Anti-terror officer’s son, 23, is jailed in neo-Nazi hate case after being caught with swastika-festooned memorabilia and machete in bedroom where he spread extremist hate online
- Luke Hunter, 23, from Newcastle, instrumental online presence of violent group
- During police raid swastika memorabilia and a machete found in his bedroom
- Produced content encouraging killing of Jews, homosexuals and non-whites
The son of a counter-terrorism officer who became a one-man ‘propaganda machine’ for a neo-Nazi group calling for the death of a chief constable was jailed for four years yesterday.
Luke Hunter was described as a white supremacist ‘influencer’, promoting racial hatred and mass murder online to hundreds of followers.
The 23-year-old, whose father was a former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officer, was affiliated with a now banned terrorist organisation called the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD).
Hunter produced video propaganda for the FKD including a film containing a death threat to the chief constable of West Midlands Police Dave Thompson.
Neo-Nazi influence Luke Hunter, 23, from Newcastle, was sentenced to four years in prison after police found he had been promoting a violent group and had a machete in his bedroom
During a police search, officers found a range of memorabila with swastikas on them and Hunter was found to be spreading extremist hate online
Using an alias, he operated on several online platforms – including his own website, podcast and a channel on the Telegram messaging application – to proclaim that the ‘eradication’ of Jewish people was a ‘moral and racial duty’.
On his Telegram channel, which had more than 1,000 subscribers, Hitler-obsessed Hunter posted violent neo-Nazi imagery and glorified terrorist acts including the murder of 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand.
When police raided his home in Newcastle last year they seized a large number of white supremacist texts, military training manuals and guides on surveillance, guerrilla warfare, weapons and explosives.
Officers also recovered Nazi memorabilia and a machete from his bedroom.
His media devices contained thousands of extreme Right-wing documents, videos and audio files, in addition to the manifestos of previous mass murderers and recordings of himself expressing his warped views.
Described by prosecutors as a ‘propaganda machine’, he was jailed at Leeds Crown Court yesterday for four years and two months after admitting seven charges of encouraging terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications.
Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: ‘Luke Hunter represents a threat to our society, not simply because of his mindset but because of the considerable lengths he was prepared to go to in order to recruit and enable others in support of his cause.’
When police raided Hunter’s house they found a machete in his bedroom as well as other swastika-festooned memorabilia
The UK banned the FKD earlier this year, making it an offence to be a member or demonstrate support for it. Pictured: An item recovered from Hunter’s bedroom