Three “Nazis” who believed a race war was imminent were planning terrorist attacks on mosques and synagogues, a jury has been told.
A jury at Sheffield Crown Court was told that Christopher Ringrose, 34, Marco Pitzettu, 25, and Brogan Stewart, 25, were “right-wing extremists” who were preparing to use firearms, explosives and a range of bladed weapons in their attacks.
They were arrested when security services believed an attack could be imminent after undercover officers infiltrated their group, the court heard on Wednesday.
Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, said the defendants had acquired or were trying to acquire a “wide variety of weapons” including swords, knives, axes, spears and crossbows as well as gathering information on explosives and firearms.
He said the preparations they were making included “taking steps to complete the manufacture” of a 3D printed semi-automatic firearm.
Mr Sandiford said: “The prosecution say that these three defendants were right-wing extremists who regarded themselves as National Socialists, or Nazis, and they supported the National Socialist movement in the UK, such as it is or indeed was.”
He said the defendants followed a cause which embraced an admiration for Adolf Hitler, white supremacy, a “hatred towards black and other non-white races”, and glorification and admiration for mass killers who have targeted the black and Muslim community.
He told a jury of seven men and five women that the trio all held a “belief that there must soon be a race war between the white and other races”.
Mr Sandiford said that, at the time of their arrest in February 2024, “all three were involved in making preparations for acts of terrorism in furtherance of their political, racial or ideological causes”.
He said the three were also gathering equipment such as riot shields, body armour and gas masks in readiness for a race war.
The prosecutor told the jury that the defendants formed a group called Einsatz 14 in January 2024, with “like-minded extremists” who wanted to “go to war for their chosen cause”.
Mr Sandiford explained that Einsatz 14 included three undercover officers and the police intervened in February 2024 when it became clear the defendants had identified potential targets and there was a threat of an “imminent attack”.
The prosecutor told the jury that Ringrose had 3D printed most of the components of an FGC9 firearm at the time of his arrest in early 2024 and was trying to get the remaining parts.
He took the jury through a range of material on social media he said was evidence of the “political, racial or ideological causes” followed by the defendants.
He showed jurors a post by Stewart on a Telegram chat group called The National Socialist Movement of the United Kingdom which said: “Nazis wanted what’s best for the white people.
“They cared. They loved us so much they did everything in their power to save us from Jewish scum and for what? The world to be handed over to the hooked nosed creatures.”
Stewart went on: “Hitler did more for his people then any politician. And for Britain to have a paki and zionist in charge of the country is absolutely outrageous”.
Mr Sandiford said this last comment was a reference to the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The jury was also shown a short video Stewart posted of himself wearing a German army helmet, a Nazi armband and a skull face covering, which the prosecutor said was associated with right-wing extremism.
Ringrose, of Cannock, Staffordshire; Pitzettu, of Mickleover, Derbyshire; and Stewart, of Tingley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, deny a charge of preparing acts of terrorism and charges of collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.
Ringrose also denies manufacturing a prohibited weapon.
Mr Sandiford is expected to continue opening the prosecution case on Thursday at 10am.