Neo-Nazis from the Keighley, West Yorkshire and Anglesey, North Wales, were found guilty of various terrorism and firearms offences.
The prosecution described the group as an “extreme fascist cell” in early 2021.
The fascist cell included Samuel Whibley, 29, Daniel Wright, 29, Liam Hall, 31 and their 29-year-old girlfriend Stacey Salmon, who were guilty of committing various offences.
At Sheffield Crown Court last week, it emerged that police recovered homemade explosive substances, an improvised explosive device, and components from a 3D-printed handgun at an address Hall and Salmon shared with their children.
DNA from Hall, Salmon, and Wright appeared on the “unfinished” handgun, according to the Independent.
Tell MAMA covered the initial arrests, and in the months ahead, press coverage from the trial gave us insights into their motivations. For example, Whibley spoke in contradictions: claiming to have embraced fascism to “fit in” yet admitted to reading the infamous white supremacist survivalist screed The Turner Diaries – a text which has influenced various acts of racist violence and terror.
Whibley, who hails from Angelsey in Wales, also admitted that he found the notorious screed Siege by US-based neo-Nazi James Mason “boring” – but still shared a link to it on the Telegram chat. Siege is a text revered by various neo-Nazi terrorist groups and individuals globally.
Siege has influenced a younger, more ideologically hardened and committed cohort of neo-Nazis – with several high-profile individuals later convicted of terrorism offences in the UK – all of whom were under the age of 25 (including teenagers).
Praise of the Oklahoma City white supremacist terrorist Timothy McVeigh also appeared on the Telegram chat – as did devotion of the neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Breivik.
Violent, graphic videos uploaded and revered on their Telegram channel included the livestreamed murder of 51 Muslims by a white supremacist terrorist in Christchurch in March 2019.
The murder of 51 Muslims in Christchurch has influenced various far-right terrorists domestically and internationally.
34-year-old, Dean Morrice, convicted of multiple terrorism offences last summer, took this tragedy as a form of debasing, dehumanising mockery – he strummed a guitar in time to the gunshots.
Morrice also possessed instructions on how to build a 3D printed gun.
Daniel Wright also carved Nazi swastikas into trees and took photos of himself performing fascist salutes.
An undercover police officer who infiltrated their Telegram channel monitored their racist discussions, desire for ideological terror, and their hope of avoiding falling foul of existing gun laws by seeking a 3D-printed version.
Daniel Wright, who lived on Winfield Avenue in Keighley, was found guilty of distributing a terrorist publication, possessing articles for terrorist purposes, and collecting information in breach of the Terrorism Act.
The jury also found him guilty of possessing and manufacturing a firearm.
Liam Hall, who resided in the Hill Top Walk area of Keighley, was also found guilty of possessing and manufacturing a firearm – but cleared of terrorism offences.
Stacey Salmon, who lived with Hall, was guilty of firearm offences but cleared of terrorism offences.
Samuel Whibley, however, was guilty of encouraging terrorism and distributing a terrorist publication.
Counter-terror police also recovered chemicals, weapons, guides for building explosives, and far-right propaganda material from the various addresses raided.
Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden, who leads Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said in a statement, “The vitriolic hatred expressed by these defendants went far beyond an intolerance of others. They are terrorists, with a deeply entrenched extreme right-wing mindset and a desire to act on those beliefs.”
He added that whilst the group had “no clear target” when arrested, they “pushed relentlessly for violent action in pursuit of their objectives.”
Sentencing will occur at a later date.