Senior local authority officer exposed as operating incendiary far-right anonymous social media channels
A senior local authority officer has been exposed as operating incendiary far-right anonymous social media channels.
Leon Mayer, who works as a systems development officer at Swindon Borough Council, is reported to have secretly run Twitter and YouTube accounts that published inflammatory rock songs with racist references to Jews.
Mr Mayer has also reportedly been photographed on hikes organised by the far-right group Patriotic Alternative.
According to watchdog Red Flare, Mr Mayer operates the @NatKumquat handle on Twitter and the Kumquat Nat account on YouTube, a platform that he has reportedly referred to as “Judentube”.
Both accounts have apparently shared antisemitic and far-right content, including songs called Swindon Is Dead, Dresden and Kalergi Express, a reference to the antisemitic “Kalergi Plan” conspiracy theory, which alleges that Jews are “taking over the world” by encouraging immigration, as well as marriage and sexual relationships between members of different races.
When YouTube took down the video of a song called Dissident Detected (Shut It Down!), Mr Mayer complained on his Twitter account: “(The song) gets taken down by Judentube for possible ‘Hate Speech’. They write themselves.”
Another song, You Called?, proclaimed, “It hasn’t ended, you know that. Walk into the light, Victory will soon be hailed,” and was posted with a video showing a photograph of Hitler as a baby.
The Twitter account also reportedly featured defences of Hitler and disparaging references to Jews and other minorities.
It also commented “Pure Gold” in reference to an antisemitic YouTube post by “Mordecai Sheckelberg”, an account that reportedly mocks the Holocaust.
The JC uncovered these and further inflammatory social media posts.
Confronted by the JC outside his home in Swindon, Mr Mayer reportedly denied being Kumquat Nat, but conceded: “I’ve used an alias similar.” It is understood that both accounts were deleted within hours.
He denied being a member of Patriotic Alternative but said: “I know of them.” Asked by the JC if he had been on any hikes organised by Patriotic Alternative, Mr Mayer replied: “I went on one once, to see what it’s about.” When asked if he was a member of the far-right group, he said: “I’m not a member. I’d have thought you’d have to be paying money or something.” He was asked if he was sympathetic with their policies and replied: “I agree with some of it, yeah. I agree with some of lots of parties. I agree with not becoming a minority within the country.”
Asked by the JC where he stood on Jews, he reportedly replied: “Not really a problem. With the ones who are at the top of things, they’re a problem, like in banking and such things, which is common knowledge.” Pressed on whether he is anti-Jewish, he reportedly said: “No, I’ve said this before, only these oligarchs within certain systems, like the media, which you can’t deny, and other such things that they’re the majority within. The rich ones, but that’s what they do. You could say the same about the Catholics.”
Swindon Borough Council, which has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism, said that Mr Mayer was being suspended pending an internal investigation into the allegations.
Image credit: JC
