The UK offshoot of a violent American neo-Nazi group has called for Prince Harry to be shot because he is a “race traitor” for marrying mixed race US actor Meghan Markle.
Members of Sonnenkrieg Division posted a picture of the Duke of Sussex set against a swastika, with a gun pointed at his head and the slogan: “See ya later, race traitor!”
The creators of the image are reportedly aligned with the Atomwaffen Division, an American white supremacist group which takes its name from the German term for atomic weapon. The group “encourages terrorism and worships Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson”, says The Sun.
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The group's leader, Brandon Russell, was “sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year after police found bomb-making materials in his apartment in Tampa, Florida”, says the Daily Mail. Members of the group have also allegedly boasted about how they have encouraged young girls to self harm.
The parents of American teenager Blaze Bernstein, who was allegedly murdered by an Atomwaffen member in what is being treated as a hate crime, told the BBC that people in the UK should be on their guard.
Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, who says her son was killed because he was gay and Jewish, said the group was a disease “and the only way to eradicate it is to figure out where it is and root it out”.
The Sonnenkrieg Division was allegedly was set up by university student Andrew Dymock, according to a BBC investigation into the group. The 21-year-old from Bath denies establishing the group or any other wrongdoing.
The BBC also claims it has evidence identifying one of the group's key propagandists as Oskar Koczorowski, a 17-year-old from west London. Koczorowski did not respond to a request for comment from the broadcaster.
The broadcaster’s investigation found hundreds of messages exchanged between neo-Nazis in Europe and the US over several months.
However, it is thought Sonnenkrieg “has no more than 10-15 members in the UK and some European countries”, says the BBC.
Police investigating extreme right-wing activity in the UK have said they have arrested three men on terrorism charges.
They added that the arrests, made by officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, were pre-planned.
Those arrested are a 17-year-old from London, a 21-year-old from Bath and an 18-year-old from Portsmouth.