A small, but dangerous assortment of racists who idolise Hitler
WHEN the man who murdered Jo Cox was asked to give the court his name, he refused and instead recited from the dock his favourite far-right mantra “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain”.
That very same saying had appeared on the front page of the website of National Action, a white supremacist group that idolised Adolf Hitler.
After the Labour MP was stabbed to death by Thomas Mair last year, the same organisation posted messages of support for him, stating “only 649 MPS to go” and calling for his “sacrifice” not to be in vain. Last December National Action became the first far-right group to be banned and placed on the Government’s blacklist under the Terrorism Act. The Home Office noted how
‘...divide society by implicitly endorsing violence against ethnic minorities and perceived “race traitors’’ ’
the organisation was “virulently racist, anti-semitic and homophobic” and eager to “condone and glorify” those who use violence for political ends. Its aim was to “divide society by implicitly endorsing violence against ethnic minorities and perceived ‘race traitors’.”
By the group’s own admission, it was the “National Socialist youth organisation” that had emerged from Britain’s “broken far-right”. Many of its members became disillusioned by BNP’S humiliating public collapse.
Others had become frustrated with how splinter groups, including the English Defence League and Britain First, meant the Far Right was fractured. So, in 2013 National Action was launched, and its leaders learned quickly how social media could attract impressionable youngsters. At one point it had eight Twitter accounts, produced numerous videos on Youtube, and ran a variety of Facebook accounts. Regional branches publicised cartoons on their websites, often showing demonstrations where members of the group invariably wore scarves masking their faces and held aloft banners proclaiming “Hitler was Right”.
The group boasted about how it had perfected “stunts” to get publicity. One such campaign saw “white zone” stickers put up overnight around the Berkshire market town of Newbury.
But their tactics landed supporters in jail. Garron Helm, 24, from Liverpool, was jailed for four weeks in 2014 for sending an anti-semitic text message to Luciana Berger, the Labour MP. When police searched his home they found Nazi memorabilia. Helm was later filmed by an undercover journalist saying Jo Cox “had it coming”.
In 2015, Zack Davies told police he was a supporter of National Action as he was arrested for using a machete to attack an Asian dentist. Although he had shouted “white power” during the assault, for which he was jailed for at least 14 years, it emerged he was also obsessed with Islamic State and claimed Jihadi John as his inspiration.
While it is estimated National Action had only 100 members, the support it attracted online suggested there were many more sympathisers. The pro- scription means that being a member of, or inviting support for the organisation, is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Earlier, this year Hope not Hate, a charity that researches extremist groups, warned that National Action’s activists felt “emboldened” by the ban and were continuing to operate.
Its “State of Hate” report said some senior figures continued to “try to encourage younger recruits to carry out acts of terrorism”.
It concluded that Britain should prepare for an “upsurge in violence from British neo-nazi groups”.