A 16-year-old boy on trial for terrorism offences downloaded guides on how to make homemade guns, used racist Nazi rhetoric and called the New Zealand mosque killer a ‘saint’, a court heard today.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, believed in the ‘twisted ideology of Nazis and white supremacy’ and joined conversations about mass shootings on right-wing chat forums, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
The jury was shown censored footage of the Christchurch terror attack in which 51 people were shot dead by gunman Brenton Tarrant, and were told the defendant had a recording of the killings on his phone ‘in graphic detail’.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, believed in the ‘twisted ideology of Nazis and white supremacy’ and joined conversations about mass shootings on right-wing chat forums, Birmingham Crown Court heard
The boy also had videos glorifying Anders Breivik – the Norwegian terrorist who shot 69 people on the island of Utoya in July 2011, the court heard.
Prosecutors allege the teenager, from Rugby in Warwickshire, searched for information about where to buy a blank-firing gun and discussed how to convert it into a live-firing weapon.
The jury was shown pictures which prosecutors allege were found on the defendant’s laptop – including one image with the caption ‘how to spot a criminal starter pack’ next to pictures of a black man.
The court heard the teenager told members of a right-wing chat forum that ‘the fuhrer’ had ‘given me the go-ahead to start the first UK cell’.
Opening the case against the teenager, prosecutor Matthew Brook said: ‘In this case, the evidence will prove that he became radicalised so he fully believed in extreme right-wing ideology.
‘That is the twisted ideology of Nazis and white supremacy. He came to believe an ideology which thinks a race war is coming. An ideology which believes its followers should bring about a race war, should accelerate its start, so that the white race can become supreme.
‘He came to believe in an ideology which praises terrorists who carry out mass shootings, like the Christchurch shootings in New Zealand, and called the perpetrators of such massacres ‘saints’.’
The prosecution alleges the teenager told like-minded people he was prepared to act as an ‘independent unit’ and was ‘ready to take action’.
In a post on a neo-Nazi website, he allegedly wrote: ‘The Fuhrer has given me the go-ahead to start the first UK cell. I’m going to function as an independent unit. We are going to be taking action.’
In the post he continued: ‘I’m sick of people talking s**t online. We are going to crack some skulls. We need to be more IRL (In real life) focused.
‘Whatever happens, I’m going to have a local unit. I’m working on propaganda and weapons. I need men.
‘In the next few weeks, I will have a functioning handgun. Enough to outgun any non-state actors.’
The jury was shown censored footage of the Christchurch terror attack in which 51 people were shot dead by gunman Brenton Tarrant
The court was shown pictures downloaded to the defendant’s laptop, including various assault rifles, shotguns and machine guns, which he viewed online in early 2018.
He also downloaded images of soldiers doing a Nazi salutes and pictures of a cartoon dog saying the words, ‘read a book n***er, you sure are f***ing stupid’.
Mr Brook told the court the boy’s mindset became more and more right-wing heading into 2019.
On February 22 last year, he accessed images of a black man next to the text ‘how to spot a criminal’
The boy had various pictures of the book Siege, by American Neo-Nazi James Mason, which is a core text among extreme right-wing groups,’ Mr Brook explained.
The book venerates Hitler and advocates ‘Lone Wolf’ attacks. In it, the author, James Mason, states: ‘ANY action taken against the Enemy, no holds barred, is a heroic deed.’
Breivik is referred to as a ‘saint’ on one of these Telegram chats, which is called Feuerkrig Division, another message group that the defendant was looking at.
When police searched the teenager’s bedroom, they also found a black mask with a skull on the front, the court heard, which is allegedly used as a uniform by neo-Nazis.
The court heard the boy also had an image of a Fox newsreader with the words ‘Day of the Rope’ across it – a reference to the first day of the race war.
Mr Brook continued: ‘The evidence will show that (the defendant) joined extreme right-wing chat forums on the internet and joined in the conversations about guns and mass shootings.
‘The evidence will show that he searched the internet for information on firearms, ammunition and weapons.
‘Having found that information, he did not keep it to himself but shared information about how to make homemade guns to people he believed shared the same extreme right-wing ideology and views of an impending race war as him.
‘The evidence will show that he searched for information about where to buy a blank-firing gun, which he discussed converting to a real live-firing gun with others.’
The teenager, who sat with his head bowed throughout proceedings as the evidence was presented, denies engaging in preparation of terrorist acts between July 20 and September 3 last year.
He also denies nine counts of possessing a document containing information useful for a terrorist about homemade firearms. In court, he was wearing a navy suit, white shirt and red tie.
The trial continues, and is expected to last four weeks.