Court hears that alleged member of proscribed National Action group helped form “continuity” organisation with a “revolutionary Nationalist Socialist ideology”
A court has heard that an alleged member of a neo-Nazi terror organisation tried to recruit members for an offshoot group.
Alex Davies, 27, from Swansea, was allegedly a member of National Action between 17th December 2016 and 27th September 2017, which he denies.
National Action was proscribed by the British Government following repeated calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.
The court heard that, in January 2017, Mr Davies was allegedly involved in the development of a “continuity” organisation, designed to continue the work of the banned group and initially called the Southern Activist Network, later renamed NS131. That group was also banned nine months after the proscription of National Action.
Mr Davies allegedly contacted prospective members on the secure messaging platform Wire, explaining that the group had a “revolutionary Nationalist Socialist ideology”, but needed to “be able to ‘swim’ among the general population without trouble.”
Prosecutor Barnaby Jameson told Winchester Crown Court that National Action was banned after it “terrorised” towns including Liverpool, Newcastle, York, Swansea and Darlington, during which its members could be heard “screaming Nazi-era proclamations through megaphones”, including one occasion in York where Mr Davies allegedly spoke in front of a banner that read “Refugees not welcome: Hitler was right.”
Mr Jameson explained to the court that the National Action’s symbol was “a direct nod” to that of the Nazi paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA) wing, and “advocated the same Nazi aims and ideals” including the ethnic cleansing of anyone who did not belong to the Nazi conception of “Aryans”, primarily meaning Jews. It also allegedly had “paramilitary aspirations”.
Mr Jameson said that “For the defendant and his cohorts, the work of Adolf Hitler was, and remains, unfinished. The ‘Final Solution to the Jewish question’, to use Hitler’s words, remains to be answered by complete eradication.”
The trial continues.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.
