Tomas Mair, the fascist terrorist who murdered Jo Cox MP in June this year has – to nobody’s surprise – been found guilty and jailed for life.
Mair is unusual amongst wannabe fascist terrorists in that he actually managed to kill somebody before he got caught. Nevertheless, as we’ve pointed out before, there have been no shortage of attempts over the last few years.
Just last week, Roger Smith, 46, of Summerwood Lane, Clifton, Nottingham went on trial at Nottingham Crown Court facing various charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Terrorism Act.
According to the Nottingham Post, Smith “had gunpowder, crossbows, knives and chemicals at his home because he wanted to defend the country from an attack from ISIS”.
We don’t know if Smith was a full-blown fascist, but like others on the far-right, Smith claims to believe that ISIS is an existential threat to our very society:
Prosecutor Michelle Heely told the jury: “He was asked about his views on Muslims and ISIS. He said that ISIS was a threat to the entire Western civilisation, and that if there was another Lee Rigby-style attack, he would be the sort of person who would help to stop it.
“He has it in his mind that he is going to defend the country from an attack by ISIS, and he has gathered his weapons, got his patriotic flags ready, and made explosives at home in order to do that.”
It’s hard to imagine many people would have slept better had we known Smith was looking out for us. Most likely, many people would have feared – with good reason – that he intended to use his new toys not for defence, but for attack.
Smith also described Islam as a “religion of terror”, a fairly standard Islamophobic canard.
Predictably the Post doesn’t use the words fascist, terrorist or even racist anywhere in it’s coverage, instead describing him as a “self-proclaimed survivalist”.
The BBC meanwhile, went with the headline “Accused ‘not an Islamophobic madman’,” because who hasn’t stockpiled weapons for the coming apocalypse?
Elsewhere in the media, the story has been largely ignored.
Would a brown-skinned person in the same situation be treated with the same kid gloves? Clearly not. Despite the conviction of Thomas Mair it’s clear that the clear and present threat of fascist terrorism continues to be of no interest to the mainstream media.
Smith – of course – denies the charges.