Ivan Jennings, a 46-year-old warehouse worker and former local councillor from Stafford, whom the judge described as possessing “deeply held abhorrent and racist views”, belonged to at least seven extremist far-right Telegram channels.

It was within these extremist racist channels that Jennings discussed procuring the “most poisonous” mushrooms to put in the food of Muslim and Jewish communities.

One possible target for a far-right terror attack was those celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day in Manchester, the court heard.

Further targets included the racist murder of refugees and migrants arriving via boat, amid discussion of the use of Molotov cocktails. Online searches in August 2024 revealed that he had looked up motorboat chartering services at Dover and subsequent rental costs, as he suggested in one chat that individual members should aim to murder at “least 200 and stop the constant influx”.

Nor did Jennings express any reservations about murder and far-right terrorism, writing in one chat: “It’s not murder, because we are at war. If it’s subhumans, it’s justified and actually needed”.

He had admitted in May to encouraging terrorism online between 15 August and 14 November 2024.

Jennings admitted another terrorism offence, disseminating the terrorist publication authored by the white supremacist terrorist Anders Behring Breivik on 21 August 2024.

He pleaded not guilty to possession of the screed authored by the white supremacist terrorist who murdered 51 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, in May 2019, but this count will remain on file.

Jennings, however,  advocated for a copycat terror attack on Muslim communities, suggesting “we need a bigger impact”.

Upon leaving prison, the 46-year-old will face a further five years on extended licence.

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A social account linked to an infamous fake far-right Telegram channel that offered cryptocurrency in exchange for vandalising mosques in the UK had seemingly connected to X (formerly Twitter) in Russia, a Tell MAMA investigation can reveal.

One of the purchased accounts those behind Direct Action UK used to promote themselves on X (formerly Twitter) mysteriously attempted to remove all references to it when accessing the platform via the Russian Federation Android App.

At some point between Tell MAMA publishing its report on Direct Action UK in December 2025 and the trial and subsequent convictions of Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc in June 2026, an X account we identified in that report removed biographical information and deleted various posts about the extremist far-right channel, accessing the platform via the “Russian Federation Android App” and using a VPN to show a location in France, information gleaned after X rolled out a location transparency feature in late 2025, which is not without flaws nor controversies, however.

The individual(s) responsible have since removed Direct Action from its profile name, banner, and removed a link to the defunct Telegram channel. Its profile name now reads “Direct”, not “Direct Action”. It also mass-deleted various far-right, anti-migrant, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic materials cross-posted from the defunct Telegram channel. A notable deletion wrote, “#summer #riots Can we do it again?” made in January 2025 at a time when it was offering money to those who would vandalise mosques, accompanied by a picture of the prime minister depicted as a clown.

The account was one of several we identified as purchased X accounts used to create a false sense of authenticity of Direct Action, which began in September 2024, offering financial incentives (paid via cryptocurrency) to encourage attacks on police officers in hopes of encouraging far-right violence and disorder seen following the tragic murders and stabbings in Southport.

It launched its Telegram channel on 3 September 2024 before going private in mid-to-late February 2025, but not before using a similar tactic: offering financial rewards (via cryptocurrency) to vandalise mosques with far-right slogans in January.

Tell MAMA monitored their online activities in late January, providing the police and counter-terrorism with regular updates.

Direct Action UK, however, did not exist in the UK, but it worked hard to reach those who were.

Enter Roman Lavrynovych

Roman Lavrynovych, 22, was found guilty of conspiracy to damage property by fire and convicted of two counts of damaging property by fire (recklessness to whether it would endanger life), alongside Stanislav Carpiuc, over three arson attacks linked to properties and a car of the prime minister, Sir Kier Starmer, and faces sentencing on 19 June.

During the trial, it emerged that Roman Lavrynovych, under instruction from a Russian-speaking handler named “El Money”, printed and displayed Direct Action posters across part of London on the promise of financial payment. Whilst there is no evidence that Lavrynovych accessed the Telegram channel, the photographs of the poster (all using the same brand of tape) appeared in the main Direct Action UK Telegram channel. Evidence of this connection appeared in the Starmer arson trials, but was not developed further, despite police finding such evidence on his mobile phone.

The Financial Times published a wide-ranging article this week that revealed that “El Money” was based in Russia with close ties to a pro-Kremlin hacktivist network named NoName057(16), described by the Department of Justice in the United States as a “state-sponsored cyber criminal hacking group,” as the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has mentioned NoName with regards to DDoS attacks on UK and international websites.

Our research report into Direct Action, published in December 2025, suggested links between it and other pro-Russian hacktivist groups, including “Юность Диверсанта” – The youth of the saboteur, suggesting more of a clandestine, not state-backed operation.

Taken from Tell MAMA’s report: The Risk of Foreign Influence on the UK Far-Right and Anti-Muslim Hate (December 2025).

Through heavy usage of AI-generated content (visual and text) alongside real-world footage of rioting post-Southport, it used TikTok, YouTube and X in tandem with Lavrynovych to put up posters (often containing a QR code and the URL of its short-lived TikTok account) across London (some of which claimed Manchester also) in mid to late 2024, to cultivate the idea of authenticity for far-right extremists seeking an alternative group post-Southport.

Our analysis found many textual inconsistencies and basic errors, suggesting a reliance on AI-generated content to appeal to an English-speaking audience. And on occasion, they would slip up, including leaving Cyrillic characters in English-language posts.

Examples of the errors detected in the Direct Action UK propaganda on social media.

An early Direct Action video included the text “Want? Make money and fight? Write to us!”

As Tell MAMA’s research report details at length, those within the Direct Action UK channels shared various terror manuals alongside guides to build Molotov cocktails, improvised explosive devices and instructions to commit terror attacks with bladed objects or vehicles. We observed discussions between members about how to target mosques, including one individual in the Cheshire area who stole discarded papers from a mosque and uploaded himself burning them. Encouraged by other members, he escalated his behaviour, including burning a copy of the Quran. In another example, a Manchester-based neo-Nazi received encouragement from those behind Direct Action to target a mosque in his area. A channel admin replied, “Looks like it, bro, here’s our graffiti stencil. Manchester needs graffiti too. You’ve got a chance to take home the prize for the coolest graffiti.”

Tell MAMA’s monitoring of the far-right extremism in two Direct Action UK Telegram channels, showed the admin trying to convince a Manchester-based neo-Nazi to vandalise a local mosque.

Other forms of AI-generated content sought to push racist violence fuelled by ideological grievance politics and other forms of extremist violence, notably towards the police, across their social media. With the latter forming a critical part of the group’s origins, which sought to exploit lingering tensions post-Southport in hopes of encouraging physical violence and the burning of police cars, offering sums of money (paid in cryptocurrency) up to £4,000. The scripted posts read “The government doesn’t notice your dissent? Let them feel it. Realise your protest. Fire + Police car = 4.000£ for you.”

The vandalism campaign against mosques gave more indication of the foreign element to the channel, writing, “For this direct action, you’ll need a can graffiti spray ~2-5£ and an hour of your time in the evening” People who create the most beautiful graffiti on mosques will receive a gift from our movement – 100£ in any cryptocurrency.” In other posts, they offered £200 in any cryptocurrency (again, written incorrectly with the £ symbol displayed in reverse).

Across various platforms, including YouTube and X, we misspelt hashtags like “#Glassgow” and the “#UnitedKingdoom” on numerous posts. The YouTube account was listed as “Direct Actions UK”, which only ever boasted one subscriber, had lain dormant in some form since its creation in 2022.

As the report stressed, we identified various individuals within the UK – from London, Manchester, Southampton, and other cities keen to involve themselves in extreme far-right direct action, demonstrating an appetite to cause harm and violence.

Further examples of in-group dynamics encouraging one member to go further and burn a copy of the Quran, after he stole rubbish from a local mosque to burn at home. It was one of many examples that Tell MAMA raised with the police.

During our monitoring of the Telegram channels, we alerted police to an individual who had stolen materials from the bin of a mosque to burn at home, boasting about it in the smaller, more extremist channel. When pushed by others, he would later post a video of himself burning a copy of the Quran.

With the police investigations into the graffiti on several mosques, Islamic centres and an Islamic school, and news of a third unknown suspect, there remain many questions for the Metropolitan Police and counter-terrorism with regards to Direct Action UK and the targeting of Muslim communities.

The post Direct Action UK: how a foreign far-right Telegram channel fomented anti-Muslim hate appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The anti-Muslim graffiti, which included racist slogans, is still under investigation more than a year later, despite Roman Lavrynovych, the Ukrainian construction worker who was found guilty of arson attacks linked to properties and a car of the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, admitting in court to vandalising two mosques under the instruction of his Russian-speaking handler, “El Money”.

The Financial Times’ wide-ranging report into a fake far-right Telegram channel called Direct Action UK disclosed that a third unknown person, identifiable by a distinctive barbed wire tattoo on their wrist, filmed themselves vandalising an Islamic primary school in east London in January 2025, a report that also drew from our research into the group.

Following guilty verdicts against Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc on 15 June 2026, the BBC published a lengthy investigation into the men and the fake group Direct Action UK, including a quote from our director, Iman Atta, that stressed our concerns that the Metropolitan Police was still not treating the graffiti of mosques nor the extremist content of the fake group with the seriousness expected.

Following a concerning spate of graffiti cases targeting mosques, Islamic centres, and a school across London, we began a sustained investigation into this Telegram channel (and related social media channels), documenting at length their racist and extremist ideologies and the dangerous and inflammatory content they produced, and crucially, that its murky origins existed outside of the UK.

By the end of January 2025, Tell MAMA had provided the police and counter-terrorism with intelligence updates about the Telegram activities of Direct Action UK (and its smaller sub-channel) had demonstrated a fixed, clear threat to Muslim and other minority communities, raising the risk of real-world racist violence or terrorism, as they shared dozens of illegal terrorist materials and video guides – for building explosives and Molotov cocktails, to murder methods and how to construct firearms.

Direct Action UK would soon vanish from Telegram weeks later, going private in mid-February, months before the arson attacks on the properties and car linked to the prime minister occurred in May 2025.

We, however, did not stop looking into them.

As detailed further in our report “The Risk of Foreign Influence on the UK Far-Right and Anti-Muslim Hate” about Direct Action UK, which we published in December 2025 (when its connection to Lavrynovych was not public knowledge or a known factor), the individual(s) behind it purchased various accounts on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the far-right violence and riots in the summer of 2024 following the tragic murders and stabbings in Southport, in hopes of initially offering cryptocurrency in exchange for attacks on the police. We linked it at the time to a clandestine network of pro-Russian hacktivists.

More than a year later, all Muslim communities know is that the Met’s investigation is ongoing, but with no clear answers or updates, they deserve better. Tell MAMA will continue to push for action on the case.

Tell MAMA’s Director Iman Atta, made clear that: “Significant questions remain unanswered regarding the response of the justice system to a deeply disturbing and coordinated campaign of intimidation. The institutional reaction from both the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has fallen profoundly short of what Muslim communities, and indeed any community facing a targeted, terrorism-adjacent hate campaign, rightfully deserve.

“In an unrelated high-profile criminal trial about the Starmer arsons, one man admitted carrying out some of the anti-Muslim and Islamophobic graffiti on mosques in London. That admission was on the record. And yet there appears to have been no serious effort to secure a conviction specifically in relation to the Direct Action network and the wider campaign of targeted intimidation it orchestrated. That is simply not good enough.

Muslim communities deserve to see the law applied with the same rigour and urgency that would be brought to bear if any other community had been subjected to a coordinated campaign of this nature, one that included not just hate crime, but the active promotion of terrorism, the distribution of bomb-making materials, and the offer of cryptocurrency payments for attacks on places of worship. The evidence was there. The question that has not been satisfactorily answered is why it was not treated as the priority it so clearly should have been.”

The post Over a year later, why has nobody been arrested for the far-right graffiti on various mosques in London? appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The group never met in person, but shared their racist, homophobic and violent ideologies online, discussing possible targets for terror attacks – including synagogues, mosques, and buildings housing refugees.

25-year-old Brogan Stewart, from West Yorkshire, fashioned himself as their leader and “Fuhrer”, telling Cannock-based Christopher Ringrose, 34 and Derby-based Marco Pitzettu, 25, to dress in Nazi-style clothing.

Stewart named them “Eitzen 14” – a reference to the notorious Nazi death squads. The Einsatzgruppen had murdered over one million Jewish people in mass shootings following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

Counter-terrorism police revealed that the group planned for a “race war” and sourced body armour, riot gear, rations and over 200 weapons divided across their home addresses. Weapons recovered included machetes, hunting knives, swords, and crossbows.

Ringrose had been building a 3-D assault rifle, with instructions found online and required just a firing pin, bolt and barrel to become active and deadly. He also shared a photograph of his one-year-old child with a skull mask on the Telegram channel, captioned “choose violence”, the Guardian reported.

Tell MAMA identified a TikTok channel potentially linked to Ringrose, which we can now disclose following the guilty verdicts.

The TikTok account potentially linked to Christopher Ringrose contained extremist content from 2022 and followed far-right pages.

The account had uploaded a video in late May 2022, captioned “one mans terrorist another mans freedom fighter”, which stylised a photo of armed members of the IRA taken in Belfast in 1987 during the Troubles. Another meme featured an armed man with the caption, “You think the government cares about you?”.

Of the various pages followed by the account, we saw overt neo-Nazi pages containing totemkampf death skull avatars or 14/88 name variants amongst other ultranationalist pages from Europe and anti-Muslim materials invoking the Knights Templar.

During a group call on 5 February 2024, Stewart detailed plans to seek out “human targets” near an Islamic education centre. Counter-terrorism police made their arrests sixteen days later after an undercover officer had infiltrated their group. When the trial began, the prosecution outlined how the “imminent threat of an attack” resulted in their arrests.

A photograph of Brogan Stewart’s room in the house he shared with his mother included a Nazi flag and a poster for the neo-Nazi group the British Movement amongst various weapons.

Other racist statements from Stewart in the chat included calling the former prime minister Rishi Sunak the P-word.

During the trial, the prosecution outlined how Mr Stewart told an undercover officer of his desire to replicate the Nazi death squad and of his homemade “information extraction kit” that included pliers, gaffer tape, a blowtorch and how a “syringe filled with bleach” would get people talking. He also spoke of a desire to torture local imams.

Marco Pitzettu had obtained an illegal stun gun, in breach of the Firearms Act 1968, an offence which he pleaded guilty to prior to trial. Pitzettu also shared footage of the Christchurch terror attacks that resulted in the murder of 51 Muslims in New Zealand in 2019, highlighting the lingering influence of such white supremacist terror over those convicted of far-right terror offences across the UK.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, made clear in a statement that: “Stewart, Pitzettu, and Ringrose have today been rightfully convicted of multiple terrorism offences.” Adding, “They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset.

“Some of their defence in court was that it was all fantasy or just part of harmless chat, however all three took real world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.”

The trio faces sentencing on 17 July.

The post Neo-Nazi trio guilty of planning terror attack on Leeds mosque appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Taxi driver Andrew McIntyre, 39, created the “Southport Wake Up” Telegram channel, encouraging others to carry out violence and disorder in Southport on July 30, including targeting the local mosque.

He pleaded guilty to pleading guilty to encouraging violent disorder and criminal damage and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

During sentencing, Judge Flewitt stated that racism was the key motivator for McIntyre, and “I have no doubt your actions encouraged many people to plan and then to commit offences of both violent disorder and criminal damage.”

For the prosecution, Arthur Gibson outlined that the riots and disorder were not ‘spontaneous’ or “that persons coincidentally simply decided to turn up and take part” and that individuals “to a greater or lesser degree participated in the organisation, encouragement and incitement of such gatherings, which resulted in the disorder.”

Two days before the far-right violence and disorder descended upon the mosque in Southport, threatening notes appeared, and staff alerted Merseyside Police. As the threat of violence grew on the day, officers encouraged congregants to lock themselves in the mosque. As the Liverpool Echo reported: “By now, Islamophobic hate chants could be heard from the growing mob outside, and there were attempts to break down the front door. Items resembling makeshift petrol bombs were thrown at the building, as well as bricks and rocks, resulting in several broken windows.”

Residents, disgusted by the far-right violence, worked together to clean up the damage and provide support to the mosque.

In the days before McIntyre’s arrest on August 8, Tell MAMA’s investigations and research team reported numerous social media materials, including from individuals responsible for and posting in the “Southport Wake Up” channel to various police forces and counter-terrorism.

Officers found a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf at McIntyre’s address.

One admin post from 4 August 2024 read: “WE NEED TO GET POLITICAL NOW LADS, STARTING WITH LIVERPOOL, WHAT GOVERNMENTAL BUILDING ARE WE TARGETING FIRST. THE TRAITORS WILL HANG. POST SUGGESTIONS IN COMMENTS (USE BURNER ACCOUNTS ONLY).”

Another post about the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, read, “We’re going to hang this woman and her associates, lads.” It was accompanied by various flexed biceps and fire emojis. McIntyre, however, was cleared of such a charge, as Judge Neil Flewitt KC stated: “There is a clear distinction between what might be termed a rant, however unpleasant it is, and messages which clearly incite criminal activity to take place.” The count will instead lie on McIntyre’s file.

A day later, he shared terrorist material – the Christchurch terror attacks – responsible for the murder of 51 Muslims in New Zealand in March 2019, captioning it “WHITE LEGEND F*** ISLAM F*** JEWS” and glorifying the name of the white supremacist terrorist responsible.

Other deeply disturbing anti-Muslim content from the Telegram channel included statements like “Kill All Muslims” and “Burn all mosques” surrounded by fire emojis.

Other examples of neo-Nazi propaganda included a white supremacist meme captioned: “TRIBE UP, ARM UP, WHITE LADS.”

Following the abhorrent violence and disorder in Southport, including the targeting of a local mosque, called for “Round 2” and named another mosque. The second half of the message contained extremist, racist language: “Mass deportations. Ethno state. Death to traitors. We are not asking, we are protesting. We are coming to take what is ours. Rise sons of Europa.”

During the trial, it emerged that McIntyre shared materials with pages called “Tommy Robinson/Britain First/For Britain” and “Liverpool People’s Resistance.”

The Liverpool Echo reported that Andrew McIntyre had two alt accounts on Telegram, revealing his engagement with other accounts, including praising the targeting of mosques, and in another example, posted in a pro-Tommy Robinson channel, “Free Quran stand in Liverpool city centre gets f***ed up. Go on lads,” inciting violence towards Muslims once again.

On X (formerly Twitter), McIntyre created an account on August 1 to spread their racist propaganda and incite others towards violence by posting the location of various mosques, the offices of immigration lawyers and hotels hosting refugees, repeating the extremist, racist and menacing content he shared on Telegram.

McIntyre harassed members of the public with abuse and antisemitic slurs before targeting Nick Lowles of HOPE Not Hate on the platform, whose investigation detailed McIntyre’s neo-Nazi ideology.

X limited the reach of but did not remove an extreme racist post from McIntyre that used the N-word.

Our investigation found that he interacted with another infamous far-right X user who incited others to riot – Wayne O’Rourke, replying to a racist tweet about refugees with screenshots of the locations of various mosques and hotels, each had various fire emojis attached and called for “mass deportations”.

Calls for violence from their X account appeared routinely – “Violence is right when it is time, now is the time,” “the time for violence is NOW,” and in reply to a post asking what “Britain needs the most right now” he replied “weapons”.

On Telegram and X, McIntrye used dehumanising anti-Muslim and Islamophobic language – calling Muslims “Muzzies” and “Muzz rats”. Across more than a decade of research, Tell MAMA has long documented how such animalistic and mechanistic forms of dehumanisation of Muslims appear online, especially how the above examples routinely appear in far-right discourse.

Following sentencing, Detective Inspector Paula Jones of Merseyside Police made clear that: “McIntyre played a key role in coordinating the group who took to the streets on 30 July, using social media to encourage members of the group to turn up at the heart of the communities in Southport and Liverpool to commit criminal damage. The result left dozens of officers injured as bricks, bins and other missiles were thrown at them.”

The post Southport: Neo-Nazi who stoked riots online jailed for over 7 years appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Original story below.

It took a jury less than a day to unanimously find a white supremacist guilty of spreading racist hate after creating a library of downloadable stickers for supporters to distribute in public.

Samuel Melia, 34, from Pudsey, who organises locally for Patriotic Alternative, will return to court on March 1 for sentencing after guilty verdicts at Leeds Crown Court on January 24.

The offences concern publishing or distributing material intending to stir up racial hatred and encouraging or assisting the commission of the offence of racially aggravated criminal damage between 2019 and 2021.

The Times newspaper exposed Melia’s racist activities following a lengthy investigation into Patriotic Alternative in 2021.

The Hundred Handers Telegram channel, created by Melia, granted supporters access to files to download – and shared examples of where the stickers appeared across the UK, Europe and North America. At its height, the channel had over 3,500 subscribers.

Following his arrest in 2021, police found various far-right stickers in Melia’s wallet as subsequent searches of his property revealed a poster of Adolf Hitler, a Nazi emblem, and a copy of fascist literature authored by Oswald Moseley.

Officers downloaded over 200 Hundred Handers stickers and photographs from Melia’s digital devices.

The prosecution further outlined the expectation Melia placed on others: to display the stickers in public as he did.

Examples of Melia’s racist stickering cited included anti-Black statements around Black Lives Matter (BLM) in his local town. On Telegram, the channel boasted of targeting a street sign near the home of a Muslim teenager and their family after making headlines for expressing support for BLM during the summer of 2020.

Over the years, Tell MAMA did receive reports about their activities, including stickers linking Muslims broadly to criminality or pushing white supremacist conspiracy theories. In 2018, the public alerted us to stickers targeting Muslim communities with “No 2 Halal” and “No 2 Koser” stickers – distribution of the former launched a hate crime investigation in the St Helens area in February 2020. Weeks earlier, we highlighted how local anti-racists removed a Hundred Handers sticker in Sunderland whilst highlighting the antisemitic, anti-Muslim and broad racist ideologies that underpinned the stickering.

Following the guilty verdict, Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, made clear that: “It is illegal to publish such material intending to stir up racial hatred towards others, and the CPS will not hesitate to bring prosecutions against those who break the law in this way.”

Price also stated: “Melia was perfectly aware that the stickers he published on his Telegram channel were being downloaded and then stuck up in public places around the country.

“He also knew full well the impact these racially inflammatory stickers were having, and by attempting to remain anonymous, sought to protect himself and others from investigation.

“He was very deliberate in the manner he wanted to spread his messages of racial hatred, and online messages recovered made it clear that he knew these stickers were being displayed in public and causing damage to public property.”

The post Pudsey white supremacist who distributed racist stickers jailed for two years appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Original story below

—

A jury found a Swindon-based neo-Nazi guilty of terrorism offences following a two-week trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Malakai Wheeler, 18, shared terrorism documents and weapons manuals over Telegram.

Following the conviction, the judge told Wheeler to expect a custodial sentence.

Counter-terror police arrested him in May 2021, when aged 16.

The detailed investigation unearthed Wheeler’s obsessive sharing of racist propaganda to the Telegram channel – which amounted to 92 documents and 35 images.

Breaches of terrorism legislation included the sharing of information that would help in the creation of weapons or explosives, including smoke grenades.

The Telegraph reported that Malakai Wheeler began sharing terrorist materials aged 15 when a student at Marling School in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

He also possessed copies of various white supremacist literature, including terrorist screeds.

The jury also heard how Wheeler possessed a copy of the Christchurch terror attacks video on his mobile phone, dubbed over with the Queen song Don’t Stop Me Now.

The prosecution outlined how the Telegram channel in question was a space for hardened neo-Nazis.

Tell MAMA’s research has identified over twenty individuals convicted of far-right terrorism offences in the UK (one other case involved a UK national in Ireland) who took inspiration from or possessed copies of the Christchurch terror attack footage or had copies of the terrorist screed.

More broadly, following the publication of our wide-ranging ten-year report, at Tell MAMA, we warned that especially in the online world, the racist conspiracies that influenced such terrorism have gained more mainstream credence or attention.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, who is the Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, made clear following the guilty verdict that: “Although only 16 at the time of his arrest, Wheeler was deeply entrenched in a Telegram chat group committed to extreme right-wing ideology.

“He was not simply curious, or a passive observer within the group. He clearly shared the same mindset as other members and was very active when it came to promoting racist and antisemitic views and propaganda.

“It is important young people recognise the potential impact of their online activity, before they cross a line into criminality, or engage in harmful or dangerous behaviours.

Wiltshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith said in a press release: “I’m sure this case will cause some concern within our communities in Swindon but I hope it illustrates the commitment across the national police service to work together to apprehend those who share deeply dangerous views.

“I would like to thank our colleagues at the National Counter Terrorism Policing Network for their robust action and for ensuring this individual doesn’t pose any threat to our local communities.”

The post Neo-Nazi, 18, guilty of terror offences and who had Christchurch terror attack video, jailed for six years appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Both possessed copies of the Christchurch terrorist’s screed.

Alan Madden, 65, from Wirral, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on May 30, following two earlier guilty pleas, and was jailed for over seven years for terrorism and firearms offences.

Sixty-year-old Darren Reynolds, from Sheffield, a racist survivalist, worked alongside Christine Grayson, 59, in plotting the destruction of 5G phone towers as he called for the murder of MPs, making him guilty of encouraging terrorism. Both were found guilty of various offences at Leeds Crown Court, with Reynolds guilty of various terrorism offences.

Both neo-Nazis used Telegram and Bitchute to further their racist agendas and call for violence towards Jewish communities whilst propagating antisemitic conspiracies.

Our investigation found that Bitchute had removed Alan Madden’s account for breach of its community guidelines, but caches reveal the enduring overlap between racist conspiracies about Jewish communities historically and in contemporary forms, including around the origins of the coronavirus. Other antisemitic videos included Holocaust denial alongside comments from Madden wishing for the genocide of Jewish communities.

On Telegram, Reynolds praised the neo-Nazi terrorist who murdered the Labour MP Jo Cox and called the late Sir David Amess a “traitor” a day after a terrorist murdered them, Sky News reported. At Leeds Crown Court, the prosecution outlined how, on June 29, 2021, Reynolds posted to his Telegram group: “Storm parliament and the Lords, drag them all outside and hang them all on the spot for treason, sedition insurgency, attempted genocide and crimes against the peoples of Great Britain.”  An admin on various other Telegram channels, he used the platform to distribute neo-Nazi propaganda and terrorist literature.

Alan Madden pleaded guilty to a TACT 2006 offence, contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which concerns the dissemination of terrorist publications, as the Liverpool Echo revealed his praise for the proscribed neo-Nazi terror group National Action and re-posting their illegal, racist propaganda on BitChute. During the trial, officers unearthed various neo-Nazi propaganda in digital forms and physical copies – including a copy of the Christchurch terrorist’s screed.

Other guilty pleas from Madden included three counts of inciting racial hatred – a section 201 offence under the Public Order Act, and for possession of weapons that included possession of a firearm, 384 rounds, 9mm hollow point and 9mm Kurz ammunition. Other offensive weapons they possessed included nun chucks and a flick knife.

Darren Reynolds also had a keen interest in weapons – expressing his hopes of converting his M16 and an AK-47 replica assault rifles into viable weapons, as he ordered a self-loading crossbow online (delivered to a neighbour).

The respective ages of Alan Madden and Darren Reynolds mean they are the oldest individuals guilty of far-right terror offences where the terrorism in Christchurch appeared in their digital collections or provided inspiration so far. Others were teenagers in their mid-to-late twenties or thirties (or older in rarer cases).

Those other names include Harry Vaughan (18), Mason Yates (19), Morgan Seales (20), Vincent Fuller (50), Matthew Cronjager (18), Benjamin Hannam (22), Gabriele Longo (26), Dean Morrice (34), Paul Dunleavy (17), Thomas Leech (19), Filip Bednarczyk (26), Luke Hunter (23), Sam Imrie (24), Samuel Whibley (29), Michael Nugent (38), Robert Gregory (24), Nicholas Brock (53), Elliot Brown (25), an unnamed 16-year-old from West Yorkshire, Mark Wolf (a 37-year-old British national and paedophile jailed in Ireland), Vaughn Dolphin (20) and 19-year-old Luke Skelton.

Endnote: We welcome the jailing of the dangerous neo-Nazi terrorist Alan Madden, who posed a real threat to Jewish communities, and it remains alarming that we continue to see how the Christchurch terrorist and their screed hold sway or continue to influence those wishing to murder Muslims and violently harm other minority communities in our country. We hope the sentence of Darren Reynolds reflects the severity of his aims and calls for terrorism towards MPs.

The post Recent neo-Nazi terror convictions show Christchurch’s ongoing propaganda influence appeared first on TELL MAMA.

25-year-old Elliot Brown was found guilty of two terrorism offences at Bristol Crown Court on January 16 (Monday), including for sharing an instructional video of how to create the explosive substance thermite via their Amazon device to a far-right Telegram channel.

A university dropout with no prior convictions, Brown had recorded a short video in March 2020 of his Amazon Alexa speaker responding to his question about making thermite, the BBC reported.

The Telegram channel contained racist and homophobic content targeting various minoritised groups. Police also found white supremacist imagery on the phone of Elliot Brown and video footage of different neo-Nazi terror attacks.

The BBC reported that the convicted neo-Nazi terrorist Dean Morrice, a fellow group member, had purchased enough ingredients three days later to build such an explosive – having retained a copy of the video Brown uploaded to the group.

Morrice received an 18-year prison sentence in the summer of 2021 for various terrorism offences that included the stockpiling of explosives.

Like Morrice, Elliot Brown possessed footage of the white supremacist terror in Christchurch, New Zealand, that resulted in the murder of 51 Muslims.

Last summer, our investigation detailed how Dean Morrice was one of at least sixteen men convicted of far-right terrorism offences across the UK, who took inspiration from, glorified those responsible, or possessed that infamous Christchurch terror attack video.

Elliot Brown will now appear on that list as it emerged following the verdict that a video on his mobile phone included a 48-second clip that turned that act of terror into a video game.

Counter-terror police unearthed additional disturbing materials on their phone, including an antisemitic clip of Smith barbequing that featured a song with the lyrics, “All I wanted to do is grill, but these Jews, they leave me no choice but to kill.” And the livestream of the terror attack in Halle, Germany.

Detective Superintendent Craig McWhinnie, who leads Counter Terrorism Policing South West, said: “Elliot Brown was not just seeking to explore an interest in extremist related materials. The video he produced and thought appropriate to share with people harbouring similar abhorrent views will understandably shock people.

“While there is no evidence that Brown planned to commit any terrorist attack, his actions went beyond just casual talk and are a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act.”

For Superintendent Steve Kendall of Avon and Somerset Police, “People like Elliot Brown, who hold extremist views, can live absolutely anywhere and although these instances are rare, they remind us we all need to be vigilant.

“Our number one priority is always public safety and that’s why we work so closely with our counter terrorism partners and other agencies. We will always work tirelessly to root out offenders such as Brown.”

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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.

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Nineteen-year-old Connor Burke, a university student from Bexleyheath in southeast London, had shared the materials on a far-right Telegram channel that boasted over 12,000 users.

Burke also possessed a copy of the banned Anarchist Cookbook, and, following an earlier court appearance last year, the prosecution outlined how the neo-Nazi teen had other bomb-making documents disguised as Minecraft-related texts, with titles like “Minecraft Kitchen Cookbook”. Other terroristic content included the “Minecraft Homemade TNT.pdf” file.

On that notable Telegram channel, Burke made racist statements about other university students, including the use of the P-word, the Evening Standard reported.

Burke also pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of a document likely to be helpful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

When police raided the home address of Burke last year, officers uncovered various regalia (including knives, rings, uniforms) from Nazi Germany and a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Following charges in March of last year, Burke pleaded guilty in July but argued the distribution of the bomb-making materials online owed instead to sheer “recklessness”.

The prosecution contested this claim with a Newton hearing in December 2021. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, a Newton hearing occurs “if the defence, in mitigation, depart from the facts as opened by the prosecution in a manner which is material to the central issue” and if such a departure is significant enough (and if deemed acceptable) will impact the sentencing.

The judge rejected the claim of recklessness, concluding that Burke wilfully posted the materials knowing that other members of the group may use such documents – to assist in the preparation or assistance of far-right terrorism.

Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Burke had an unhealthy interest in extreme right wing terrorist ideology, and this led to him sharing extremely dangerous material with others online.

“Increasingly, we’re seeing young people being drawn into extremist ideologies, some of whom – like Burke – then go on to commit serious terrorism offences.”

According to the defence, the parents of Connor Burke believed their son went down an online “rabbit hole” during lockdown – a very dark rabbit hole.

After leaving prison, Burke will spend a further twelve months on licence.

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Credit: Twitter.

The short video, which first appeared on Twitter on April 24, coinciding with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, and would also appear a day later, after the journalist Aina Khan, shared the video, having remarked on its ethereal beauty, adding that public broadcast was a trial.

The azaan (Islamic call to prayer) is floating along the streets of west London for the first time, in a Ramadan unlike any other. I will never get over how ethereal it sounds.

Video from @almanaar mosque in west London who are trialling playing it in public. #RamadanMubarak pic.twitter.com/HgzZwE79GO

— Aina J. Khan (@ainajkhan) April 25, 2020

Within hours, and in the days ahead, the video was presented in a different, more harmful context when messages began to link the clip to racialised conspiracies of forced demographic changes.

As reported last week, the racialised and conspiracist manipulation of out-of-context videos had appeared on far-right Telegram channels had re-circulated from the same Twitter accounts, with one account boasting more than 60,000 video views – a ten-fold increase on what some of the earlier, non-inflammatory posts had generated.

Academics have explored how the far-right continues to weaponise visual content on social media with attention paid to the neo-fascist British National Party (BNP). Broader research explores the use of meme culture, and how the far-right adapt to new technologies for hyperpartisan, ideological pursuits.

A regional BNP Twitter account had captioned the shared video, “Retweet if you think this is Noise Pollution.”

This idea of ‘noise pollution’ and mosques has been explored by various academics, who have compared complaints about the East London Mosque broadcasting the adhan over loudspeakers in 1986 to similar protests against the Liverpool Mosque founded by Abdullah Quilliam in 1889.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, mosques remain closed nationwide, and to remind Muslims of their togetherness in this holy month, mosques in parts of Europe, the United States, and in Canada, have been granted special dispensation to broadcast the azaan over loudspeakers.

In the city of Halifax, for example, in the Ontario province of Canada, approval was given to broadcast the azaan over loudspeakers at sunset throughout Ramadan.

In Minneapolis, in the United States, Mayor Jacob Frey granted a permit for Dar Ul Hijra Mosque to broadcast the azaan five times a day for the public during Ramadan, with loudspeakers directing the prayers towards Muslims living in the Riverside Plaza apartments, as to not to disturb businesses and other residents.

Before Ramadan began, other cities like Paterson, in New Jersey, announced changes to its ordinance to allow for exceptions to its noise regulations for various religious worship. Some mosques in Paterson, however, were publicly broadcasting the azaan, others do not. Officials added that there was no record of mosques in Paterson receiving noise summons for broadcasting the call to prayer.

This gesture offers a source of solace and comfort for Muslims observing the lockdown, with mosque doors remaining closed throughout the holy month.

Tell MAMA continues to urge Twitter to deal with the far-right accounts pushing such incendiary, misleading content.

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