Neo-Nazi student who disguised terrorism manual as Minecraft handbook jailed for three and a half years
A neo-Nazi student who disseminated a terrorism manual disguised as a handbook for Minecraft, an adventure game where users can build and create new environments, was jailed on Friday for three and a half years.
Connor Burke, 19, shared the 27-page bomb-making manual in a channel on the social media platform Telegram under the file name Minecraft_Bow_Ammo_Types.pdf. Other terrorism-related documents, including the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000, were also disguised as Minecraft handbooks. The Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000 is an updated version of the Anarchist Cookbook, which is a guide to making bombs and illegal drugs at home, written during the 1970s. The author of the book has since stated that he was motivated by anger at the time of writing and said that the “basic premise behind the Cookbook is profoundly flawed”.
Concerns have previously been raised over the alleged increase in neo-Nazi content on Telegram. Last year, a teenage neo-Nazi was jailed for eleven years after using the social media platform Telegram to plot terrorist acts. The far-right group Patriotic Alternative was also found to have created neo-Nazi channels dedicated to sharing vile messages, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and images glorifying Hitler.
In a raid of Mr Burke’s family home in Bexleyheath in February 2021, anti-terrorism police found a copy of Mein Kampf, an SS-dagger, and racist and antisemitic propaganda on his computer. They also discovered a video about the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand.
Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Burke had an unhealthy interest in extreme right wing terrorist ideology, and this led to him sharing extremely dangerous material with others online.
“Increasingly, we’re seeing young people being drawn into extremist ideologies, some of whom – like Burke – then go on to commit serious terrorism offences.”
Naeem Mian QC, defending, said that “It is every parent’s worst nightmare. Through a toxic combination coming together, a young man who is from a very loving background but socially isolated found he was having to stay at home as many people were during lockdown. So the isolation was even greater.
“He was therefore spending too much time on his computer and on the internet, in his room by himself…He is a young man who has disappeared down something one would term as a rabbit hole. A very dark rabbit hole which became something of an echo chamber.”
Judge Christopher Kinch QC said: “You got yourself caught up in some very dangerous activity and you waded in deep”, but noted that the teenager’s parents called him a “loving, respectful, gentle young man” who they believe had been motivated to “make an impression” with people he met online. Judge Kinch said that he felt that Mr Burke had a good chance of rehabilitation.
Mr Burke pleaded guilty to disseminating a terrorist publication and four counts of possession of a document likely to be of use to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday to a total of 42 months’ imprisonment and an additional 12 months on licence.
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.
Image credit: Metropolitan Police
