A British neo-Nazi has been sentenced to a jail term of four years and two months for encouraging terrorism against...
British neo-Nazi Luke Hunter. Photo: UK counter-terrorism policing.
A British neo-Nazi has been sentenced to a jail term of four years and two months for encouraging terrorism against Jews, the LGBT+ community and non-white minorities.
Luke Hunter, 23, was convicted at the Crown Court in the northern English city of Leeds on Tuesday after admitting seven charges of promoting terrorism and circulating material from terrorist publications.
Hunter was arrested last October as part of a police investigation into far-right terrorism.
Searches of Hunter’s home revealed an obsession with Hitler and neo-Nazism and resulted in the seizure of a large number of white supremacist texts, military training manuals and guides on surveillance, guerrilla warfare, weapons and explosives. Officers also recovered Nazi memorabilia and a machete from his bedroom.
Hunter’s media devices were found to contain thousands of documents, videos and audio files of an extreme right-wing nature, in addition to the manifestos of previous mass murderers and recordings of Hunter himself, expressing what police called “his deeply disturbing views.”
Among Hunter’s social media postings was a call for the “eradication” of Jewish people.
According to the police, Hunter had a significant online reach, particularly among young people. His Telegram channel alone had more than 1,200 subscribers and was affiliated to the Feuerkrieg Division, an organization described by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a “small international neo-Nazi group that advocates for a race war and holds some of the white supremacist movement’s most extreme views.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden — the head of counter-terrorism policing in northeastern England — emphasized that Hunter was a dedicated follower of Hitler and Nazism.
“These actions are not simply the result of a young person simply seeking to explore and express their social or political views,” Snowden said. “Hunter promoted neo-Nazism to the widest possible audience and was reckless about the consequences.”
Snowden added that Hunter “accepts he was responsible for the hateful posts on his accounts, posts which glorified terrorism, promoted killing techniques and encouraged the killing of Jews, non-white races and homosexuals.”
