Imprisoned Neo-Nazi claims he’s the victim of religious discrimination

Wigan Mike - tank-top nazi queen 2009

A Neo-Nazi prisoner jailed for encouraging people to ”destroy all Jews” claims he is the victim of religious discrimination – after being banned from wearing a ‘fascist’ necklace.

Michael Heaton, 43, who is a former leader of the British Freedom Fighters, was jailed last year for posting more than 3,000 hate-filled comments on far-right websites. But the Aryan Strike Force member has complained to prison chiefs at HMP Wymott, Lancs., after he was banned from wearing a Thor’s Hammer pendant.

He claims his rights are being infringed but prison bosses have ruled that the necklace has a ”fascist meaning” and ”Neo-Nazi overtones”.

In a letter sent to inmates’ magazine Inside Time, the ex-English Defence League activist complained he was being singled out for religious discrimination. He said: ”Moslems (sic) can wear hats in prison when nobody else can, Christians are allowed their crosses, so imagine my shock when I enquired about wearing my religious pendant and was refused. I am what is called an Odinist. So that I can feel nearer my god I requested to be allowed to wear my pendant.

”The reply I got was that my application had been refused on the grounds that the pendant ‘looks a little like a Maltese cross, which has a fascist meaning and neo-Nazi overtones’. To say I was shocked at this would be an understatement! Other religious groups are afforded the respect for their religious symbols in prison, so why not me? His (the governor) response was that Thor’s hammer is on the prison ‘banned list’. Surely this cannot be right? Is there anything I can do about it?”

Heaton, serving 30 months in jail for using threatening and abusive language likely to stir up racial hatred, claims that his pendant is an Odinist rather than a Nazi symbol. However, prison staff refused his request to wear it after learning that far-right groups have adopted the symbol as a depiction of aryan supremacy.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court in June last year heard food packer Heaton, who has a scorpion tattoo on his neck, wanted to ”clear the country of all ethnic minorities”. He posted a series of racist comments on the Aryan Strike Force website including: ”Jews will always be scum and must be destroyed.”

He added: ”I would encourage any religion or race which wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion.”

Mike's Mummy keeps the nazi's room clean for when he returns from the clink

When cops raided his home in Greater Manchester they found large quantities of Nazi and Hitler memorabilia, a semi–automatic BB gun and a samurai sword.

Judge Stephen Irwin said: ”You wanted to start a race war. You were clearly filled with racial hatred.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said it would not discuss complaints made by individual inmates. He said: ”The provision of religious artefacts in prison is at the discretion of the governor following a thorough risk assessment.”

Norse gods Thor and Odin are worshipped by Odinists and Pagans but their symbols have been hijacked by many white supremacist and Neo-Nazi groups.

Heaton’s co-defendant Trevor Hannington, 58, of Cardiff, was sentenced to two years for six offences.

Small World News Service

White supremacists jailed over 'vicious' online messages

Two white supremacists were jailed today after being convicted of posting violent and vicious racist messages on the internet.

Michael Heaton, 42, and Trevor Hannington, 58, described Jews as "scum" and called for them to be "destroyed". The "proud neo-Nazis" were unanimously cleared of soliciting murder at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday but Heaton was jailed today for 30 months after being convicted of four counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words likely to stir up racial hatred.

Hannington previously admitted two counts of stirring up racial hatred, two further counts of possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating a terrorist publication. He was jailed for two years.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Irwin told Heaton, of Leigh, in Wigan, Greater Manchester, his internet posts were "vicious and repulsive". He added: "You saw yourself as the leader of a potentially significant and active National Socialist group. Your sustained racist rants were intended to bolster that group. You wanted to start a race war. You are clearly filled with racial hatred and also with violent and angry beliefs."

The judge told Heaton his words were of the most "insulting and extreme nature" marked by "violent racism" and said only a significant jail term was acceptable.

Hannington, from Hirwaun, Cardiff, was described as a loner by the judge, who told him: "You are a long standing racist who has never hidden your views, which are violent and vicious in the extreme. You are a lonely man with little in your life. You habitually told lies about a non-existent army career and your knowledge of survival techniques in an attempt to gain status. You are, to some degree, pitiable in this, however repugnant what you said."

Heaton, a packer for a food company, was jailed for 30 months for each of his four offences, to run concurrently. He nodded to the judge and said he understood as he was taken to the cells. He admitted in police interviews he was a founder member of the Aryan Strike Force (ASF), whose goal was "the eradication of ethnic minorities from Britain", the prosecution said.

In one posting on the ASF website, he said of Jews: "They will always be scum, destroy 'em with whatever it takes."

He also wrote: "I would encourage any religion or race that wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion."

And in another posting he said Jews were leeches and "treacherous fucking scum" and that black people were "less intelligent than other species".

Heaton made more than 3,000 posts on the ASF site between January and June 2008, before he had a "bust-up" with the organisation and created his own, the British Freedom Fighters (BFF). The website changed its name to Legion 88 and then Wolfpack, before it was closed down.

The trial jury, nine of whom returned to court for today's sentencing, were told the number eight refers to the eighth letter in the alphabet, H. So 88 stands for HH, as in Heil Hitler, a common greeting for neo-Nazis. Both men had a number of user names when they posted their comments on the website. Heaton called himself Wigan Mike, and then later Lenny.

David Fish, mitigating for Heaton, said the defendant had been banned from accessing the internet while on bail and was no longer involved in the BFF. He said: "(Heaton) has, in effect, shed the habit and lost interest in putting up these posts."

Hannington admitted he was an administrator for the ASF, Legion 88 and Wolfpack websites and gave himself the user names Fist, Lee 88 and Paul. He pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred with internet posts stating his beliefs that Jews were "parasites feeding on others" and "utterly evil sub-beings". The self-employed builder also posted the message: "Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew, Burn down a synagogue today! Burn the scum."

Hannington admitted owning the Anarchist's Cookbook, Kitchen Complete and The Terrorist Encyclopaedia, all of which are considered useful tools to someone preparing or committing an act of terrorism. He also admitted publishing a post on the internet with instructions on how to make a flame thrower out of a water pistol.

Richard Mansell QC, for Hannington, said: "There is a significant element of the fantasist about him and the jury's verdict accepts the posts were made without a great deal of thought but are, nevertheless, extremely offensive. Having had the terror books he never made any effort to produce such items or seek components for them. He has reflected on the language he used and his conduct and he also recognises he has problems with alcohol and anger management."

Hannington showed no emotion as he was jailed for a total of two years for all his offences. As he was convicted under the Terrorism Act he must inform the police of his home address for the next 10 years.

Independent

Convictions point to rise of far right extremism

Today's convictions of a 42-year-old food packer and a 59-year-old builder on inciting racial hatred brings to 16 the number of convictions connected to far right extremism in the past two years...


Trevor Hannington, from South Wales, and Michael Heaton, from Lancashire, ran their own far right organisation which promised street action to help rid the country of minority communities.

Their Aryan Strike Force boasted 350 members. Its website had tens of thousands of postings, all messages of hate like urging the destruction of Jews, describing them as treacherous scum. There were references to "chopping niggers legs off" and "kill the jew, burn down a synagogue today". Heaton was found guilty on four charges, while Hannington admitted to four terrorism charges including distributing instructions on how to turn a water pistol into a flamethrower. Both were both found not guilty of soliciting to murder.

Dr Matthew Feldman, who runs the UK's only research unit on new media and domestic extremism at Northampton University, was the prosecution's key witness in this case. He says "These are neo-Nazis, pure and simple, and consider themselves really the most extreme versions of this ideological neo-Nazism that is new. We have had some evidence, I believe, of activists from the ASF appearing on videos at the English Defence League marches and so forth."

Dr Feldman believes this recent string of convictions of "lone wolf" cases and the creation of the English Defence League point to a resurgence of far right extremism. He said: "In terms of what we might call small cell or lone wolf terrorists cases since 2008, but also other events in 2008 such as the successful election of two British National Party MEPs in the Yorkshire, Humber area, and in 2009 the creation of the English Defence League on the back of those protests by some radical Islamism groups against the return of Anglican soldiers. So I think there is a confluence of factors that do point to a resurgence in the far right."

The two convicted today actually turned up at several of the EDL rallies and used their website to praise the EDL's actions. Yet the EDL denies any links to these extremists organisation. We asked for an interview with its organisers so we could put all our evidence to them. They declined.

Does that mean EDL is infiltrated with those with a much more extreme agenda intent on more than just glorified football style violence? Police who monitor these events say no. Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell, national coordinator for domestic extremism, told Channel 4 News that "we have seen some individuals from the far right on the margins of EDL organised events but these are only one or two individuals. We have found no strong links between extreme groups like the Aryan Strike Force and the EDL."

Yet today's guilty verdicts bring to 16 the total number of far right extremists who have been convicted over the past two years. Among them were father and son Ian and Nicky Davison who were sent to prison last month for possessing the poison Ricin and for making and detonating pipe bombs. They were also co-founders of the Aryan Strike Force.

Dr Feldman says: "in groups like the ASF successor organisations we are seeing a group numbering in the few hundreds probably at the maximum. That's a few hundred too many because these are not people who are far right activists for the BNP and knocking doors. These are people who may very well be considering a future as we saw in the Davison case undertaking terrorists.

In fact Heaton stated publically that as part of a "rites of passage" to join, potential recruits had to carry out a serious op, meaning a violent racist attack.

The Institute for Race Relations is about to publish a report, which Channel 4 News has had exclusive access to, mapping out 600 serious racist attacks in the UK last year. Many have taken place in towns which have had influxes of a migrant workforce or asylum seekers. But it also hints at a correlation between attacks and pockets of extremism.

We found that of the 16 extremist convictions since 2008, two thirds come from towns which form a corridor across the north of England: Penwortham, south of Preston, to Leigh, west of Manchester, to Batley, to Selby, to Goole, to Grimsby, then further north to Elsdon and Durham. Privately, police sources have confirmed to us that their intelligence suggests the same. They admit there are some dangerous individuals, but overall the threat from right wing extremists has hardly changed since the days of the nail bomber David Copeland, who killed three and seriously injured 79 people in three attacks, the worst at Soho's Admiral Duncan Pub in 1999. It was the last time white supremacists were said to behind a bomb attack in the UK.

Those monitoring far right extremists attribute the recent string of convictions to a combination of "good police work", community relations and luck, rather than an increased threat. But they say what has changed is their profile boosted by a combination of the numerous convictions and the tenor of EDL marches.

Channel 4 News

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up.

Pair are 'proud to be neo-Nazis'

Michael Heaton (circled) at one of the many 'not nazi at all' EDL rallies (Image: PMcC)

Two men "made it their life's work" to spread racist messages and encourage others to help them achieve their goal of "the eradication of ethnic minorities from Britain", a court heard today.

Michael Heaton, 42, and Trevor Hannington, 58, both "proud" neo-Nazis, are accused at Liverpool Crown Court of urging people to kill Jews.

Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting said: "Each of these men is proud to call himself a National Socialist, or a neo-Nazi in other language. Each is a member of an organisation called the Aryan Strike Force, whose goal it is to clear the country of all ethnic minorities, as they say, whatever it takes."

Both men deny that postings they made on a right-wing website solicited others to murder. Heaton is standing trial over four comments he made on the Aryan Strike Force website (ASF) between January and April 2008.

The prosecution argue that his comments about Jews - "...they will always be scum, destroy 'em with whatever it takes", and "I would encourage any religion or race that wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion..." - encourage their murder, or at least stir up racial hatred. In one post he wrote that black people are "less intelligent than other species", and in another that Jews are leeches and "treacherous fucking scum".

Hannington denies one count of soliciting to murder with the post: "Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew, Burn down a synagogue today!... Burn the scum...".

Mr Edis told the jury of seven men and five women there was no question over whether the defendants made the postings.

"That is undisputed," he said, referring to Hannington's post. "It's what he wanted to achieve when he put that on a forum on a website that matters."

The panel was told that Hannington has already pleaded guilty to possessing information which may be useful to terrorists. On Wednesday he admitted to owning the Anarchist's Cookbook, Kitchen Complete and The Terrorist Encyclopaedia, all of which are considered useful tools to someone preparing or committing an act of terrorism.

He pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred with internet posts stating his beliefs that Jews were "parasites feeding on others" and "utterly evil sub-beings". He also admitted publishing a post on the internet with instructions on how to make a flame thrower out of a water pistol. Mr Edis said the guilty pleas should not persuade the jury that he is guilty of the count he stands trial over, but that it demonstrates he is "to be taken seriously", and has the knowledge of how to follow his comments through into practice.

The prosecutor said Heaton made more than 3,000 posts on the ASF website between January and June 2008, before he had a "bust-up" with the organisation and created his own, The British Freedom Fighters. The website changed its name to Legion 88 and then Wolfpack, before it was closed down.

Mr Edis explained that the number 8 refers to the eighth letter in the alphabet, H. So 88 stands for HH, as in Heil Hitler, a common greeting for neo-Nazis. Both men used a number of monikers when they posted their comments on the website. Heaton called himself Wigan Mike, and then later Lenny. Hannington gave himself the names Fist, Lee 88 and Paul.

The prosecutor said: "These are the descriptions they gave themselves. It's how they wish to be named."

The pair were in regular contact over the internet with two men who have now been convicted of terrorism charges, including possessing the deadly poison ricin, the court heard. Jurors were shown chatroom conversations between them and fellow racists who called themselves Sweeney and Thorburn. Sweeney was the moniker for Ian Davison, who set up the ASF website, and is now in prison. Thorburn is the name used by his son, Nicky Davison, now serving time in a young offenders' institution.

Mr Edis told the jurors they would be shown more logs of internet chat conversations between both men and their associates during the trial.

The prosecutor briefly showed the panel a collection of photographs found on Heaton's computer, as well as a video showing him training in a form of martial art. He is seen kicking a training partner, and Mr Edis said more videos of him teaching his skills to others will be shown. This, he said, shows he is not simply preoccupied by posting racist material on the internet, but is active in spreading his beliefs to other.

The trial continues.

Independent

Neo-Nazis face charges of "soliciting murder" in Liverpool

Two neo-Nazi member of the extremist English Defence League have appeared in court accused of soliciting the hate killings of Jews.

Trevor Hannington, 58, and Michael Heaton, 42, face a total of seven counts of "soliciting to commit murder", and "using threatening or abusive language likely to stir up racial hatred".

At the beginning of the hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, stocky shaven-headed Hannington entered guilty pleas on five further charges which he had previously denied. These included posting vile, racist slurs on a website for violent extremists The Aryan Strike Force which read "Jews are parasites feeding off others" and "Jews will always be scum".

He also admitted posting copies of notorious bomb-making handbooks associated with terrorism on the website, which he administered, known as the "Anarchists Cookbook" and the "Terrorism Encyclopaedia". Wearing a plain white t-shirt, Hannington, of South Wales, scowled in the dock as he admitted a final charge of circulating instructions for constructing a flamethrower out of a water pistol.

In a five hour hearing, prosecuting counsel Andrew Edis QC, told the court that co-defendant Michael Heaton had posted a string of threatening messages on the Aryan Strike Force website, which he ran with Hannington. Mr Edis told the court that Hannington's obscene postings included messages that said:" Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew! Burn down the synagogue. Burn the scum."

Mr Edis described Heaton's alleged hate-filled postings. They are said to include: "Jews will always be scum and must be destroyed" and "I would encourage any religion or race which wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion".

A further racist tirade is said to have said: "Black people have high sex drives and are more aggressive than all other species".

Heaton, of Manchester, denies soliciting to murder, and stood stony-faced in the dock sporting a large black scorpion tattoo on his neck. His co-defendant, Hannington, also denies a similar charge of soliciting to murder. The offences are said to have happened in January and April 2008.

After the seven remaining charges were read out, Judge Stephen Irwin QC reminded the jury, of seven men and five women, to put all prejudices aside. He had earlier rejected defence requests that jurors should declare their ethnic and religious backgrounds before being sworn-in. Reporting restrictions on publication of the addresses of the accused remain in place, for the protection of members of their families.

Trevor Hannington was remanded in custody. Michael Heaton had his bail renewed with the condition that he is barred from contacting members of the Aryan Strike Force or English Defence League. The trial commences at 10am on Friday.

Click Liverpool

The BNP and the neo-Nazis

The BNP claims it isn’t racist – this is a lie. The BNP claims it has no links with violent neo-Nazis – this is a lie. The BNP claims to be a ‘normal’ political party – this is a lie.

What ‘normal’ political party would associate itself with Nazi sympathisers and violent right-wing paramilitary groups?

In Liverpool, the BNP works openly with people who promote Hitler’s ideology and groups which spout racism and anti-Semitism in their crudest forms. Its candidates attend demonstrations organised by violent racists and are happy to be associated with neo-Nazis.

On Friday April 23rd, Liverpool BNP hosted an event at Aigburth People’s Hall. But it was not just BNP activists who were present. Also attending were members of the Racial Volunteer Force (RVF) and the British Freedom Fighters (BFF). These pictures were not intended for the public – they show BNP candidates and activists with neo-Nazis. When you read Liverpool BNP’s election material, you are not being told the truth about the party.

Picture 1 looks innocent enough – three patriotic men in front of Liverpool BNP’s banner:

Yet the two on the left are members of the Racial Volunteer Force. This is a neo-Nazi paramilitary group whose leading members have been jailed for inciting racial hatred and publishing information on how to make bombs. Their publications included praise for David Copeland, the former BNP member jailed for life for his London bombing campaign in 1999, which killed three people and injured over 100 others.

Go to 6.11 on the following video and you can see the men pictured at the Liverpool BNP event attending a Racial Volunteer Force gathering in Glasgow in March 2009:


Picture 2 shows the RVF men (here seen left and right) with Liverpool BNP’s Steve Harwood (in the Union flag t-shirt) and Steve Davis (with flag):

Picture 3 shows Karen Otty, Liverpool BNP’s secretary and candidate for Anfield in Thursday’s election. With her is one of the as yet un-named members of the Racial Volunteer Force:

Otty is not just a member of the BNP herself. She joined a Facebook group affiliated to the violent English Defence League and attended the EDL’s demonstration at the House of Lords in March this year. She is highlighted in Picture 4 below:

Coverage of Otty’s EDL links can be found here and here.

Otty’s friend from Picture 3 is not only in the Nazi terror group, the RVF, he is also a member of the British Freedom Fighters, another neo-Nazi paramilitary group (which says itself that its main aim is the promotion of Hitler’s National Socialist ideas). Picture 5 shows Otty’s companion with the BFF’s leader ‘Wigan’ Mike Heaton (currently facing terror charges for soliciting the murder of Jewish people):

Picture 6 (below) shows him at leaving a BFF meeting in 2009, sieg-heiling with other Nazi thugs:

The RVF/BFF men are also friends of Gary Aronsson. He is the large gentleman seated in the centre of Picture 7 (below), seen talking to Andrew Leary, BNP candidate for Church ward in Sefton.

Aronsson was for a long time the BNP’s declared candidate for Knowsley in the general election. However, personal rivalries and the fact that Aronnson had been told to remove neo-Nazi imagery from his website by Nick Griffin, AND the fact that he disagreed with the new membership rules forced on the BNP by the courts, led to him being withdrawn from Knowsley shortly before the election. (Picture 8 (below) shows the SS Death’s Head Aronsson used on his Facebook page).

Picture 9 shows Aronsson (centre) with the RVF man (right) and Liverpool BNP’s Gary Lucas (who posts on Facebook as ‘Gary James’):

Picture 10 (below) shows ‘Gary James’ with BNP leader Nick Griffin, Christmas 2009:

The links between the BNP and neo-Nazis are plain for all to see. They socialise together; they campaign together; they attend each other’s events. Liverpool BNP tries to hide what they really believe in and who they really work with.

Thinking of voting BNP on May 6th? Think again.

Liverpool Antifascists