Grooming terrorists

Yesterday there was news of the alleged BNP member Terence Gavan who prepared bombs, collected weapons, and apparently stored them in his home.

Gavan admitted 22 charges, including six under the Terrorism Act, when he appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on 26 November 2009. The Judge, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith QC, adjourned sentence until 15 January and remanded Gavan in custody.

This is not the first BNP connection to terrorism. David Copeland had been a member of the BNP (but claimed to have rejected it before he set off his three bombs in London).

Robert Cottage was also described as an “ex-BNP man” by the BBC when he was jailed for two and a half years for storing explosive chemicals at his home.

The police did some good work in uncovering this would-be terrorist, Terence Gavan, and bringing him to justice. We were lucky.

But the Gavan case seems to be further evidence that the BNP creates an environment that enables this sort of unusual criminal behaviour.

It indicates that belligerent rhetoric grooms susceptible individuals, preparing them to become potential terrorists.

For example, it is claimed that the inflammatory rhetoric of preachers like Abu Hamza "inspired the 7/7 bombers". Could fiery rhetoric from the BNP have inspired Copeland, Cottage and Gavan?

The BNP does not openly support or agree with a bombing campaign, of course, and has been quick to distance itself from Gavan.

But the BNP cannot escape responsibility. In blogs and debate forums, on YouTube, Stormfront, Redwatch and other websites, and in numerous speeches throughout Britain, anyone can read or hear fanatical and deliberately enraging rhetoric from the BNP.

Some of it does promote the idea of a civil war (ie race war) in the future. The implication is that members need to prepare. This could give susceptible individuals the idea of stocking up of weapons.

The blog post below gives just one example of BNP rhetoric.

From Edmund Standing:

Lee Barnes: Ethnic cleansing and civil war

BNP Legal Director Lee Barnes writes:

Teach white children about racism, slavery and multi-culturalism so they feel ashamed of their race, their identity and their country.
Teach them left wing bollocks by left wing teachers.
Then when they fail, and the immigrants do better at school, the immigrants can be used to create a new Labour voting middle class to replace the white working class.
Are you so fucking stupid that you think this is an accident.
This has been planned – this is the slow dispossession and ethnic cleansing of our people from our country.
Never mind, the civil war will happen spontaneously and naturally in the future – and the left and the liberals will have laid the foundations for it.

Bear in mind that in BNP terms this man is an intellectual. Anyone else get the impression that he rather relishes the idea of civil war?

by Edmund Standing