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- Jun 21, 2008
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Far-Right extremists 'are plotting spectacular terrorist attack in UK', police warn
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:48 AM on 07th July 2009
Masked men calling themselves March for England protested against an Islamic march in Luton in April
Counter-terrorism chiefs are worried neo-Nazis are plotting a 'spectacular' terrorist attack on Britain to fuel racial tension.
Senior officers have increased their surveillance of suspects to monitor their ability to carry out a deadly attack.
The chilling warning comes after last month's startling gains by the BNP at the recent local and European elections which many fear may 'embolden' Far-Right extremists.
Commander Shaun Sawyer, from the Met's specialist operations wing said: 'I fear that they will have a spectacular ... They will carry out an attack that will lead to a loss of life or injury to a community somewhere. They're not choosy about which community.'
His comments came after Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson asked officers to examine what effect the recession could have on far-right violence.
The news mirrors similar warnings of the threat from far-right sympathisers issued in America in recent months.
While countering a threat from Islamic extremists remains the force's priority many officers believe that funds need to be funnelled towards a possible strike by Far-Right extremists.
It is more than 10 years since neo-Nazi nail bomber David Copeland attacked three targets in London in 1999.
Three people died at the Admiral Duncan gay pub in Soho.
Copeland also targeted the Muslim community in Brick Lane, east London, and a supermarket in Brixton, south London.
chair, Abdurahman Jafar of the Muslim Safety Forum, where the , said: 'Muslims are the first line of victims in the extreme right's campaign of hate and division and they make no secret about that.
'Statistics show a strong correlation between the rise of racist and Islamophobic hate crime and the ascendancy of the BNP.'
Mark Gardner, of the Community Security Trust, which monitors violence against Jews, said there has been a surge in right-wing incidents.
The scene in London after the 1999 neo-Nazi attack on the Admiral Duncan pub, which killed two people and injured at least 50 more
He said: 'Ten years after the Nazi nail bombings in London, we are seeing increasing numbers of neo-Nazis being arrested in their attempts to start some kind of so-called race war.
'It is the Muslim community that appears to be most targeted, but all of society is at risk, and we are in regular discussion with police about the problem.
'Worse still, the recent electoral successes for the BNP may cause some would-be terrorists to be further emboldened in their actions.'
Last year neo-Nazi Martyn Gilleard was convicted of three terrorism offences and jailed for 16 years.
Officers found machetes, swords, bullets, gunpowder, racist literature and four home-made nail bombs stashed under his bed at his home in Goole, east Yorkshire.
No one at the Muslim Safety Forum was available for comment. The Metropolitan Police declined to comment.
Last month a white supremacist with links to the BNP shot dead a security guard at Washington's Holocaust Museum in a racially-motivated killing.
Before launching the attack, 88-year-old James von Brunn sent out an email claiming: 'It's time to kill all the Jews.'
Von Brunn was shot and wounded by museum security officers after he walked into the packed tourist attraction and began firing indiscriminately.
Fatal shooting: James von Brunn (left) shot dead security guard Stephen T. Johns in the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:48 AM on 07th July 2009
Counter-terrorism chiefs are worried neo-Nazis are plotting a 'spectacular' terrorist attack on Britain to fuel racial tension.
Senior officers have increased their surveillance of suspects to monitor their ability to carry out a deadly attack.
The chilling warning comes after last month's startling gains by the BNP at the recent local and European elections which many fear may 'embolden' Far-Right extremists.
Commander Shaun Sawyer, from the Met's specialist operations wing said: 'I fear that they will have a spectacular ... They will carry out an attack that will lead to a loss of life or injury to a community somewhere. They're not choosy about which community.'
His comments came after Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson asked officers to examine what effect the recession could have on far-right violence.
The news mirrors similar warnings of the threat from far-right sympathisers issued in America in recent months.
While countering a threat from Islamic extremists remains the force's priority many officers believe that funds need to be funnelled towards a possible strike by Far-Right extremists.
It is more than 10 years since neo-Nazi nail bomber David Copeland attacked three targets in London in 1999.
Three people died at the Admiral Duncan gay pub in Soho.
Copeland also targeted the Muslim community in Brick Lane, east London, and a supermarket in Brixton, south London.
chair, Abdurahman Jafar of the Muslim Safety Forum, where the , said: 'Muslims are the first line of victims in the extreme right's campaign of hate and division and they make no secret about that.
'Statistics show a strong correlation between the rise of racist and Islamophobic hate crime and the ascendancy of the BNP.'
Mark Gardner, of the Community Security Trust, which monitors violence against Jews, said there has been a surge in right-wing incidents.
He said: 'Ten years after the Nazi nail bombings in London, we are seeing increasing numbers of neo-Nazis being arrested in their attempts to start some kind of so-called race war.
'It is the Muslim community that appears to be most targeted, but all of society is at risk, and we are in regular discussion with police about the problem.
'Worse still, the recent electoral successes for the BNP may cause some would-be terrorists to be further emboldened in their actions.'
Last year neo-Nazi Martyn Gilleard was convicted of three terrorism offences and jailed for 16 years.
Officers found machetes, swords, bullets, gunpowder, racist literature and four home-made nail bombs stashed under his bed at his home in Goole, east Yorkshire.
No one at the Muslim Safety Forum was available for comment. The Metropolitan Police declined to comment.
Last month a white supremacist with links to the BNP shot dead a security guard at Washington's Holocaust Museum in a racially-motivated killing.
Before launching the attack, 88-year-old James von Brunn sent out an email claiming: 'It's time to kill all the Jews.'
Von Brunn was shot and wounded by museum security officers after he walked into the packed tourist attraction and began firing indiscriminately.
Fatal shooting: James von Brunn (left) shot dead security guard Stephen T. Johns in the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C
