Neo-Nazis convicted after spreading racist National Action stickers around Birmingham university and performing Hitler salute
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Version 0 of 1. A group of men who spread neo-Nazi stickers around a university campus and performed a Hitler salute have been found guilty of attempting to incite racial hatred. The four extremists were caught on CCTV posting the stickers, with slogans including “Britain is ours - the rest must go”, around Aston University in Birmingham in July 2016. Prosecutors said they were recruitment tools for the neo-Nazi group National Action, which was banned as a terrorist organisation later that year. One of the stickers posted around the university in July 2016 showed a white figure giving a Nazi-type salute, and carried the words "White Zone - National Action". The stickers were discovered by security staff two days later and reported to police, who started a hate crime investigation. Afterwards, the group went to the pub and one member bragged about how their activities – on the day of a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Birmingham - offended "butt-hurt students, sub-humans, and traitors". A photo showed members with National Action’s flag, and two of them giving Nazi-type salutes as they posed in front of the university. A day after they appeared, a post on a Twitter account run by the group’s regional arm read: “The fashy goys [sic] of National Action have hit Aston University campus”. Four men were found guilty of inciting racial hatred with the stunt, while a fifth suspect was acquitted after four hours of jury deliberations at Birmingham Crown Court. Chad Williams-Allen, 26, from West Bromwich and Gary Jack, 22, from Shard End, are due to be sentenced on 1 June alongside two fellow convicts who cannot be named for legal reasons. Members of the jury were shown a chat on the encrypted messaging app Telegram in March 2016 in which Williams-Allen sent an image of a National Action sticker, writing: “Been taking the long route home through paki land and slapping these everywhere.” In other messages, the 26-year-old railed against multi-culturalism, Jewish people and used racial slurs. “Back in brum - disgusting n*****s and pakis everywhere,” another read. The unnamed 23-year-old defendant was described in court as a ”key influencer and organiser“ of National Action, while his 26-year-old associate had images on electronic devices seized by police that stated "Hitler was right" and "bring back apartheid". Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, who heads the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “We are committed to tackling all forms of extremism which has the potential to threaten public safety and security.” All four men are said to have been members of National Action at the time but the stickers appeared six months before it became the first far-right group banned as a terrorist group in December 2016. Other alleged members prosecuted since that date have been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation, which is punishable with up to 10 years imprisonment. |