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| Couple Who Named Their Child After Hitler Are Sentenced for Neo-Nazi Membership | Couple Who Named Their Child After Hitler Are Sentenced for Neo-Nazi Membership |
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| LONDON — A couple who named their child after Hitler have been sentenced to more than 10 years total in prison after they were convicted of being members of a banned neo-Nazi group that had sought to start a race war in Britain, the police said. | LONDON — A couple who named their child after Hitler have been sentenced to more than 10 years total in prison after they were convicted of being members of a banned neo-Nazi group that had sought to start a race war in Britain, the police said. |
| A judge in Birmingham Crown Court, in central England, sentenced the couple, Adam Thomas, 22, and Claudia Patatas, 38, on Tuesday, along with four other members, for being members of the violent National Action group after they were convicted last month. Mr. Thomas received six years and six months in prison, and Ms. Patatas five years. | |
| The six were active members of the group, which has been banned under British antiterrorism law since 2016. But Mr. Thomas, a former security guard, and Ms. Patatas, a wedding photographer, stood out: The couple gave their child the middle name Adolf out of admiration for Hitler, the BBC reported. | The six were active members of the group, which has been banned under British antiterrorism law since 2016. But Mr. Thomas, a former security guard, and Ms. Patatas, a wedding photographer, stood out: The couple gave their child the middle name Adolf out of admiration for Hitler, the BBC reported. |
| In one image released by the West Midlands Police, the couple were photographed holding their baby alongside a flag emblazoned with a swastika. In another, Mr. Thomas is shown in a white robe reminiscent of those worn by the Ku Klux Klan while cradling a baby also dressed in white. | In one image released by the West Midlands Police, the couple were photographed holding their baby alongside a flag emblazoned with a swastika. In another, Mr. Thomas is shown in a white robe reminiscent of those worn by the Ku Klux Klan while cradling a baby also dressed in white. |
| The photographs were recovered from electronic devices owned by members of the group, according to the news site Birmingham Live. | The photographs were recovered from electronic devices owned by members of the group, according to the news site Birmingham Live. |
| The details that emerged about the group’s activities added to concern about the recent rise of violent far-right movements in Britain, led by figures like the anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson. | The details that emerged about the group’s activities added to concern about the recent rise of violent far-right movements in Britain, led by figures like the anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson. |
| “These individuals were not simply racist fantasists; we now know they were a dangerous, well-structured organization,” Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said in a statement about National Action in November, when the verdicts were announced. | “These individuals were not simply racist fantasists; we now know they were a dangerous, well-structured organization,” Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said in a statement about National Action in November, when the verdicts were announced. |
| “Their aim was to spread neo-Nazi ideology by provoking a race war in the U.K., and they had spent years acquiring the skills to carry this out,” he said. | “Their aim was to spread neo-Nazi ideology by provoking a race war in the U.K., and they had spent years acquiring the skills to carry this out,” he said. |
| During their investigation, the police found evidence that the group had researched how to make explosives, had gathered weapons and had a clear structure to radicalize others. | During their investigation, the police found evidence that the group had researched how to make explosives, had gathered weapons and had a clear structure to radicalize others. |
| At the home Mr. Thomas shared with Ms. Patatas, officers found knives and crossbows, one kept a few feet from the baby’s crib. Items inspired by the Nazis, like a swastika-shaped pastry cutter and swastika scatter cushions, were also recovered, the BBC reported. | At the home Mr. Thomas shared with Ms. Patatas, officers found knives and crossbows, one kept a few feet from the baby’s crib. Items inspired by the Nazis, like a swastika-shaped pastry cutter and swastika scatter cushions, were also recovered, the BBC reported. |
| The conviction of the six members, including Daniel Bogunovic, 27, Darren Fletcher, 28, Nathan Pryke, 27, and Joel Wilmore, 24, followed the sentencing this year of two other members of National Action, Mikko Vehvilainen and Alex Deakin, the police said. | The conviction of the six members, including Daniel Bogunovic, 27, Darren Fletcher, 28, Nathan Pryke, 27, and Joel Wilmore, 24, followed the sentencing this year of two other members of National Action, Mikko Vehvilainen and Alex Deakin, the police said. |
| “We have seen many convictions over the past few years in connection with Syria-related terrorism, and this work continues apace,” Detective Ward said. “But extreme groups such as National Action also have the potential to threaten public safety and security.” | “We have seen many convictions over the past few years in connection with Syria-related terrorism, and this work continues apace,” Detective Ward said. “But extreme groups such as National Action also have the potential to threaten public safety and security.” |
| National Action was founded in 2013, and its members are known for violence and hate speech. In 2015, a man described as a member attacked a Sikh dentist with a machete at a supermarket in Wales in what appeared to be a revenge for the beheading of a British soldier on a London street in 2013. | National Action was founded in 2013, and its members are known for violence and hate speech. In 2015, a man described as a member attacked a Sikh dentist with a machete at a supermarket in Wales in what appeared to be a revenge for the beheading of a British soldier on a London street in 2013. |
| After the killing in 2016 of Jo Cox, a Labour Party member of Parliament, a post on the group’s Twitter account said, “Only 649 MPs to go.” Alongside the photo of Thomas Mair, a right-wing extremist convicted of Ms. Cox’s killing, the group said, “Don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain.” Another post celebrated the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016. | After the killing in 2016 of Jo Cox, a Labour Party member of Parliament, a post on the group’s Twitter account said, “Only 649 MPs to go.” Alongside the photo of Thomas Mair, a right-wing extremist convicted of Ms. Cox’s killing, the group said, “Don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain.” Another post celebrated the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016. |
| When the British government included the group in its list of proscribed terrorist organizations in 2016, it described National Action as a “racist neo-Nazi group” that “rejects democracy, is hostile to the British state and seeks to divide society by implicitly endorsing violence against ethnic minorities and perceived ‘race traitors.’” | When the British government included the group in its list of proscribed terrorist organizations in 2016, it described National Action as a “racist neo-Nazi group” that “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 Twitter messages “amount to the unlawful glorification of terrorism,” the document said. | The Twitter messages “amount to the unlawful glorification of terrorism,” the document said. |
| Sara Khan, Britain’s first counterextremism commissioner, was appointed after the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, in 2017. Ms. Khan noted in an article published in the newspaper The Observer in October that the ripple effects of far-right groups and the street demonstrations led by the likes of Mr. Robinson were being felt in many corners of Britain. | Sara Khan, Britain’s first counterextremism commissioner, was appointed after the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, in 2017. Ms. Khan noted in an article published in the newspaper The Observer in October that the ripple effects of far-right groups and the street demonstrations led by the likes of Mr. Robinson were being felt in many corners of Britain. |
| “Councils across the country raised the impact the far-right demonstrations have on whole towns, exploiting tensions and stoking division,” she wrote after spending months visiting communities across the country. “I repeatedly heard about a climate of intolerance and polarization.” | “Councils across the country raised the impact the far-right demonstrations have on whole towns, exploiting tensions and stoking division,” she wrote after spending months visiting communities across the country. “I repeatedly heard about a climate of intolerance and polarization.” |