Neo-Nazi 'National Action' British army soldiers arrested

[TonyGosling]

Neo-Nazi arrests: Four alleged members of 'National Action' arrested over terrorism, West Midlands Police reveal
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/national-action-neo-nazi-gr oup-terror-plot-arrest-west-midlands-police-a7930061.html

Men arrested on suspicion of 'commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism'

Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent
@lizziedearden
Tuesday 5 September 2017 12:20 BST



Four alleged members of a banned neo-Nazi group, including British soldiers, have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences.

The men, from the Midlands, Suffolk and Wales, were detained by counter-terror police in a series of raids and their homes are being searched.

“We can confirm that a number of serving members of the Army have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for being associated with a proscribed far right group,” an Army spokesperson said.

“These arrests are the consequence of a Home Office Police Force led operation supported by the Army.

“This is now the subject of a civilian police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

West Midlands Police said the suspects are a 22-year-old man from Birmingham, a 32-year-old man from Powys, a 24-year-old man from Ipswich and a 24-year-old man from Northampton.

A spokesperson added: “They have been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000; namely on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed organisation, National Action.

“All four men are being held at a police station in the West Midlands.”

They were arrested in a joint operation by specialist counter-terror units for the East Midlands, West Midlands and Wales.

“The arrests were pre-planned and intelligence-led - there was no threat to the public’s safety,” a spokesperson added.

Section 41 gives police the power to arrest anyone “reasonably suspected to be a terrorist” without warrant.

West Midlands Police would not give further details of the men’s activities but the “commission, preparation and instigation” of terrorism encompasses a wide spectrum of acts include directly planning an attack, joining a prohibited group or giving effect to that intention.

National Action became the first extreme right-wing group to be banned in the UK in December, but investigations have found its members are still meeting in secret.

The Government’s list of proscribed terror groups describes it as “a racist neo-Nazi group” that was established in 2013 and had several branches in the UK that launched provocative protests and activity aimed at intimidating local communities.

“Its activities and propaganda materials are particularly aimed at recruiting young people,” the document says.

“The group is virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. Its ideology promotes the idea that Britain will inevitably see a violent ‘race war’, which the group claims it will be an active part of.

National Action shared a photo of supporters performing Hitler salutes at a Nazi concentration camp

“The group rejects democracy, is hostile to the British state and seeks to divide society by implicitly endorsing violence against ethnic minorities and perceived ‘race traitors’.”

The Government said National Action’s online propaganda and social media glorified the use of extreme violence and terrorism for ideological goals, including praising the man who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox.

On post read “only 649 MPs to go” and included a photo of killer Thomas Mair with the caption “don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain” and "Jo Cox would have filled Yorkshire with more subhumans!”.

Another image celebrated the Isis-linked terror attack on an LGBT-friendly nightclub in Florida, and one showed a police officer’s throat being slit.

During a trip to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany last year, masked members displayed their flag and performed Hitler salutes in what they called an “execution room”.

National Action, which describes itself as a “National Socialist youth organisation”, was known for using the phrases “Hitler was right” and “Britain is ours, the rest must go” at marches and online.

It used social media to call for a “white jihad” and “crusade” in Britain, as well as urging followers to “kick racism back into football” and go “paedophile hunting”, while claiming the refugee crisis was an international Jewish and Marxist conspiracy.

Being a member of National Action or inviting support for the group is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, said the organisation had “absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone”.

Speaking in December, she said the ban hoped to prevent its membership from growing and curtail the ability of its “poisonous propaganda” to radicalise vulnerable young people.

While counter-terror efforts in the UK are largely focused on Islamist extremism, the number of suspected far-right radicals flagged to an anti-terror programme has soared.

Just under a third of all people being monitored under the Channel programme in 2016/17– part of the Prevent terror prevention scheme – believe in extreme right-wing ideologies and are vulnerable to radicalisation, according to unpublished Home Office figures.

Following the terror attack targeting Muslim worshippers in Finsbury Park, which left one man dead, the security minister warned that online propaganda was fuelling both jihadi and far-right extremism.

Ben Wallace, the security minister, said the Government was “aware of a rise in the far-right”, while the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation said the threat from the “murderous” extreme right-wing must not be underestimated.

[TonyGosling]

Reports describe one of those arrested as an “experienced soldier” at the Infantry Battle School (IBS) with responsibility for training and identifying private soldiers likely to have the “potential to be future leaders.”

British soldiers arrested for membership in banned fascist group
By Steve James - 7 September 2017
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/09/07/army-s07.html

Four soldiers in the British Army and one civilian have been arrested by West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit, on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism as members of the outlawed fascist group National Action.
Of the four, aged between 22 and 32, three are from England and one from Wales. The military personnel are from the Royal Anglian Regiment and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. One of the soldiers was arrested by Royal Military police at the Dhekelia British Army base in Cyprus.
Reports describe one of those arrested as an “experienced soldier” at the Infantry Battle School (IBS) with responsibility for training and identifying private soldiers likely to have the “potential to be future leaders.”
This soldier is said to have met the others at a training course in Brecon, Mid-Wales. This is a centre used by the elite Special Forces regiment, the SAS, for training. The British Army’s web site boasts, “The commanders that lead them [armed forces overseas operations] are all trained at IBS, and the training they undertake is linked to current operations.” It adds, “[S]oldiers and officers are prepared for any operational situation they may face—conventional war, counter insurgency, security sector reform, peacekeeping or supporting civil authorities.”
The arrests, under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, were described by an army spokesman as “the consequence of a Home Office police force-led operation supported by the army.” They were arrested “on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism...namely on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed organisation (National Action).”
The police said the operation was “pre-planned and intelligence led.” The Daily Mail reported that the military personnel were seized “after investigators uncovered ‘inflammatory’ far-Right material, including images and slogans, on encrypted social media site WhatsApp.”
No detail has yet been made of any alleged crime they were planning, with the police saying there was “no threat to the public’s safety.”
National Action was formed in 2013. Its members, often wearing masks and balaclavas, have carried out numerous acts of racist violence and organised anti-Semitic activities.
In 2014, one of their number told the Huffington Post that he admired Antonio Primo de Rivera (founder of the fascist Spanish Falange), 1930s British Union of Fascists leaders Oswald Mosley and Alexander Raven Thomson and right-wing author Wyndham Lewis. The group appealed to “white youths between the ages of 15-29 who are looking to become racial activists,” promising “flyers, stickers and activities will be provided free of charge.” The same year, supporter Garron Helm from Liverpool was jailed for anti-Semitic tweets to Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger.
In 2015, National Action member Zack Davies was given a life sentence in jail for the attempted murder of dentist Dr. Sarandev Bhambra, who was left with serious injuries after being attacked with a machete in a supermarket. Davies was reported shouting “white power” as he stabbed Dr. Bhambra. The same year, National Action organised a demonstration in Newcastle under a banner that included a large photo of the Nazi leader and read, “Refugees Not Welcome—Hitler was right.”
In 2016, photographs were posted on social media of National Action members performing fascist salutes in the Buchenwald death camp where 56,545 prisoners of the Nazis lost their lives during World War II. Members of the group also gathered outside York Minster to make Hitler salutes while holding the aforementioned banner.
The group’s leading figures have moved within a number of far-right groups. One of its leaders, Benjamin Raymond, was active in the New British Union, based on Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. A picture exists of Raymond—who said in an Internet post, “There are non-whites and Jews in my country who all need to be exterminated”—carrying a rifle. In the same post he added, “As a teenager, Mein Kampf changed my life. I am not ashamed to say I love Hitler.” Interviewed on BBC radio in 2015, Raymond said National Action supported Nazism and that Adolf Hitler was “absolutely” a role model.
The group has links with far-right forces internationally. Raymond described as a “hero” Anders Breivik, the Norwegian fascist who murdered 77 young people at a Norwegian Labour Party summer camp in 2011. Breivik’s act was the deadliest attack on civilians in Norway since World War II.
According to police figures, 22 members of National Action were arrested in 2016. It was proscribed in December of that year, following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by the fascist Thomas Mair.
Mair killed Cox, MP for the Batley and Spen constituency in West Yorkshire—during the referendum campaign on European Union membership—by shooting and stabbing her repeatedly. When he was brought before a court, Mair stated his name as “death to traitors, freedom for Britain.” This was a statement that National Action subsequently took as their own slogan, using it prominently on their former web site. They informed their social media followers, “Don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain.”
The arrest of the soldiers poses questions regarding possible connections between Mair’s murderous assault and National Action. Another tweet emanating from National Action after Cox’s killing referred to democratically elected members of Parliament, stating there were “only 649 MPs to go.”
The proximity of the ban on National Action to Cox’s murder invites suspicion that more is known about Mair’s political connections than was revealed publicly.
Announcing the ban, Home Secretary Amber Rudd declared the group to be a terrorist organisation, membership of which was an offence carrying a prison sentence. Publicising, organising meetings for, wearing clothing or carrying articles indicating approval of the group was also made an offence.
National Action is the only British far-right organisation among 71 mostly international groups currently banned in Britain, although a number of Northern Ireland’s right-wing loyalist groups have been banned for many years.
The existence of a neo-Nazi cell operating in the British armed forces is a dangerous development and one with parallels in other countries. With the turn towards militarism by all the major capitalist powers, there is a growing concentration of far-right and fascist forces within the state apparatus.
In Germany, the existence of a far-right network allegedly involved in preparing attacks against high-profile politicians has been revealed. Those targeted included former President Joachim Gauck, Justice Minister Heiko Maas, and the president of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, as well as Jewish and Muslim organisations. Later reports confirmed that the suspected terrorist cell was part of much more widespread right-wing extremist networks in the Bundeswehr.
In Greece, members of the fascist Golden Dawn work closely with the security forces, often under their protection. In the June 2012 general elections, more than half of police officers reportedly voted for Golden Dawn, with many police officers, particularly within the riot control department, members of the far-right group.
In Canada, five members of the fascistic Proud Boys organisation, who are members of the Canadian Armed Forces, disrupted a “sacred rite” ceremony by native Mi’kmaqs in July. The Proud Boys describe themselves as “Western chauvinists.” Following a military police investigation, last month the decision was taken by the Royal Canadian Navy not to punish the five.

[TonyGosling]

National Action: Banned neo-Nazi terrorist group still active in UK after finding loophole
Exclusive: Members allegedly seen meeting at ‘terror training camp’ within the past week
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nazi-group-uk-national-acti on-banned-still-operating-loophole-soldiers-arrested-terrorism-plot-a7 937206.html

Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent @lizziedearden a day ago

Members of the UK’s first ever banned neo-Nazi terrorist group are using a loophole in the law to continue operating despite being outlawed by the Government, it has emerged.

National Action is evading authorities by taking on new names – allegedly including Scottish Dawn and NS131 – in a technique used prolifically by Anjem Choudary’s Islamist network.

The group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December, making being a National Action member a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but a former detective said police are left powerless to arrest neo-Nazis acting under new names.

READ MORE
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Neo-Nazi able to join British Army despite support for Nation Action
British soldiers ‘in neo-Nazi group’ arrested under terror laws
The warning came after five alleged members of National Action – including four serving soldiers – were arrested this week on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism.

Matthew Collins, the head of research at campaign group Hope Not Hate, said known neo-Nazis from National Action were seen meeting at a “terror training camp” in Warrington as recently as last Saturday.

“There were 10 of them in there training,” he told The Independent. “They believe they’re untouchable, they laugh at the police.”

The warehouse, which sits next to a children's playground on an industrial estate, has been converted into a gym and office.

hope-not-hate-national-action-3.png
A converted warehouse allegedly used as base by National Action members in Warrington, Cheshire (Hope Not Hate)
Undercover footage has shown neo-Nazis training with wooden knives and baseball bats, learning mixed martial arts and listening to lectures on “white jihad”.

Mr Collins said National Action has focused on Muslims but is fundamentally antisemitic, propagating Jewish conspiracy theories while fostering a “deep obsession with violence”.

“They believe they’re going to be involved in some kind of war,” Mr Collins said.


READ MORE
Man accused of murdering MP Jo Cox gives name as ‘death to traitors’
“This is preparation – they believe it’s necessary because there’s going to be a race war, which will be triggered by Islamist terrorist attacks, and then they will lead legions of white people into war against Jews.”

The group was known for using the phrases “Hitler was right” and “Britain is ours, the rest must go” at marches, and online propaganda included images showing members performing Hitler salutes inside a German concentration camp.

National Action was founded in 2013 but was not banned until it was tied to violent attacks and plots, including the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.

“Death to traitors, freedom for Britain” became a slogan for the group after being said in court by Thomas Mair, who was glorified in online propaganda calling for murders.

In February, a 17-year-old National Action member from Bradford was ordered to undergo intensive counselling after making a pipe-bomb.

The boy claimed he had no intention of using the improvised explosive device but told the court he was still a neo-Nazi and supporter of National Action.

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Tributes after death of Bernard Kenny – the man who tried to save Jo Cox’s life
“Thomas Mair is a HERO,” he had written online. “We need more people like him to butcher the race traitors.”

Mr Collins, who was a member of the National Front as a teenager, said there was evidence suggesting that National Action members are planning terror attacks.

“These people are far more dedicated, far more sophisticated and far more dangerous than previous groups,” he added.

“They’ve seen the British National Party try and fail mainstream politics, seen the National Front fail and the EDL degenerate into drugs.

“They’re younger, they’re smarter, they’re savvier and they model themselves on obscure violent groups.”

Mr Collins said members have read up on the IRA’s cell structure and studied the far-left Baader-Meinhof Group, while ironically appearing to repeat techniques recently used by Islamists to evade authorities.

British security services battled for decades to clamp down on a network of Islamists originally known as al-Muhajiroun, eventually succeeding in jailing leader Choudary for inviting support for Isis last year.

As members were repeatedly arrested and released, the group mutated and took on a series of names that left authorities powerless to detain them.

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Each time the government proscribed al-Muhajiroun’s latest incarnation, another would spring up. The current list of banned groups includes 10 different aliases, including Islam4UK, Muslims Against Crusades and The Saved Sect.

The ringleader of the London Bridge attack, Khuram Butt, was a member of the network, as were the men who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby, attack plotters, suicide bombers and militants who have joined Isis and other terrorist groups around the world.

David Videcette, a former counter-terrorism detective in the Metropolitan Police, said National Action was following a similar path.


READ MORE
London attack is latest atrocity linked to Anjem Choudary’s network
“The problem is that as soon as the Government proscribes an organisation, they change the name and there’s very little law enforcement can do,” he told The Independent.

“You have to go through Parliament to get a new organisation proscribed so it’s not ideal.

“I think authorities have got to start going after people individually – they know who they are.”

Mr Videcette said police had “failed” with Choudary because they attempted to prosecute him for terror offences that could not be proved, rather than criminal offences that may have resulted in conviction.

He added: “These right-wing groups are racial hatred and violence… there are other laws and tactics you can use to arrest them.”

National Action are believed to be attempting to disguise themselves with aliases, including Scottish Dawn and NS131.

Mr Collins estimates that up to 60 members are currently active, down from a peak of 150 when a neo-Nazi conference was held in Southport.

hope-not-hate-national-action-2.png
Members of National Action at a march in Darlington (Hope Not Hate)
“They are still very active – they’re still meeting and organising,” he warned. “We cautiously welcomed the proscription of them but we were privately concerned that we didn’t think the police really understood culturally how difficult the group was and how it was evolving.

“Some of the attempts to curtail or disrupt the group have been clumsy and ill-informed – police seem to think they’re still dealing with the BNP or National Front.”

Emily Winterbotham, a senior research fellow in national security at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), said National Action was part of a wider resurgence in the far right.

She said attacks classed as hate crime, such as vandalism and verbal abuse directed at Muslims, had risen but were not always linked by authorities to extremist groups.

“I think sometimes there’s a tendency to downplay some more extreme right-wing activity as hooliganism,” she added.

“But 20 per cent of referrals to the Channel counter-extremism programme are related to the far-right.

“But the fact that there have now been arrests shows that the security services are looking into people with links to far-right groups in all walks of society.”

Detectives have been granted extra time to question five suspected members of National Action, including four soldiers, who were detained on suspicion of “being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism”.

The fifth suspect, a soldier who was serving with the Royal Anglian Regiment in Cyprus, was formally arrested on Friday after being flown back to the UK from RAF Akrotiri.

The 24-year-old from Northampton remains in custody alongside a 22-year-old man from Birmingham, a 32-year-old man arrested in Powys, a 24-year-old arrested in Ipswich and a 24-year-old arrested in Northampton.

“The arrests were pre-planned and intelligence-led,” a spokesperson from West Midlands Police said. “There was no threat to the public’s safety.”

[TonyGosling]

Two British soldiers charged with terror offences and being members of neo-Nazi right wing group
Last week, three soldiers were arrested in the UK while a fourth was held by Royal Military Police in Cyprus
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/two-british-soldiers-charged-terr or-11151733

BYJANE LAVENDER 21:02, 11 SEP 2017


Two British soldiers have been charged with terror offences over their alleged membership of a banned neo-Nazi right with group.

Last week, three soldiers were arrested in the UK while a fourth was held by Royal Military Police in Cyprus.

A civilian has also been arrested and the suspects are all between 22 and 32.

National Action has been described as "anti-Semitic and homophobic" by the Home Office.

It was the first right wing group to be banned under terrorism laws in December.

Anyone found to be a member could face up to 10 years in prison.


Thomas Mair has been praised by the group (Image: Reuters)
The man convicted of murdering MP Jo Cox, Thomas Mair, was praised by the group.

It is thought National Action has around 100 members.

West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit and Wales Extremism Counter Terrorism Unit carried out the arrests last week, along with the East Midlands Counter Terrorism Intelligence Unit.

Five men, including four serving soldiers, were held on suspicion of terror offences last week, West Midland Police said.

Alexander Deakin, 22, from Birmingham, Mikko Vehvilainen, 32, with an address at Llwyncyntefin, Sennybridge Camp, Brecon, and Mark Barrett, 24, with an address at Gaza Crescent, Dhekelia Garrison, Cyprus, have been charged with membership of the group.

Police said Deakin had also been charged possessing documents useful in committing or preparing an act of terrorism, distributing a terrorist publication and inciting racial hatred.

Vehvilainen was also charged with possessing documents useful in committing or preparing an act of terrorism, as well as publishing threatening or abusive material and possessing a weapon.

All three are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

[TonyGosling]

National Action: Alleged neo-Nazi 'bought machete to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper'
Man appears in court alongside five other alleged members of far-right terrorist group

Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent @lizziedearden a day ago
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/national-action-neo-nazi-ro sie-cooper-murder-plot-labour-mp-bought-machete-far-right-a8023056.htm l

An alleged neo-Nazi bought a machete with the intention of murdering Labour MP Rosie Cooper, a court has heard.

The 22-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was among six alleged members of National Action appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

He has been a preparing for acts of terrorism by allegedly buying a “Gladius Machete” – a type of weapon used by Celtic tribes and Roman legions – for the purpose of murdering Ms Cooper in July.


READ MORE
'Neo-Nazi terrorist' allegedly called on followers to murder Labour MP
The defendant, from Lancashire, is also accused of making threats to kill a female police officer.

National Action’s alleged regional leader, 31-year-old Christopher Lythgoe, is accused of “the encouragement of murder” by approving the alleged plot at a meeting.

He and the 22-year-old are have also been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation, alongside Garron Helm, 24, of Seaforth, Matthew Hankinson, 23, of Newton-Le-Willows, Andrew Clarke, 33, of Prescot and Michael Trubini, 25, of Warrington.

The men appeared in the dock on Friday, speaking to confirm their names, dates of birth and ages.

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During the hearing, Mr Helm asked: “Am I allowed to speak?” before he was approached by his lawyer.

Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot remanded them in custody before a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey on 3 November.

The six men were among 11 suspects arrested across England and Wales during a crackdown on National Action in September, after allegedly remaining remembers of the group and continuing its activities after it became the first far-right organisation banned by the Government last year.

Two of National Action's aliases - Scottish Dawn and NS131 – have since been prohibited in an order that cited their “virulently racist, antisemitic and homophobic” ideology.

The proscription makes membership a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment.