occultist and writer Aleister Crowley, hence the goat sacrifice.

The Congressional candidate, who has virtually no hope of winning the race, also gained notoriety by defending the former head of neo-Nazi group American Front, adding on his podcast that he has "become personal friends with the members of the notorious skinhead organization." He also frequently says he hopes to inspire a second American civil war, and is seeking insurrection against the American government. He does not disavow the "fascist" label.

On his blog, Invictus posted a speech he delivered to the American Front, in which he told the neo-Nazi group that "it is high time we unite the disparate nationalist movements under one banner."

A Facebook page for the Vancouver event says that just 80-odd of Invictus' followers were planning on attending the rally, which was ultimately cancelled.

"So I was prevented from making a speech because communists made threats of violence against me — and that seems to me to be ass backward. Clearly the Canadian government values the right of violent protest for communists more than they value the right of free speech for all," Invictus said in his press release.

I was just assaulted in the streets for saying there are only two genders. Covered in piss lmao. 10/10 good day. — Lauren Southern (@Lauren_Southern)March 5, 2016

In the end, even without Invictus, a gaggle of protesters on both sides showed up. In the middle was right-wing online broadcaster Lauren Southern and a camera crew with 9/11 'truther' website PressForTruth. Southern used the opportunity to argue that women frequently falsely report rape, and that transgenderism is somehow debunked by science.

Somewhere in the small argument, a protester dumped a water bottle of what was later discovered to be urine on Southern's head.