Neo-Nazi podcasters who encouraged listeners to commit violence convicted of terror offences

Two neo-Nazi podcast hosts who made antisemitic statements and encouraged their listeners to commit acts of violence during episodes of their programme have been convicted of terror offences. 

Christopher Gibbons, 38, and Tyrone Pattern-Walsh, 34, were found guilty of encouraging acts of terrorism on Friday at Kingston Crown Court. 

They were both arrested on 18th May 2021 and then charged on 21st August the same year, after they were identified as the hosts of the neo-Nazi podcast. 

On the podcast, “Black Wolf Radio”, Mr Gibbons described Archie, the son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as an “abomination that should be put down.” 

The pair recorded 21 episodes, during which they were found to have produced antisemitic, homophobic, misogynistic and Islamophobic content. 

Among the content were descriptions of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing as “sluts” and praise for the Christchurch mosque shooter, Brenton Tarrant.

Following their arrests, Mr Gibbons was found to have an online library titled “The Radicalisation Library”, which contained over 500 pieces of extreme right-wing material. 

Anne Whyte QC, prosecuting, said of the defendants: “[They] are men who hold extreme right-wing views. They are dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists. They thought that if they used the format of a radio show, as good as in plain sight, they could pass off their venture as the legitimate exercise of their freedom of speech. 

“In fact what they were doing was using language designed to encourage others to commit acts of extreme right wing terrorism against the sections of society that these defendants hated.”

Of the conviction, Commander Dominic Murphy, who works for the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism command, said: “Gibbons and Patten-Walsh thought that the fact they were airing their hateful views and advocating terrorist acts in plain sight, on a radio and podcast platform, somehow gave them some legitimacy and meant they wouldn’t face any consequences.

“They were wrong, and both our investigation and a jury has found that they sought to encourage terrorism in how they expressed their abhorrent extreme right-wing views.”

Both Mr Gibbons and Mr Pattern-Walsh are due to be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on 26th September. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Metropolitan Police