BBC confronts neo-Nazi who gave UK rioters arson tips

The BBC has confronted a neo-Nazi successful Finland who shared online instructions connected however to perpetrate arson with UK rioters during the summer.

The 20-year-old was an head successful the Southport Wake Up radical connected the Telegram messaging app, wherever helium was known arsenic “Mr AG”. He posted the arson manual, which was pinned to the apical of the radical chat.

In precocious July and aboriginal August, the radical was cardinal successful helping to organise and provoke protests that turned to unit successful England and Northern Ireland.

We tracked Mr AG - whose existent sanction is Charles-Emmanuel Mikko Rasanen - to an flat connected the outskirts of the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

It was from here, much than 1,000 miles distant from Southport, that the neo-Nazi took a salient online relation during the UK riots.

On 29 July, wrong hours of the killings of 3 young girls astatine a Taylor Swift-themed creation people successful Southport, the Southport Wake Up radical was created.

Within days it had grown to much than 14,000 members. Mr Rasanen - or Mr AG arsenic helium was known online - helped to tally the radical chat.

The radical organised the precise archetypal protestation successful the UK, connected St Luke's Road successful Southport, the time aft the killings. That protestation aboriginal turned into a riot.

Before the radical was taken down by Telegram, a bid of different protestation locations were advertised, arsenic good arsenic a database of dozens of exile centres, suggested arsenic imaginable targets.

Alongside that list, Mr AG posted the arson manual, writing: “Something amusive for you to read.”

The manual is believed to person been written by a Russian fascist radical proscribed arsenic terrorists successful their ain country.

It includes details connected however to debar the constabulary and it encourages the targeting of Muslims and Jews.

Underneath the post, different members wrote assertive and violative comments, including: “I’m acceptable for these migrant boys,” portion different describes “invaders” arsenic “a anserine clump underestimating whites”.

Mr AG pinned the station to the apical of the group, which meant it was successful afloat presumption of each 14,000 members erstwhile they logged in.

At the time, respective riots had breached retired crossed the UK.

The BBC travelled to Finland to face Mr Rasanen - we had antecedently emailed him. He refused to reply immoderate of our questions, but did not contradict sending the posts oregon being an head of the Southport Wake Up group.

Before we near him, helium besides accused the BBC of harassment and rang the police.

On his Telegram accounts, Mr Rasanen celebrates Hitler and promotes a neo-Nazi radical called the Nordic Resistance Movement, which is banned arsenic a violent organisation successful respective countries, including the US.

He besides posts dependable notes - successful 1 helium describes himself arsenic a “national socialist”, and successful different helium appears to telephone for the genocide of Jewish people.

Veli-Pekka Hämäläinen, an investigative writer astatine Yle, Finland’s nationalist broadcaster, says Mr Rasanen has been progressive online “for galore years”.

Mr Hämäläinen’s squad has besides spoken to him astir his relation successful the UK riots. He believes Mr Rasanen's engagement successful the Southport Wake Up radical transformed him from a solitary extremist into idiosyncratic with an assemblage of thousands.

“This is an illustration of however lone net keyboard warriors tin crook dangerous,” says Mr Hämäläinen.

He says helium has seen Finnish constabulary records, which amusement Mr Rasanen was investigated erstwhile helium was a teen for making an amerciable threat, but that helium has ne'er been charged with a crime.

The BBC has besides been told of Mr Rasanen’s erstwhile online links to a far-right achromatic nationalist radical successful the UK, Patriotic Alternative (PA).

He was an progressive subordinate of a backstage gaming radical chat, and his posts were shared by cardinal figures successful PA, according to the British anti-fascist probe group, Red Flare.

These included the group’s Yorkshire determination organiser, Sam Melia, who was jailed earlier this twelvemonth for inciting radical hatred.

During the clip of the UK riots, a station by Mr AG read: “When is the aforesaid unit coming to Northern Europe?”

A spokesperson for Red Flare - which archetypal identified Mr AG’s existent individuality and his links to Southport Wake Up - says Mr Rasanen should beryllium held accountable for what helium has done.

“What we person present is simply a lawsuit of a young antheral sitting down his keyboard successful a antithetic state starting racist unit successful Britain,” they say. “It exposes the transnational quality of the far-right successful the satellite today.”

The BBC contacted Patriotic Alternative, and though the radical refused to reply circumstantial questions, it did accidental what Mr AG posted connected PA’s nationalist transmission was “fine” and that PA was not progressive successful what Mr AG posted successful different Telegram groups.

Speaking to the BBC, the government’s autarkic reviewer of coercion legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, says “if [Mr Rasanen] was successful the UK helium would beryllium arrested and prosecuted nether the 2006 Terrorism Act”.

Mr Hall estimates astatine slightest fractional of coercion propaganda prosecutions past twelvemonth progressive the Telegram app.

The UK has nary extradition statement with Finland, and the Home Office has declined to remark connected whether immoderate extradition petition oregon different enactment is being taken successful respect of the matter. The BBC is not alert of immoderate apprehension warrant being issued.

The National Police Board of Finland says it is “aware of the matter”, but it is not imaginable to remark successful much detail.

A spokesperson for Telegram has told the BBC its moderators removed UK channels calling for unit erstwhile they were discovered successful August, including Southport Wake Up.

Its connection adds: “Of course, we are acceptable to co-operate with some the UK and Finnish governments connected this substance done the due channels.”

A spokesperson for the UK authorities says it is moving astatine gait to instrumentality the Online Safety Act, which requires societal media platforms to region amerciable contented and forestall the dispersed of misinformation.

“We volition not fto the net service arsenic a haven for those seeking to sow part successful our communities,” says the spokesperson.