Hours later a fatal knife attack Last July, in Southport, northern England, Andrew McIntyre started a Telegram channel called “Southport Wake Up”. Amid posts filled with anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant abuse, he called for people to take to the streets, direct them to mosques and call for “war”.
Mr McIntyre, 39, who attended two A series of riots shook England it was last summer was convicted He was sentenced to seven years in prison last Monday.
He pleaded guilty to inciting violent disorder and criminal damage and possession of a knife. A day after his conviction, billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk lamented Mr. McIntyre's sentence in a post on his X social media platform, saying: “More than 7 years in prison for social media posts… Those who gave this sentence deserve to be imprisoned.”
“I think it's really important to note here how extreme the people that Musk has been advocating and connecting with in Europe and the UK in recent months,” said Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate. advocacy group investigating extremism, particularly the far right.
Although Mr. Musk used his platform to boost Tommy Robinson, He is Britain's best-known far-right extremistThe tech billionaire also spoke out in favor of lesser-known figures such as Mr McIntyre. Mr Mulhall, however, said Mr Musk had previously expressed support for neo-Nazis who were members of fascist groups.
Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
The summer riots were deadly Dance class attack in Southport On July 29, a person who attacked with a knife killed three young girls and injured several people. Disinformation soon spread on social networksThe suspect who claimed to be, then it was determined who he was Axel Rudakubanahe was actually a Syrian asylum seeker who had arrived in a small boat, even though he was born in Wales.
A study by Hope Not Hate showed Mr McIntyre used his Telegram account in the hours after the Southport attack to call for violence and later created a TikTok account and a Telegram channel to promote it, the latter called “Southport Wake Up”. He shared a post on the same Telegram channel the next day encouraging a demonstration on St Luke's Road in Southport, near the site of the stabbing, and drawing a red circle around a mosque on that road. “WAR TIME 🔥TIME,” he added.
On July 30, a violent mob targeted a mosque highlighted by Mr. McIntyre, injuring dozens of police officers. Days of worry It rocked Britain over the next week as rioters clashed with police, set fire to cars, attacked mosques and looted businesses.
Hope Not Hate, which later linked various accounts run by Mr McIntyre on social media and messaging platforms, found posts from him on August 3 calling for “Mosques to be burned” and on August 6 calling for his death. of all Jews, Muslims, and blacks, and adding: “White power.”
His extremism dates back to years before the riots. Mr McIntyre posted a Nazi salute selfie in July 2022 and after his arrest, police found a copy of Hitler's political manifesto Mein Kampf at his home.
Merseyside Police, which oversees policing in the Liverpool area, said Mr McIntyre's Telegram messages encouraged others to take part in violent disorder and crime in Southport. He also made other “unsuccessful attempts to incite riots elsewhere,” police said.
Police said Mr McIntyre was involved in riots in Southport on July 30 and in Liverpool on August 3 and was carrying a knife when he was arrested on August 8.
Detective Inspector Paula Jones of Merseyside Police said Mr McIntyre was instrumental in co-ordinating the 30 July riot, using social media to encourage people to travel to Southport and Liverpool to commit crime.
Mr McIntyre's social media footprint included graphic threats of abuse and violence against other users. “It's also a useful example of Musk's central hypocrisy when discussing Britain,” Mr Mulhall said. “On the one hand, Mr. Musk is crying exploitation of women through grooming gangsat the same time, it defends the rights of individuals to send harassment and death threats to women on social media.
Far-right watchdogs say Mr Musk's decision to restore the once-banned accounts of other members of Britain's far-right, including Mr Robinson, has significantly raised their profile and helped spread extremist ideology. (Mr. Robinson he is currently in jail for contempt of courtalthough his account on X remains active and posts supporters instead.)
Sophia Gaston, a British political analyst and visiting fellow at King's College London, said Mr Musk's focus on Britain coincided with the MAGA movement's wider exploration of the country. Mr Musk has cast himself as a defender of free speech, criticizing the British government and authorities for their efforts to combat hate speech and violent rhetoric.
“But there is a difference between amplifying voices outside the mainstream of political life and focusing on those found guilty of crime,” Ms Gaston said. “In McIntyre's case, these are not bogus laws open to interpretation around political correctness. These are public order and violence laws that are vital to the protection of life and property.”