Three men who were members of an online extreme right-wing group were convicted on Wednesday of planning to carry out terrorist attacks at synagogues and mosques as part of a “race war,” British police said.
Brogan Stewart and Marco Pitzettu, both 25, and Christopher Ringrose, 34, were found guilty of multiple terror and firearms offenses following their arrests over a year ago, Counter Terrorism Policing North East said.
“The self-styled ‘militant’ online group provided an echo chamber of extreme right-wing views where they shared horrific racial slurs, glorified mass murderers and encouraged violence against anyone deemed an enemy,” according to authorities, which noted that they idolized Nazism, “which was evident throughout their messages.”
Among hundreds of messages sent by the three, including in a chat titled “Einsatz 14,” after the notorious Nazi death squads, they spoke about killing then prime minister Rishi Sunak and torturing imams.
Other targets that the trio discussed in the Telegram chat group included synagogues, mosques and Islamic education centers.
The terrorist organization also prepared for what they believed was an “inevitable race war,” Counter Terrorism Policing said, sourcing body armor, rations and a cache of weapons as part of their preparations.
Police seized over 200 weapons from the homes of the three terrorists, alongside riot gear, body armor and ration packs. The confiscated items included firearms, machetes, hunting knives, swords and crossbows.
The men pleaded not guilty, but jurors at Sheffield Crown Court convicted them of all charges. Sentencing is scheduled for July 17.
“Stewart, Pitzettu, and Ringrose have today been rightfully convicted of multiple terrorism offenses,” stated Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East.
“They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset,” added the officer. “Some of their defense in court was that it was all fantasy or just part of harmless chat, however, all three took real-world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.”
Britain tallied the second-highest annual total of antisemitic incidents in 2024, according to the annual Community Security Trust report published on Feb. 12. The Jewish security group counted 3,528 incidents, “reflecting sustained levels of hatred towards Jews.”
“While the number of incidents fell 18% compared to 2023, last year’s figure was still far higher than annual levels recorded before the recent conflict in the Middle East,” the CST said in a statement on its website.
According to the Antisemitic Incidents Report 2024, last year’s figure is 56% higher than the next highest data of 2,261 incidents in 2021. There were 1,662 recorded antisemitic incidents in 2022, and 1,684 in 2020.