Pudsey white supremacist guilty of distributing racist stickers online

January 26, 2024 Article

It took a jury less than a day to unanimously find a white supremacist guilty of spreading racist hate after creating a library of downloadable stickers for supporters to distribute in public.

Samuel Melia, 34, from Pudsey, who organises locally for Patriotic Alternative, will return to court on March 1 for sentencing after guilty verdicts at Leeds Crown Court on January 24.

The offences concern publishing or distributing material intending to stir up racial hatred and encouraging or assisting the commission of the offence of racially aggravated criminal damage between 2019 and 2021.

The Times newspaper exposed Melia’s racist activities following a lengthy investigation into Patriotic Alternative in 2021.

The Hundred Handers Telegram channel, created by Melia, granted supporters access to files to download – and shared examples of where the stickers appeared across the UK, Europe and North America. At its height, the channel had over 3,500 subscribers.

Following his arrest in 2021, police found various far-right stickers in Melia’s wallet as subsequent searches of his property revealed a poster of Adolf Hitler, a Nazi emblem, and a copy of fascist literature authored by Oswald Moseley.

Officers downloaded over 200 Hundred Handers stickers and photographs from Melia’s digital devices.

The prosecution further outlined the expectation Melia placed on others: to display the stickers in public as he did.

Examples of Melia’s racist stickering cited included anti-Black statements around Black Lives Matter (BLM) in his local town. On Telegram, the channel boasted of targeting a street sign near the home of a Muslim teenager and their family after making headlines for expressing support for BLM during the summer of 2020.

Over the years, Tell MAMA did receive reports about their activities, including stickers linking Muslims broadly to criminality or pushing white supremacist conspiracy theories. In 2018, the public alerted us to stickers targeting Muslim communities with “No 2 Halal” and “No 2 Koser” stickers – distribution of the former launched a hate crime investigation in the St Helens area in February 2020. Weeks earlier, we highlighted how local anti-racists removed a Hundred Handers sticker in Sunderland whilst highlighting the antisemitic, anti-Muslim and broad racist ideologies that underpinned the stickering.

Following the guilty verdict, Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, made clear that: “It is illegal to publish such material intending to stir up racial hatred towards others, and the CPS will not hesitate to bring prosecutions against those who break the law in this way.”

Price also stated: “Melia was perfectly aware that the stickers he published on his Telegram channel were being downloaded and then stuck up in public places around the country.

“He also knew full well the impact these racially inflammatory stickers were having, and by attempting to remain anonymous, sought to protect himself and others from investigation.

“He was very deliberate in the manner he wanted to spread his messages of racial hatred, and online messages recovered made it clear that he knew these stickers were being displayed in public and causing damage to public property.”

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Categories: Far Right groups, News, Patriotic Alternative, Telegram, West Yorkshire

Cardiff neo-Nazi jailed for multiple terrorism offences

January 22, 2024 Article

A Cardiff-based neo-Nazi who admitted various terror offences received a prison sentence of over four years last week.

Kristen Persen, 22, entered guilty pleas last month for ten charges – six concerned sharing terrorism material – a Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 offence – and four counts in breach of Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection terrorism information).

His arrest on November 30, 2022, followed a joint investigation between counter-terror police in the West Midlands and Wales.

Following news of his jailing, it emerged that counter-terror officers found books and manuals on a laptop to build firearms, explosives, and detonators.

Also amongst the litany of white supremacist propaganda, officers found material glorifying banned neo-Nazi terror groups and racist materials targeting Jewish and other minority groups.

Other white supremacist materials found at the Cardiff address included neo-Nazi clothing, flags and stickers.

In a statement, Detective Chief Superintendent Anastasia Miller, who leads Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands CTU, made clear that: “We work tirelessly to secure convictions of individuals such as Persen who pose a significant threat to communities across the country.

“Extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this. As a result of these investigations, we have seen a significant increase of right-wing referrals to our Prevent programme.

“Our proactive efforts to confront the threat posed by extreme right-wing terrorism continues.”

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Williams, Head of Investigations at Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, welcomed the jailing of Kristen Persen by stating: Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Williams, Head of Investigations at Counter Terrorism Policing Wales stated:

“We welcome the outcome of the court process, which is the result of a lengthy and extremely detailed joint investigation between Counter Terrorism officers in both Wales and the West Midlands.

“It clearly demonstrates the benefits and strengths of a collective approach to what are often very complex cases to investigate. The safety and the security of the public is at the heart of everything we do, and our officers and staff rightly go to great lengths to meet that objective. The outcome of the court case helps us ensure that continues to be the case.”

 

 

 

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Categories: Far Right groups, Neo-Nazi, News, terrorism, Wales, West Midlands Police

CCTV appeal after man and woman abused for carrying Palestinian flag at Leeds station

January 10, 2024 Article

The British Transport Police (BTP) launched a CCTV appeal to help an ongoing hate crime investigation after a man and woman faced abuse in Leeds station for carrying a Palestinian flag and placards.

During the afternoon of December 23, at around 4:40 pm, five men approached them and abused them.

Anyone who recognises them is asked to contact British Transport Police by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference number 478 of 23/12/23.

Anyone who recognises them is asked to contact British Transport Police by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference number 478 of 23/12/23.

Anyone with information can contact the BTP by texting quoting reference number 478 of 23/12/23 to 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.

Tell MAMA can pass any information forward on your behalf or anonymously.

On December 12, we reported on the targeting of a Muslim teacher in front of her students on the London Underground.

More broadly, we recorded a seven-fold rise in anti-Muslim cases between October 7 and December 13 2023. Of the 1,432* cases following the deadly Hamas terror attacks on October 7, up from the 2022 figure of 195 cases (153 offline, 42 online), and represented the largest rise in reports to our service across 68 days.

To help keep safe on the rail networks, Tell MAMA in partnership with the BTP, created tailored safety tips for the rail networks.

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Categories: BTP, hate crime, Leeds, News, Palestine, train