National Action trial – as it happened: Neo-Nazi terrorists wanted to wage 'white jihad' and claimed 'Hitler was right', court hears
Jack Renshaw, 23, denies being a member of National Action after it was banned
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A group of alleged neo-Nazi terrorists wanted to wage what they called "white jihad" and claimed "Hitler was right", a court has heard.
Six defendants on trial at the Old Bailey are accused of continuing preparations for a race war as National Action members after the group was banned by the government in 2016.
Former member Robbie Mullen, who later turned informant, told the court they wanted to achieve a “white Britain by any means necessary...war, anything".
Asked what National Action was against, Mr Mullen said: “Basically everyone...Jews, blacks, Asians, every non-white race.”
Defendant Jack Renshaw has admitted plotting to murder a Labour MP with a machete but denies being a member of National Action at the time.
Jurors heard the 23-year-old planned to kill Rosie Cooper before taking hostages in a pub and targeting a female police officer.
Co-defendants Garron Helm, 24, of Seaforth, Merseyside, Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, Andrew Clarke, 33, Christopher Lythgoe, 32, and Michal Trubini, 35, all of Warrington, also plead not guilty to membership of a proscribed group.
Prosecutors previously told the Old Bailey the group became the north-west faction of National Action after it was banned for its antisemitic, homophobic and violent ideology in December 2016.
On Wednesday the jury was shown footage of demonstrations before the ban in locations including Newcastle and Liverpool, where National Action members made antisemitic speeches and performed Nazi salutes, while carrying banners reading "Cleanse Britain of Parasites" and "Hitler was right".
A police testified that a man filmed giving a speech calling on white men to "stand up and set our people free" was Mr Hankinson.
"Blood must be shed, the blood of traitors, the blood of our enemies," he said.
The Old Bailey heard the group underwent combat training at their gym in Warrington and at woodland camps.
As the proscription approached, Mr Lythgoe allegedly wrote members an encrypted email saying they were merely "shedding one skin for another".
Mr Mullen told the jury the "name was gone but the people would still meet up. The purpose was still the same, the politics was still the same".
The informant, who was at a meeting where Renshaw revealed his plan, said he was in earnest and the defendants took him seriously.
Mr Lythgoe allegedly suggested he target Amber Rudd, then the home secretary, instead of his local MP and Mr Hankinson suggested a synagogue.
But Mr Mullen said Renshaw dismissed both and told how he planned to get himself killed by police and leave a "white jihad" video detailing his reasons.
The trial continues.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage from the trial of six alleged members of the banned terrorist group National Action. Jack Renshaw, 23, has already admitted planning to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper. But he and his co-defendants deny they were members of National Action at the time, seven months after it was proscribed by the government.
A counter-terror police officer, Matthew Fletcher, is giving evidence about the history about National Action.
He says before it was banned by the government in December 2016, it described itself as a "youth movement" and sought to gain members online and at rallies.
The jury are being shown pages of its former website, including ones listing regional branches across the UK.
The prosecution is quoting from National Action propaganda saying: "It is time to fan the flames and fire the blood. Inspiration is everything."
The group repeatedly used the phrase "hail victory" online and at protests.
"Part of white supremacy is preparing for a race war in their eyes, in their ideology," Mr Fletcher says.
The court hears that National Action's estimated membership was 60+ activists in 2014 but it increased over the next two years and recruitment continued after it was prosribed a a terrorist group.
Mr Fletcher says National Action's activism initially targted British journalists, where activists wanted to show students "a strength of force against the left at university, that then moved towards flash demonstrations and demonstrations in towns and cities to spread the word".
It was a dominantly male movement and described itself as "masculine and aggressive", but started to admit women and girls in 2016
The court is being shown National Action propaganda videos. The first is of a rock song calling on white men to "stand up and fight back".
The second shows members dropping banners on bridges over the A28 in central Birmingham in what it hailed as the group's "first independent action" in November 2013.
One banner read: "Anti racist is a code word for anti white" and another displayed National Action's website address.
The jury is being told of other stunts by the group, including against halal in Coventry and where members put a banana in the hand of Nelson Mandela's statue in Parliament Square.
The prosecution is going through National Action documents and propaganda outlining its vision and aims.
Members called for "white jihad" and to "cleanse Britain of parasites"
One document said recruitment was successful because members were "fashionable and good to look at…good-looking and well-dressed"
Another added: "We are willing to pay any price, our organisation depends on people who are willing to make that kind of commitment"
The jury has been shown a National Action video of the group's White Man March in Newcastle in March 2015.
It showed a man identified as defendant Matthew Hankinson telling a crowd they must fight for a "future for white children".
"We must be ruthless," he continued. "If we don’t fight and we don’t cut out the cancer…Britain will die."
Mr Hankinson called on people to split the UK into two groups and nothing in between to secure the "survival of our race"
"We are racial national socialists, our nation is our blood," he said, as LGBT flags were burned in the crowd.
"We need the strongest of our race, we need ordinary people who in time will become extraordinary."
Mr Hankinson said supporters should "get our hands dirty"
amid shouts of “traitors” and “f*** the system”."Blood must be shed, the blood of traitors, the blood of our enemies," he said.
"Stand up white men and set our people free, we must secure a future for our people and a future for white children."
The jury has been shown National Action's own footage of disorder during a protest attended by its members in Liverpool on 27 February 2016
It showed defendants Mr Renshaw, Mr Lythgoe and Mr Clarke at the event.
National Action leader Benjamin Raymond gave a speech as members wearing skull masks and black clothing made Hitler salutes and shouted "sieg heil".
"We are going to mke Britain great again," said Mr Raymond.
"We who are hated are needed more than ever. We will continue to battle for the final victory for our race."
The prosecution is giving details of other stunts by National Action, including a Scottish Defence League protest they attended in March 2016 and demonstration in Rochdale the following month where defendant Andrew Clarke gave an antisemitic speech.
At another demonstration in May 2016 outside York Minster, the jury is shown a video where Mr Lythgoe is visible and members carried a banner reading "refugees not welcome, Hitler was right".