Tag Archives: Terrorism related.

Kristofer Thomas Kearney – known online as Charlie Big Potatoes – was extradited from Alicante to face charges last year

An alleged far-right fitness guru for a British group known as Patriotic Alternative has admitted sharing a stash of terrorist documents on social media.

Kristofer Thomas Kearney, 38, is originally from Liverpool but was based in Alicante before he was extradited from Spain to face charges last September.

On Wednesday, Kearney, who was known online as Charlie Big Potatoes, pleaded guilty to two offences of disseminating terrorist publications.

Kearney, who entered his plea at the Old Bailey by video link from Chelmsford prison, is believed to be the first member of Patriotic Alternative to be convicted of terrorist offences. The offences related to two Telegram posts on January 23 and March 8 2021 which disseminated dozens of documents glorifying and encouraging extreme right-wing terror attacks.

Ged O’Connor, defending, told the court Kearney’s pleas were on the basis he was “reckless” as to whether the effect of his conduct was to encourage terrorism. However, prosecutor Naomi Parsons told the court the Crown’s case was “consistent with intent”.

Judge Richard Marks KC said the issue of Kearney’s motivation would be decided at a two-day hearing on May 4 and 5 before he passes sentence. Kearney is alleged to have created a Telegram channel entitled “Charlie Big Potatoes” in November 2020.

In 2021, he posted a numbered list and links to some 89 extreme right-wing documents. Among them were the manifestos of Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway, and that of Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Two other far-right extremist manifestos related to Texas Walmart mass killer Patrick Crusius and John Earnest, who shot people at a Californian synagogue in 2019.

Kearney’s motivation in making the terrorist material available was said to be in the context of his racist ideology and support for Patriotic Alternative, whose policies including deporting non-whites.

Previously, Kearney is said to have been an active member of neo-Nazi group National Action until a week before it was banned in December 2016 for glorifying the murder of MP Jo Cox.

He then switched to Patriotic Alternative, another extreme right-wing organisation that is not currently proscribed by Government, it is claimed. It is believed he became “head of fitness” at Patriotic Alternative and regularly shared posts from its accounts such as White Lives Matter banners.

Liverpool Echo

First alleged member of far-right Patriotic Alternative admits terror charges

By virginiagolden

March 1, 2023

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An alleged far-right fitness guru for a British group known as Patriotic Alternative has admitted sharing a stash of terrorist documents on social media.

Kristofer Thomas Kearney, 38, is originally from Liverpool but was based in Alicante before he was extradited from Spain to face charges last September.

On Wednesday, Kearney, who was known online as Charlie Big Potatoes, pleaded guilty to two offences of disseminating terrorist publications.

Kearney, who entered his plea at the Old Bailey by video link from Chelmsford prison, is believed to be the first member of Patriotic Alternative to be convicted of terrorist offences.

The offences related to two Telegram posts on January 23 and March 8 2021 which disseminated dozens of documents glorifying and encouraging extreme right-wing terror attacks.

Ged O’Connor, defending, told the court Kearney’s pleas were on the basis he was “reckless” as to whether the effect of his conduct was to encourage terrorism.

However, prosecutor Naomi Parsons told the court the Crown’s case was “consistent with intent”.

Judge Richard Marks KC said the issue of Kearney’s motivation would be decided at a two-day hearing on May 4 and 5 before he passes sentence.

Kearney is alleged to have created a Telegram channel entitled “Charlie Big Potatoes” in November 2020.

In 2021, he posted a numbered list and links to some 89 extreme right-wing documents.

Among them were the manifestos of Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway, and that of Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Two other far-right extremist manifestos related to Texas Walmart mass killer Patrick Crusius and John Earnest, who shot people at a Californian synagogue in 2019.

Previously, Kearney is said to have been an active member of neo-Nazi group National Action until a week before it was banned in December 2016 for glorifying the murder of MP Jo Cox.

He then switched to Patriotic Alternative, another extreme right-wing organisation that is not currently proscribed by Government, it is claimed.

It is believed he became “head of fitness” at Patriotic Alternative and regularly shared posts from its accounts such as White Lives Matter banners.

He also set up a channel called “Fascist Fitness” to hand out exercise and fitness tips.

Kearney, who spoke only to enter his guilty pleas, was remanded into custody until his next hearing at the Old Bailey.

County Press

Far-right Army reject convicted of collecting terror documents

By virginiagolden

February 17, 2023

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Doorman Sejr Forster had briefly joined the Army but was discharged due to his association with National Action.

A far-right British Army reject has been found guilty of having bomb-making manuals.

Doorman Sejr Forster, 25, from Norwich, was convicted at the Old Bailey of collecting terrorist publications following a trial.

The court was told Forster had joined the Army in May 2016, but was “ultimately deemed unsuitable” after engaging in “extreme-right rhetoric”.

He had earlier been excluded from college for his views in May 2013.

Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, said: “In May 2022, he said in summary that he accepted that he had been involved with the far-right since he was aged about 13.

“His interest had been in EDL (English Defence League) and National Action (NA), which at school led to him being referred to Prevent.

“He had engaged with Prevent for about seven months. He had briefly joined the Army but was discharged due to his association with National Action.

“When NA was legal, he had been involved in printing off posters for them.

“In the past, he described himself as being ‘obsessed’ with right-wing culture.”

NA was proscribed by the Government following the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016.

When police officers searched Forster’s home last year, they discovered a stash of extremist material.

Mr Lloyd said: “This material shows that the defendant was fascinated by extreme right views.

“In fact, the prosecution says this material shows that he shared those views and beliefs himself.

“He also had an interest in weapons, things like guns, knives, and explosives.

“It is why he looked at and downloaded the material onto his telephone.”

Mr Lloyd rejected the suggestion the defendant clicked on the documents but did not intend to download them.

On Friday, Forster was found guilty of two counts of collecting of a terrorist publications.

One related to The Advanced Anarchist Arsenal which was downloaded on his mobile device and included viable instructions for the manufacture of explosive substances.

The other charge related to a hard copy book called US Army Improvised Munitions Handbook on the manufacture of explosive substances.

Before his trial, Forster had pleaded guilty to possessing an item described as a DIY Sheet Metal Self-Loading Pistol – Practical Scrap Metal Small Arms, an “illustrated guide” for producing a firearm.

Forster was acquitted of having a document named Middle Eastern Terrorist – Bomb Designs, which was said to detail the construction of explosive devices.

A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for less than four hours to reach their verdicts.

Forster was remanded into custody to be sentenced at a later date.

Evening Standard

Norwich: Man, 25, goes on trial for terror offences

By virginiagolden

February 14, 2023

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A neo-Nazi former soldier accused of possessing terrorist publications had been obsessed with the far right since the age of 13, a court has heard.

The Norwich 25-year-old – who the court has ruled can only be named as S Forster – is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of having materials that included designs and instructions for making explosives, incendiary devices and bombs.

He denies three charges of possessing information likely to be “useful” to someone committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Forster – had joined the Royal Anglian Regiment in May 2016, but was discharged after basic training because he was “ultimately deemed unsuitable” after engaging in “extreme-right rhetoric”, the court heard.

Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was fascinated by extreme right wing views and the prosecution says that the material involved in this case shows he shared such views and beliefs himself.

“He also had an interest in weapons like guns, knives and explosives.”

A jury at the central criminal court was told he had accepted that he had been involved with the far right since he was aged about 13 and that his school books included doodles stating ‘vote National Front’.

He was excluded from college in Norwich in May 2015 over his views and a student supervisor had referred him to the Prevent programme where he had admitted being a youth recruiter for far right group National Action (NA).

He also said he had attended events with former BNP leader Nick Griffin, written anti-semitic graffiti and posted that David Cameron “should be hung”.

“He engaged with Prevent for about seven months. He had briefly joined the army but was discharged due to his association with National Action,” said Mr Lloyd.

“When NA was legal, he had been involved in printing off posters for them.

“In the past, he described himself as being ‘obsessed’ with right wing culture.”

Police who raided his one-bedroom flat on Cardiff Road in Norwich’s Golden Triangle on April 6 last year discovered on Forster’s phone a 24-page document named Middle Eastern Terrorist – Bomb Designs.

It included diagrams and instructions for making make-shift weapons including gasoline and cement bombs and a chemical firing device.

Officers also found The Advanced Anarchist Arsenal downloaded on his mobile device and a hard copy of a book called US Army Improvised Munitions Handbook.

“For good reason the law makes it a criminal offence to possess material that could be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism,” said Mr Lloyd.

He added: “The prosecution does not allege that this defendant was actively making plans himself to commit a terrorist act.”

The court heard Forster’s flat contained pictures of Adolf Hitler and weapons, a National Front poster and stickers and other far right materials.

Police also found copies of The Great Replacement, an online manifesto penned by New Zealand mosque mass shooter Brenton Tarrant, and Seizure, the collected writings of notorious US neo-Nazi James Mason.

Phone files and online searches included items on ethnic cleansing, guns, militaria as well as National Action and Combat 18, the court heard.

Forster has pleaded guilty to possessing an item called the DIY Sheet Metal Self-Loading Pistol – Practical Scrap Metal Small Arms, an “illustrated guide” for producing a firearm.

Mr Lloyd said the defendant may argue he clicked on the documents but did not intend to download them and that he acquired the book from the internet.

He went on: “The prosecution say those suggestions are untenable. The defendant knowingly obtained and stored this material.

“It is not plausible to suggest he did not know he had the material. Even if he did there can be no reasonable excuse for possessing any of the items.”

The trial continues.

Eastern Daily Press

Far-right extremists discussed underground base in Lake District, court hears

By virginiagolden

February 11, 2023

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Kurt McGowan, of Workington, Cumbria, was jailed for seven years at Preston Crown Court

The “chief propagandist” of a far-right extremist group discussed digging a tunnel in the Lake District as a base for their “operations”, a court has heard.

Kurt McGowan, of Workington, Cumbria, was jailed for seven years at Preston Crown Court on Friday for four offences of collecting terrorist information and three counts of disseminating terrorist publications.

The court heard McGowan was described as “our very own Goebbels”, a reference to Nazi Joseph Goebbels, in a group on messaging app Telegram, where he used the handle Red Church.

The 23-year-old made a heart gesture with his hands to his mother, who was in tears in the public gallery, as he was taken from the dock.

I have no doubt you are a committed, determined and manipulative adherent to extreme right-wing ideology and you are prepared to educate and encourage others in the use of violence to achieve your goal of white supremacy

Sentencing him, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: “I have no doubt you are a committed, determined and manipulative adherent to extreme right-wing ideology and you are prepared to educate and encourage others in the use of violence to achieve your goal of white supremacy.”

Joe Allman, prosecuting, told the court an undercover officer gained access to the Telegram group used by McGowan and between six to 12 others in August 2020.

He said: “The messages make it clear the group considered they were, or at least were in the process of forming, an active far-right cell.

“They actively discussed digging a tunnel as a base for operations, where that might be located and how it should be constructed.

“Mr McGowan suggested the Lake District for what he called its extensive woodland.”

He said McGowan also suggested they survey the national park for “phase one” of the operation.

The court heard McGowan was part of Telegram group The Hand and then Exiled393 UK.

They actively discussed digging a tunnel as a base for operations, where that might be located and how it should be constructed

Other members included Matthew Cronjager, who was jailed in 2021 for plotting to shoot an Asian friend because he slept with “white chicks”.

Mr Allman said McGowan was “chief propagandist” in the group, which considered itself a para-military unit and shared views which were antisemitic, anti-muslim, misogynistic and showed extreme homophobia.

The court heard another of the themes in the group was the suggestion that “non-white” people were inferior and needed to be exterminated.

McGowan shared documents which included information about fighting techniques, instructions on manufacturing ammunition and tactics for guerilla warfare, Mr Allman said.

In March 2021 his home in Hinnings Road was searched and a mobile phone and USB stick were recovered.

Mr Allman said a number of other documents were found by officers on the Telegram app on his phone, including a “white resistance manual”, with instructions on how to build a pipe bomb, and a manual on how to manufacture a viable firearm.

The court heard in November 2020 the group discussed setting up a PayPal account to pool money for things they might need and agreed getting 3D printers to make “art”, a phrase used for firearms, was a long-term aim.

George Payne, defending, said McGowan had written a letter to the court in which he said he was “truly sorry” for the offences and had become “embroiled in a murky world that was fuelled by hate and suspicion of the other”.

McGowan, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and has no previous convictions, cried in the dock during parts of his mitigation.

Mr Payne said his parents, who were both in court, had also written a letter, expressing their belief he was “at heart a good person” and had shown genuine remorse.

McGowan pleaded not guilty to two further counts of disseminating terrorist publications which were ordered to lie on the file.

Evening Standard

Daniel Harris: British teenage extremist whose videos were linked to two mass murders in US jailed

By virginiagolden

January 27, 2023

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Daniel Harris “inspired” mass killer Payton Gendron who shot dead 10 people in Buffalo, New York. The British teenager was also said to have influenced Anderson Lee Aldrich, the only suspect in a shooting at a Colorado gay bar in which five people were killed.

A British teenage extremist has been jailed after his far-right videos were linked to two mass murders in the US.

Daniel Harris used an online platform called World Truth Videos to disseminate a “call to arms” for his violent racist beliefs, a court heard.

The 19-year-old from Glossop in Derbyshire was convicted of five counts of encouraging terrorism and one of possessing a 3D printer for the purposes of terrorism after a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

He was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years in jail, and a further 3 years on licence.

Prosecutors said US mass killer Payton Gendron was “encouraged and, in part, motivated to do what he did” by Harris.

Gendron murdered 10 black people in a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022 while livestreaming the attack. Within hours, Harris produced a video celebrating the killing spree.

Gendron, 19, had left a comment on one of Harris’s videos two months before the mass shooting, saying: “You are not alone my friend :)”.

The video included lessons to be learned from Brenton Tarrant, who livestreamed an attack in which he killed 51 people at mosques in New Zealand in March 2019.

Gendron had also taken an image from another of Harris’s videos and used it as the main image on his “manifesto”.

Prosecutor Joe Allman said Gendron was “inspired” by Harris’s material.

The British teenager also influenced Anderson Lee Aldrich, the only suspect in a shooting at a gay bar in Colorado, the court was told.

Aldrich, 22, allegedly killed five people during an indiscriminate firearms attack in Colorado Springs, in November last year – while Harris was on trial in the UK.

Aldrich – who is yet to enter pleas over the Colorado shooting – “accessed material” produced by Harris, Mr Allman said.

The prosecutor told the court one of Harris’s videos was posted on the “brother site” to a website with links to what appeared to be a livestream of Aldrich preparing to carry out the attacks.

Mr Allman said: “The Crown say it demonstrates that individuals of the greatest concern have accessed the material produced by Mr Harris.”

Harris was described in court as an “influential online propagandist for a violent and deeply racist ideology”.

His videos glorified mass killings and were “tantamount to a call to arms to those who shared, or who could be persuaded to share Mr Harris’s world view,” Mr Allman said.

Under the pseudonym “BookAnon”, Harris’s videos “encouraged and gave instructions for carrying out acts of terror against those deemed not to be part of the white European race,” the court heard.

One video showed how to make an assault rifle using a 3D printer and when police raided Harris’s grandfather’s house, they found that he had begun making the parts himself.

Toxic rhetoric with untold influence’

After the teenager’s conviction, Detective Inspector Chris Brett said attempts were initially made to engage with Harris through the Prevent programme, which aims to stop people becoming terrorists.

“It soon became clear he was pretending to be deradicalised whilst encouraging terrorism online,” Mr Brett added.

“The threat he caused meant we had to act in order to ensure the safety of the wider public.”

Mr Brett said Harris “clearly demonstrated a disdain for law enforcement and public order, as well as an admiration for those who had committed atrocities in terrorist attacks overseas”.

“By posting these videos online, Harris’ toxic rhetoric could have had untold influence on countless people across the world – such actions will not be tolerated,” the senior officer said.

He added that officers made “the rather chilling discovery of attempts to make component parts of a firearm printed from his 3D printer” during a search, which “showed a clear intent to create a deadly weapon”.

Sky News

UK far-right teenager inspired US gay nightclub shooting suspect, judge told

By virginiagolden

January 27, 2023

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Daniel Harris faces jail after being convicted of publishing terrorist material from his grandfather’s house in Glossop

A teenage extremist from Derbyshire inspired the suspect accused of killing five people and wounding 17 others in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in the US, a judge has been told.

Daniel Harris, 19, is facing jail after being convicted of publishing far-right terrorist material from his grandfather’s spare bedroom in Glossop.

The teenager, who went by the name of BookAnon online, produced videos that called for an armed uprising and celebrated white supremacist murderers including Anders Breivik.

Manchester crown court has previously been told that Harris’s videos were viewed by Payton Gendron, the 19-year-old who killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack in Buffalo, New York, last May.

The judge, Patrick Field KC, was told at a sentencing hearing on Thursday that the material had also been watched by Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, the suspect accused of a deadly nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs last November.

Harris is facing 12 years in prison and possible extradition to the US after being convicted of five terrorism offences relating to extreme rightwing videos he uploaded to the internet.

He was also found guilty of possessing a 3D printer, which he tried to use to make parts of a firearm. Harris will be sentenced on Friday.

Joe Allman, the prosecutor, told the court that Harris’s connection to the Buffalo mass killer was “well made out” and was “evidence that another has acted on or been assisted by [his videos] in order to endanger life”.

The court was told that Gendron, using his alias Jimboboii, shared and commented on at least two of Harris’s videos, writing to him four weeks before the mass killing: “Thank you for your service.”

Hours after the Buffalo attack, Harris, posting from his grandfather’s house, celebrated the killings in an online video. He was arrested two days later after an undercover sting at a motorway service station.

Further police investigation found that at least one of Harris’s videos, celebrating the gunman who shot dead 51 people in the Christchurch mosque massacre in 2019, had been viewed by Aldrich, who opened fire in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs on 19 November last year – while Harris’s trial was ongoing.

Allman said the connection to Aldrich showed that “individuals of the greatest concern have accessed the material produced by Mr Harris”. He said the teenager’s videos were “not simply hateful – they’re trying to motivate and instruct”.

The judge, Patrick Field KC, described Harris’s link to the racist Buffalo murders as “wide-ranging”.

Field was told that Harris, who was born in London, is believed to have dropped out of school at the age of seven and was sent to live with his grandfather in Glossop.

By the age of 18 he had convictions for common assault, criminal damage, possession of indecent images of children and racially aggravated damage of a memorial in Manchester to George Floyd, a black man whose murder by a US police officer sparked street protests in the US and UK.

Harris’s barrister, James Walker, said the teenager had acknowledged that “he needs to change his behaviour” but was the subject of “significant failings” by his family and the local authority.

He said the teenager had been exposed to white supremacist material online from the age of 11 and was spending as much as 14 hours a day online.

The Guardian

Oliver Lewin: Engineer jailed over TV and radio mast terror plot

By virginiagolden

January 20, 2023

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Oliver Lewin, 38, of Leicestershire was found guilty of after being accused of engaging in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism

A telecoms engineer who plotted terror attacks on phone, TV and radio masts as part of a plan to “topple the government” has been jailed.

Oliver Lewin, 38, who had claimed he was a “fantasist” during a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, had been found guilty of preparing terrorist acts.

The court heard he carried out reconnaissance of potential targets and sought to recruit others.

Lewin, of Ferrers Road, Coalville, was jailed for six and a half years.

‘Many untruths and exaggerations’

Judge Paul Farrer KC was told during a hearing on Friday that Lewin was “deeply opposed” to the government of the United Kingdom.

Annabel Darlow KC, prosecuting, told the court Lewin believed the government was “dominated by a Jewish elite who took orders from Israel”.

Lewin also was sceptical about the coronavirus pandemic, and believed that the vaccine was being used to kill white people across Europe.

The judge said it was difficult to separate Lewin’s intentions from his “many untruths and exaggerations”, but said he “held an intention to commit an act of terror and took at least some preparatory steps to bring that about”.

He said Lewin attempted to recruit people during a four-and-a-half week period between July and August 2021, using encrypted messaging app Telegram.

He pretended to have worked for the Army to portray himself as a “knowledgeable and brave military man”, the court heard.

During that time, he was also talking to two undercover officers and claimed he was carrying out reconnaissance missions and writing a manual on how to overturn the government.

The court heard Lewin had identified communication masts in Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands, Bardon Hill and Copt Oak, in Leicestershire, as well as transport links such as the M1, as potential targets.

In one message he said: “I won’t stop until we take this country and stop it all in its tracks.”

‘Discord, distrust and fear’

Lewin had previously worked as an audio visual engineer for a small company that installed and maintained radio masts.

Prior to sentencing, defence barrister Andrew Hall KC said Lewin had lied and exaggerated in his dealings with the undercover officers as his “personal obsessions simply overwhelmed him”.

Mr Hall said Lewin – who is autistic – had been immersed in a “sinister world of Covid conspiracy” after being “dragged down a rabbit hole” online, but had not caused any damage.

“He is plainly skilled and highly intelligent in some ways,” he said. “He had not put a foot wrong before the Covid lockdowns.”

Sentencing Lewin, the judge said: “At the time of the indictment, you were socially isolated, depressed and lacking in self-worth.

“These features led you into telling many lies about the extent of your terrorist activities.

“Your objective was to influence the government although in reality the prospects of you successfully doing so were remote in the extreme.

“In light of all of the evidence, I conclude that at the time of your arrest your plans were far from complete, and your intended terrorist action was not imminent.”

Lewin was told he must serve two-thirds of his sentence before being able to be considered for parole.

After the trial, West Midlands head of counter terrorism policing Det Ch Supt Mark Payne said: “Lewin claimed he was a fantasist but it is clear he took the steps to carry out reconnaissance of targets to attack, bought equipment and tools, dug hide-outs and tried to recruit and train others.

“Extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this.”

BBC News

Bath man jailed for sharing explosives recipe in far-right chat

By virginiagolden

January 17, 2023

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Elliot Brown was convicted of collecting a sharing information useful to terrorists

A man who shared bomb-making instructions in a far-right group chat has been jailed for three years and three months.

Elliot Brown, 25, from Bath, shared a video of his Alexa speaker reading out a recipe for the explosive thermite.

Brown denied collecting information that could be of use to a terrorist and disseminating a terrorist publication.

He was found guilty after a week-long trial and jailed at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.

Brown was sent to prison for three years and three months on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Judge Anthony Leonard KC also ordered Brown spend an extra year on licence after his release due to his offences “being of particular concern”.

During the trial the jury heard how Brown, who has no previous convictions, held “extremist views”.

Brown was a member of a far-right group chat in which he exchanged racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic messages with other members.

The group chat also contained photos related to the support of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.

Brown recorded a 30-second video on 22 March 2020 in which his Amazon Alexa speaker responded to his question – “how do I make thermite?”

Alexa read out instructions from a website which Mr Brown recorded and sent into the chat via the messenger app Telegram.

Three days later fellow group member Dean Morrice purchased materials that could be combined to make thermite.

In August 2020 police raided Morrice’s home and found enough aluminium powder, iron oxide, and magnesium ribbon in the kitchen to make the explosive substance.

Morrice was later convicted of 10 terrorism related offences, including stockpiling explosive materials.

Brown was subsequently arrested in February 2021 for the dissemination of a terrorist publication but he told police he made the video “as a harmless joke”.

He said he had “a dark sense of humour” and was being “ironic” and had “made comments” to gain others group members’ approval because he was significantly younger than them.

Giving evidence, Brown said he was “ashamed and angry” of “extremist” comments he had made in the group chat.

“My views, at the time, were uneducated, far-right, anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic and I was in a vulnerable place at the time and had become more right-wing,” he said.

He said he had abandoned his extremist views, adding he was “saved by becoming a Christian” after Morrice’s arrest.

Det Supt Craig McWhinnie, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South West (CTPSW), said: “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.”

Supt Steve Kendall, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “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.”

BBC News

Man who shared explosives recipe guilty of terror offences

By virginiagolden

January 17, 2023

Uncategorized

Elliot Brown was convicted of collecting a sharing information useful to terrorists

A man who shared bomb-making instructions in a far-right group chat has been convicted of terror offences.

Elliot Brown, 25, from Bath, shared a video of his Alexa speaker reading out a recipe for how to make the explosive substance thermite.

Brown denied wrongdoing but was convicted of collecting information that could be of use to a terrorist.

He was also convicted at Bristol Crown Court earlier of the dissemination of a terrorist publication.

On the first count Brown was convicted on a majority verdict of 10 jurors to two, and on the second charge by 11 jurors against one, following seven hours and 18 minutes of deliberations.

He is due to be sentenced at 10:00GMT on Monday at the same court.

The week-long trial heard how Brown, who had no previous convictions, held “extremist views”.

He was a member of a far-right group chat, in which he exchanged racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic messages with other members.

The group chat also contained photos related to the support of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.

Brown recorded a 30-second video on 22 March 2020, in which his Amazon Alexa speaker responded to his question – “how do I make thermite?”

Alexa read out instructions from a website, which Mr Brown recorded and sent into the chat via the messenger app Telegram.

Three days later fellow group member Dean Morrice purchased materials that could be combined to make thermite.

In August 2020, police raided his home and found enough aluminium powder, iron oxide, and magnesium ribbon in the kitchen to make the explosive substance.

Morrice was later convicted of 10 terrorism related offences, including stockpiling explosive materials.

Brown was subsequently arrested in February 2021 for the dissemination of a terrorist publication, but he told police he made the video “as a harmless joke”, the court heard.

He said he had “a dark sense of humour” and was being “ironic” and had “made comments” to gain others group members’ approval because he was significantly younger than them.

He told police he did not have extremist or far-right views.

But giving evidence, Brown admitted to holding “far-right, anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic” views, at the time.

Addressing the jury, prosecutor Naomi Parsons said: “I ask you, are his actions not a little bit more than a joke, as we have realised with Brown, a joke is not necessarily the whole story.

“Sharing a video explaining how to make an explosive with a right-wing group, who have an over-arching concern for white genocide, is that a joke?

“The group talked of race war, and Brown himself said that the race war was upon us.

“Morrice tells you about the people that Brown associated with and understood, and that he knew the potential consequences of his actions.”

Brown has been granted bail ahead of sentencing.

BBC News