Kristofer Kearney, 38, ran the Telegram channel Charlie Big Potatoes on which he claimed Adolf Hitler “showed people the way” and “did nothing wrong.” He also shared posts encouraging violence against black people, Jews, and Muslims.
Kearney is the first member of Patriotic Alternative—who have held protests against illegal immigrants in several towns in recent months—to be convicted of terrorist offences.
He was living in Alicante at the time of the offences and was extradited from Spain in September 2022.
A two-day Newton hearing, which considered his motivation, began on Friday and concluded on Tuesday when Judge Richard Marks, KC said he would make his ruling later in the week and sentence next month after receiving a report from the probation service.
The prosecution claimed Kearney’s actions were “consistent with intent” but his defence claimed he was simply “reckless” as to whether what he was doing would encourage terrorist attacks.
On Friday, Kearney was called into the witness box and questioned by his barrister, Ged O'Connor.
Kearney said he is a “British fascist” and when asked to describe his ideology, he said, “Our main aim is to not become minorities in our own homeland.”
On Tuesday, prosecutor Naomi Parsons cross-examined Kearney about that statement and asked who he thought was in danger of becoming a minority in Britain.
Kearney said: “The indigenous people of the British Isles ... the Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and English people. If you were born from those nationalities you would be ethnically British. They are in danger of becoming a minority.”
Parsons asked, “Do you mean white people?”
“It’s an ethnicity. Germans are white but they are not British,” he replied.
She asked, “What about a black person who was born in the UK, would they meet your definition of British?”
Kearney responded by referring to eastern European immigrants.
Marks asked, “Are black people born in the UK capable of being treated as indigenous?”
“I'd say no. Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and English are indigenous groups,” he replied.
Parsons then asked him about a video by Kai Murros—described in court as a “Finnish far-right activist”—which he posted on his Telegram channel.
In it, Murros said, “There is nothing more frightening in this world than the bloodlust of a nation that has suffered injustice.”
Parsons asked Kearney if he agreed with Murros, and he replied, “His language is inflammatory and he goes off on a crazy tangent.”
Kearney, a former soldier originally from Liverpool, hosted a weekly podcast called “The Absolute State of Britain.”
‘Punch-Ups With Left-Wingers’
Kearney said there was a “culture of violence” surrounding the EDL and added: “Week in, week out there would be punch-ups with left-wingers or the police. It serves no purpose. All it does is make you look like fools.”He insisted he did not approve of violence to achieve political ends.
Kearney posted links to 89 extreme right-wing documents, including a so-called manifesto left behind by Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011, and a similar document by Tarrant, who killed 51 worshippers at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.
But O'Connor pointed out there were also links to the works of George Orwell, Martin Luther, and Aristotle.
Kearney was asked when he became aware the manifesto was in a library of materials he had shared on Telegram.
He said somebody had messaged him they had seen it and reported him to the police.
“They found the Anders Breivik manifesto and were jumping for joy,” said Kearney.
On Tuesday, Parsons introduced the evidence of Professor Paul Jackson from the University of Northampton, an expert in far-right ideology, who said such manifestos and other material Kearney shared, such as “The Turner Diaries,” were used as “moral justification for extremist right-wing terrorism.”
Marks asked Kearney if, knowing what Jackson’s view was, he was “horrified” he was sharing content which encouraged “political violence.”
“Yes. I certainly wouldn’t have shared it if that was the case,” Kearney replied, who said later he did not want to influence “impressionable young people.”
Marks asked, “Are you horrified?”
“Yes, your honour,” he replied.
‘I Want People Prepared to Die’
In one episode of the podcast, which was played in court, Kearney said: “I want fanatics. I want people prepared to die for this cause. We want a hardcore group of people ... who know exactly what they want.”O'Connor asked him what he had meant by “hardcore” in that clip.
“It was part of a conversation we were having. There was a guy, ex-EDL, who wanted to align with some other ex-EDL groups and I said ‘no, they are not fascists.’ They’re, for a better term, liberals,” replied Kearney.
Kearney said the other man was arguing that they did not necessarily have to agree 100 percent with these people but they just needed “numbers.”
“I said: ‘You fundamentally misunderstand. We’re not looking for numbers,’” added Kearney.
O'Connor asked him if Mark Collett, the leader of Patriotic Alternative, had been on his podcast.
Kearney said he had and, when asked if he agreed with all his views, he said: “Broadly agree. He is a nationalist like myself.”
O'Connor asked about a message Kearney sent to his wife Kate, in which he mentioned they should “nuke Mecca.”
Kearney said it was a joke and was not to be taken seriously.
O'Connor asked, “Would you often joke about violence?”
“Certainly,” he replied.
Kearney was a member of National Action until a week before it was banned in December 2016 in the wake of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.
The court was also shown an image of Kearney with a National Action flag.
O'Connor asked him when it was taken.
“It was in Darlington. In 2016. It was a protest against grooming gangs,” Kearney replied.
The court has heard Kearney, who spent two years with the Parachute Regiment and served in Iraq, became Patriotic Alternative’s “head of fitness.”
Kearney, who frequently posted images of himself flexing his muscles, also set up a Telegram channel called Fascist Fitness to hand out exercise and fitness tips.
At one point on Tuesday, Parsons asked him if he considered he was “at war.”
Kearney replied there was a “culture war” going on between “globalism and nationalism.”
He also said he believed “the Jewish people are fundamental in supporting the globalist, liberal agenda.”
The hearing concluded with Parsons asking Kearney: “You have posted various links being well aware of the content and knowing that the documents encouraged political violence. Your case is that you had no knowledge at all that any of those posts encouraged violence. Is that your case?”
“That’s correct, ma'am,” he replied.
“That is not true. It’s not some unfortunate accident,” she said.
Kearney said: “My face is on that [Telegram] account from day one. I’m not the most intelligent man but I’m not stupid, I’m not going to put my face on that account ... I thought my activism was within the law.”
