Neo-Nazi teen convicted of planning to attack synagogue on a Jewish holiday
▶ A TEENAGER has been convicted of attempting to attack a Brighton synagogue on a Jewish holiday.
Mason Reynolds, 19, who was described in court as a “violent antisemite”, planned to undertake a suicide bombing at Holland Road shul.
The sixth-form student had annotated diagrams of the synagogue on his phone with one entrance identified as being ‘‘good for surprise attack”.
He wrote that he wished to “blow myself up inside a synagogue”.
Reynolds, who lived with his parents, also ran a channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
Users on the channel praised “Nazi heroes” and discussed previous farright terror attacks, Winchester Crown Court heard.
After he was arrested last year, police discovered a “vast amount” of antisemitic material on his phone and laptop. In the notes app on his phone, police found his plan to attack the Holland Road synagogue, which at the time was used by Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation before their move to a new location. It read: “The Jewish holidays that tend to have the most people in synagogues are Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover.”
An annotation to his diagrams claimed: “Unknown place it leads to could blow the whole plan but could be good for surprise attack.”
Reynolds was also in possession of a video captioned “burn your local synagogue, join your local Nazis” and an image he made that was captioned: “Make Jews afraid again.”
Prosecuting lawyer Naomi Parsons said: “[Reynolds] lived with his mum and dad, who he got on well with.
“At the time, Mr Reynolds has admitted he was a neo-Nazi.
“Mr Reynolds does not find himself here because he has political, racial or ideological views that some may find distasteful or indeed abhorrent. He’s here because he has been charged with a terrorism-related offence. What that means, in practice, is that he’s not just held those political, racial and ideological views – he’s acted on them.”
Reynolds was found guilty of possessing an article connected with the preparation of an act of terrorism.
He previously pleaded guilty to five offences of possessing information that may be useful to a terrorist and five offences of disseminating terrorist publications.
He will be sentenced on June 14. The Community Security Trust said it welcomed the verdict and thanked Brighton’s Jewish community for their “resilience and cooperation” during the case.
“As ever, this case demonstrates the diverse range of threats our community faces and demonstrates the reason why the Jewish community needs such extensive security at our communal buildings,” it said in a statement. The Sussex Jewish Representative Council previously told the JC: “This is a stark reminder of the ongoing threat the Jewish community faces from those fomenting antisemitic views.
“The small Jewish community of Brighton and Hove should feel safe to practise and demonstrate our faith without the threat of terrorism, violence or hostility.”
Nick Price, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism and Special Crime Division, said: “Mason Reynolds sought to spread hate and encourage acts of terrorism. Today’s guilty verdict, along with his earlier guilty pleas, show he not only held neoNazi beliefs but wanted to act on them to cause pain and suffering, which fortunately has been prevented.”