Alleged member of far-right group Patriotic Alternative pleads guilty to terror charges
A man reported to be a member of the far-right group Patriotic Alternative has pleaded guilty to two terror charges today.
Kristofer Thomas Kearney, 38, has been described as an “alleged far-right fitness guru” who operated under the online moniker of Charlie Big Potatoes. Originally from Liverpool, Mr Kearney was living in Alicante when he was extradited in September to face charges.
Entering his pleas at the Old Bailey by way of video link from HM Prison Chelmsford, Mr Kearney pleaded guilty to two offences of disseminating terrorist publications, both in relation to two Telegram posts on 23rd January and 8th March 2021.
The documents reportedly glorified and encouraged extreme right-wing terror attacks.
The court heard that Mr Kearney posted links to 89 extremist documents in the Charlie Big Potatoes Telegram channel, including the manifestos of the Christchurch mosque shooter, Brenton Tarrant, the Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist, Anders Breivik, and the shooter responsible for the Chabad of Poway Synagogue attack, John T. Earnest.
It was also said that Mr Kearney was a member of the far-right group, National Action, which was proscribed by the British Government in 2016 following repeated calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.
Judge Richard Marks KC declined to deliver a sentence until a two-day trial is carried out in order to better determine Mr Kearney’s motivation.
Patriotic Alternative is a UK-based group headed by the former leader of the youth wing of the BNP, Mark Collett. Mr Collett is reported to have dabbled in Holocaust denial, is regularly heard as a guest on the radio show of the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, and has described the Holocaust as “an instrument of white guilt”.
The group is known for its efforts to recruit youth to its white nationalist ideology. Previously, the far-right group published an online “alternative” home school curriculum condemned as “poison” and “hateful” and attempted to recruit children as young as twelve through livestreaming events on YouTube, according to The Times.
Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.
