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There are some interesting points in here. I do find it odd how people who are compassionate enough to decide to become vegan don't always extend that compassion to other humans. I also find it odd that it doesn't always work the other way round as well, I know plenty of people that are humanitarian activists who aren't vegan. Weirdly I even know some people who are animal rights activists that aren't vegan, which is totally mind boggling to me.
ltc
I certainly don't think that a discussion of this very concerning topic is a derail of this thread. When I first heard about accusations that vegans were, more or less secretly, Neo-Nazis, and were apparently trying to recruit impressionable people on-line through veganism, I was completely shocked. I also once encountered someone vegan who, when the conversation turned to something connected with Nazism, reacted in such a strange way that I got the impression he was of that persuasion. It wasn't pursued and wasn't clear enough, but it was still worrying.
Many people have inconsistent beliefs; they may be completely convinced of beliefs that clash with one another, obviously aided and abetted by all the misinformation on the Internet. In a way, we shouldn't be surprised that vegans are not immune from this, but it is particularly baffling that people who otherwise embrace principles of living cruelty-free would somehow subscribe to the cruellest and worst ideology ever concocted. I think one has to examine the processes of reasoning individually, although obviously there will be patterns and shared views in peer groups. There are many ways of making a mistake at some point, and likewise many people don't stick with hateful views forever or even for very long, but what you see may just be them working through anger issues or other aspects of that side of theirs that somehow they have to experiment with. It's not always so easy as to hit upon the right thing and never looking left or right.
I'd say flirtation with Nazi imagery is probably a possible gateway. The question is always: 'Where does it lead?' Will people like that actually end up committing harm or will they be able to snap out of it at some point? One would hope that being vegan might eventually enable them to find consistency in their moral universe, but I guess myths like 'Hitler was vegetarian' (he was not) or the general misanthropy that you sometimes encounter in vegans (caused by the way many humans treat other animals) may play a role. Either way, it's completely confused and not good for the persons concerned, let alone for their potential victims, and it's worth keeping aware of this and being prepared in case it should rear its ugly head in our personal environment.
Anyway, I do hope the people concerned in the current example make some attempt to explain themselves or renounce how it appears. I don't know any of them, but if you do and can reach out, perhaps there are useful conversations to be had.