I just cleaned 3 satanic club houses and nobody could do anything
On the morning of March 30, 2021, three Masonic lodges in the Vancouver area were set ablaze, and by midday a 42-year-old man named Benjamin Kohlman was in custody facing charges of arson, assault, and flight from police. What distinguished this case from ordinary acts of destruction was the digital shadow it cast: a Facebook account under Kohlman's name had publicly declared, in real time, that he had 'cleaned 3 satanic club houses' — a statement timestamped before his arrest and framed within months of escalating conspiracy theories about Freemasonry, mind control, and nanotechnology. The case stands as a stark reminder that the distance between a radicalized belief and a burning building can, on some mornings, be measured in hours.
- Three fires struck Masonic lodges across Vancouver and North Vancouver in a single morning, with an off-duty officer physically confronting the suspect at one scene before he fled.
- A Facebook account in the suspect's name posted a public boast about 'cleaning 3 satanic club houses' at 8:07 a.m. — while fires were still being reported and nearly two hours before his arrest in Burnaby.
- The account's history revealed months of anti-Masonic conspiracy theories, including claims that Freemasons were using nanites and vaccines to control humanity, with multiple posts flagged by Facebook as false information.
- Police arrested Kohlman just before 10 a.m. and charged him with arson, assaulting a police officer, and flight from police, with additional charges related to the North Vancouver fires expected in coming weeks.
- The case has landed in the courts as a rare and troubling instance where a suspect's alleged beliefs, public declarations, and criminal actions appear to form a single, timestamped arc from ideology to violence.
On the morning of March 30, 2021, fires broke out at three Masonic lodges across the Vancouver area — two in North Vancouver and one on Rupert Street in Vancouver. An off-duty officer spotted a man carrying a jerry can leaving the burning Vancouver building around 7:30 a.m. and confronted him physically before the suspect escaped. That encounter set off a chain of events that led to the arrest of Benjamin Kohlman, 42, in Burnaby just before 10 a.m.
What made the case remarkable was what had already appeared online. At 8:07 a.m. — roughly ninety minutes after the first confrontation and nearly two hours before his arrest — a Facebook account under Kohlman's name posted a single public sentence claiming he had just cleaned three 'satanic club houses.' When a commenter asked what came next, the account replied with references to a device that would 'stop the mind control' and warnings about nanites being used to manipulate people.
The account's history painted a portrait of deepening conspiracy thinking. Over preceding months, posts had accused Freemasonry of orchestrating vaccination programs as a vehicle for nanotechnology-based mind control, invoked the Rothschilds and Rockefellers as architects of global enslavement, and repeatedly characterized Masonic lodges as Satanic institutions. Several posts had been flagged by Facebook as false or misleading.
Vancouver Police confirmed Kohlman had prior interactions with law enforcement, including a history of criminal harassment. He was charged with arson, assaulting a police officer, and flight from police, and remained in custody. Investigators indicated additional charges related to the North Vancouver fires were anticipated in the weeks ahead.
The digital trail Kohlman allegedly left behind was neither hidden nor coded — it was public, timestamped, and appeared to narrate the crimes as they unfolded. Whether the courts would find that his stated beliefs drove his actions remained to be determined, but the morning's events suggested a man who had crossed from expressing a worldview to enacting it.
On the morning of March 30, 2021, three fires broke out at Masonic lodges across the Vancouver area. By that afternoon, a man was in custody. What emerged in the hours that followed suggested a troubling alignment between the suspect's online activity and the crimes he stood accused of committing.
Benjamin Kohlman, 42, a Vancouver resident, was arrested and charged with arson, assault on a police officer, and flight from police. The fires had struck two lodges in North Vancouver—Lynn Valley Lodge and Capilano Lodge in Central Lonsdale—and a third at the Mason hall on Rupert Street in Vancouver. An off-duty officer had witnessed a man carrying what appeared to be a jerry can exiting the burning Vancouver building around 7:30 a.m., and a physical confrontation had ensued before the suspect escaped. That officer's report to dispatch would eventually lead to Kohlman's arrest in Burnaby just before 10 a.m.
What made the case particularly striking was what appeared on Kohlman's Facebook page. At 8:07 a.m. that same morning—roughly an hour before his arrest—an account under his name posted a single sentence: "I just cleaned 3 satanic club houses and nobody could do anything." When someone replied asking what came next, the account responded with references to a "device" that would "stop the mind control" and claims about "nanites" being used to control people. The timing and the language seemed to track directly with the fires that were unfolding in real time.
The Facebook account attributed to Kohlman revealed a worldview saturated with conspiracy theories and anti-Masonic sentiment. Posts from the preceding months contained claims about hidden biblical texts, assertions that vaccination programs were part of a Freemason plot involving nanotechnology, and lengthy tirades about secret societies controlling governments and media. One December post, marked as false information by Facebook itself, elaborated an elaborate narrative about mind control, embedded microchips, and the Rothschilds and Rockefellers orchestrating global enslavement. The account had repeatedly referenced Freemasonry as a Satanic organization, and several posts had been flagged by the platform for containing false or misleading content.
Vancouver Police Department Const. Tania Visintin confirmed that Kohlman had prior interactions with law enforcement, including a history of criminal harassment. She indicated that investigators were still working through the two North Vancouver fires and anticipated recommending additional charges to Crown counsel in the coming weeks. Kohlman remained in custody pending his next court appearance.
The case illustrated how online radicalization and real-world violence could converge in a single morning. The Facebook posts were not hidden or coded—they were public declarations, timestamped and attributed, appearing to document the very crimes being investigated. Whether the account truly belonged to Kohlman, and what role his stated beliefs played in motivating the fires, would be matters for the courts to determine. But the digital trail left behind suggested someone who had moved from expressing conspiracy theories to acting on them.
Citas Notables
The two arsons that occurred in North Vancouver yesterday are still under investigation. We anticipate recommending more charges to Crown counsel in the coming weeks related to the North Vancouver files.— Const. Tania Visintin, Vancouver Police Department
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What strikes you most about the timeline here—the 8:07 a.m. post and the 10 a.m. arrest?
The brazenness of it. He didn't hide what he'd done. He announced it in real time, almost as if he needed to claim credit or validate his own actions through an audience.
Do you think he understood the post would be evidence against him?
That's the question, isn't it. Either he didn't care, or he genuinely believed he was right—that he was doing something heroic that would be vindicated. The conspiracy theories on his page suggest he lived in a completely different reality than the rest of us.
The posts about nanites and mind control—how does that connect to burning buildings?
In his worldview, the Masons weren't just a fraternal organization. They were agents of a vast control apparatus. Burning their buildings wasn't arson to him; it was resistance. It was cleaning house.
Did anyone try to stop him before it got to this point?
He had prior police contact for criminal harassment. So the system knew he was troubled. But there's a gap between online rants and actual violence that's hard to predict or prevent.
What happens to him now?
He waits in custody while police build their case on the North Vancouver fires. More charges are coming. And his Facebook page becomes evidence of intent and motive.