Latest news with #Nazi-themed
Scottish Sun
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Moment Neo-Nazis celebrate Hitler's birthday with swastika cake & ‘Fuhrer' footie shirt after guest stood to be MP
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THIS is the moment a group of Neo-Nazis celebrated Hitler's birthday with one of the guests previously standing to be an MP. Members of the far-right extremist group, the British Movement, met at the Duke of Edinburgh in Royton, Greater Manchester, on April 19. 3 Shocking CCTV footage shows the men posing behind a flag before quickly hiding it away 3 The cake with a swastika Credit: MEN Media Footage and snaps of the group revealed a swastika cake and other Nazi-themed celebrations. Now, it has been revealed that one of the men involved put himself forward to be an MP in Bolton last year, reports the MEN. Patrick McGrath stood for the English Democrats in the Bolton West constituency but polled just 202 votes and came last in the contest. Beside his name on the ballot paper was 'English Democrats - Deport All Illegal Immigrants', said the outlet. McGrath was seen on CCTV alongside other members with sick photos posted online revealing Nazi flags and a cake decorated with a swastika. One man, who did the Nazi salute, was donning a German national team football shirt with the words Fuhrer 44. In one photograph three men - including McGrath - hold up a flag with a swastika, SS bolts and the Iron Cross. Other snaps uploaded also included a black and white photograph of Hitler. Another picture revealed five men posing behind the British Movement flag before quickly hiding it away. The English Democrats and McGrath have been approached for comment. The venue have said that staff didn't know about the party until the next day -and they reported it to the police. The Duke of Edinburgh's incoming landlady Jean Anderson, said: "They said they had a cake, but we didn't know what happened because they covered everything up. "The pub was full. There were about six to eight men and one woman. They sat in the corner and didn't cause any problems. NHS manager joins work call with Nazi armband, framed photo of Hitler & Swastika in background "They were sneaky. We didn't see anything until we saw the pictures. I just can't understand why they picked this pub." A spokesperson for Craft Union Pubs said: "A group entered the Duke of Edinburgh on Saturday under the pretext of celebrating a birthday and gathered in a back area of the venue. "The group actively concealed their clothing and their activities during the visit and as a result, their actions were not visible to staff at the time. "The operator who runs the pub was therefore unaware of what had taken place until after the event. Upon becoming aware, the operator reported the matter to the police immediately. "To be clear, we are absolutely appalled at what took place. We do not and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, and these people aren't welcome in any of our venues. "We are focused on uniting our local communities, not dividing them. We are supporting our operator to look after their team, who are understandably incredibly distressed by the incident." A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "On Wednesday, April 23 we received a report that several individuals attended a pub on Market Street in Royton on Saturday, April 20, and were in possession of Nazi memorabilia. "Enquiries are underway to establish the full circumstances. "If you have any information, or were affected by this incident, please contact police on 101 quoting log 784 of 24/4/25." The British Movement (BM) is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968 and membership is not currently illegal. It was born from the National Socialist Movement (NSM), founded in 1962. The BM is on the fringe of far-right extremism with a long history and association with violence and extremism.
The Irish Sun
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Moment Neo-Nazis celebrate Hitler's birthday with swastika cake & ‘Fuhrer' footie shirt after guest stood to be MP
COPS are hunting for Neo-Nazis who celebrated Hitler's birthday with one of the guests previously standing to be an MP. Members of the far-right extremist group, the British Movement, met at the Duke of Edinburgh in Royton, Greater Manchester , on April 19. 3 Shocking CCTV footage shows the men posing behind a flag before quickly hiding it away 3 The cake with a swastika Credit: MEN Media Snaps of the group including a swastika cake and other Nazi-themed celebrations were shared on the organisation's Telegram feed. Now, it has been revealed that one of the men involved put himself forward to be an MP in Bolton last year, reports the Patrick McGrath stood for the English Democrats in the Bolton West constituency but polled just 202 votes and came last in the contest. Beside his name on the ballot paper was 'English Democrats - Deport All Illegal Immigrants', said the outlet. Read More in UK News McGrath was pictured alongside other members with sick photos posted online revealing Nazi flags and a cake decorated with a One man, who did the Nazi salute, was donning a German national team football shirt with the words Fuhrer 44. In one photograph three men - including McGrath - hold up a flag with a swastika, SS bolts and the Iron Cross. Other snaps uploaded also included a black and white photograph of Hitler. Most read in The Sun Another picture revealed five men posing behind the British Movement flag before quickly hiding it away. The English Democrats and McGrath have been approached for comment. The venue have said that staff didn't know about the party until the next day -and they reported it to the police . The Duke of Edinburgh's incoming landlady Jean Anderson, said: "They said they had a cake, but we didn't know what happened because they covered everything up. "The pub was full. There were about six to eight men and one woman. They sat in the corner and didn't cause any problems. NHS manager joins work call with Nazi armband, framed photo of Hitler & Swastika in background "They were sneaky. We didn't see anything until we saw the pictures. I just can't understand why they picked this pub." A spokesperson for Craft Union Pubs said: "A group entered the Duke of Edinburgh on Saturday under the pretext of celebrating a birthday and gathered in a back area of the venue. "The group actively concealed their clothing and their activities during the visit and as a result, their actions were not visible to staff at the time. "The operator who runs the pub was therefore unaware of what had taken place until after the event. Upon becoming aware, the operator reported the matter to the police immediately. "To be clear, we are absolutely appalled at what took place. We do not and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, and these people aren't welcome in any of our venues. "We are focused on uniting our local communities, not dividing them. We are supporting our operator to look after their team, who are understandably incredibly distressed by the incident." A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "On Wednesday, April 23 we received a report that several individuals attended a pub on Market Street in Royton on Saturday, April 20, and were in possession of Nazi memorabilia. "Enquiries are underway to establish the full circumstances. "If you have any information, or were affected by this incident, please contact police on 101 quoting log 784 of 24/4/25." The British Movement (BM) is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968 and membership is not currently illegal. It was born from the National Socialist Movement (NSM), founded in 1962. The BM is on the fringe of far-right extremism with a long history and association with violence and extremism. 3 One man wore a German national team football shirt with the words Fuhrer 44
The Sun
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Moment Neo-Nazis celebrate Hitler's birthday with swastika cake & ‘Fuhrer' footie shirt after guest stood to be MP
COPS are hunting for Neo-Nazis who celebrated Hitler's birthday with one of the guests previously standing to be an MP. Members of the far-right extremist group, the British Movement, met at the Duke of Edinburgh in Royton, Greater Manchester, on April 19. 3 3 Snaps of the group including a swastika cake and other Nazi-themed celebrations were shared on the organisation's Telegram feed. Now, it has been revealed that one of the men involved put himself forward to be an MP in Bolton last year, reports the MEN. Patrick McGrath stood for the English Democrats in the Bolton West constituency but polled just 202 votes and came last in the contest. Beside his name on the ballot paper was 'English Democrats - Deport All Illegal Immigrants', said the outlet. McGrath was pictured alongside other members with sick photos posted online revealing Nazi flags and a cake decorated with a swastika. One man, who did the Nazi salute, was donning a German national team football shirt with the words Fuhrer 44. In one photograph three men - including McGrath - hold up a flag with a swastika, SS bolts and the Iron Cross. Other snaps uploaded also included a black and white photograph of Hitler. Another picture revealed five men posing behind the British Movement flag before quickly hiding it away. The English Democrats and McGrath have been approached for comment. The venue have said that staff didn't know about the party until the next day -and they reported it to the police. The pub's operator, Craft Union Pubs, said it was 'absolutely appalled' by the shocking nature of the event. NHS manager joins work call with Nazi armband, framed photo of Hitler & Swastika in background The Duke of Edinburgh's incoming landlady Jean Anderson, said: "They said they had a cake, but we didn't know what happened because they covered everything up. "The pub was full. There were about six to eight men and one woman. They sat in the corner and didn't cause any problems. "They were sneaky. We didn't see anything until we saw the pictures. I just can't understand why they picked this pub." A spokesperson for Craft Union Pubs said: "A group entered the Duke of Edinburgh on Saturday under the pretext of celebrating a birthday and gathered in a back area of the venue. "The group actively concealed their clothing and their activities during the visit and as a result, their actions were not visible to staff at the time. "The operator who runs the pub was therefore unaware of what had taken place until after the event. Upon becoming aware, the operator reported the matter to the police immediately. "To be clear, we are absolutely appalled at what took place. We do not and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, and these people aren't welcome in any of our venues. "We are focused on uniting our local communities, not dividing them. We are supporting our operator to look after their team, who are understandably incredibly distressed by the incident." A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "On Wednesday, April 23 we received a report that several individuals attended a pub on Market Street in Royton on Saturday, April 20, and were in possession of Nazi memorabilia. "Enquiries are underway to establish the full circumstances. "If you have any information, or were affected by this incident, please contact police on 101 quoting log 784 of 24/4/25." Membership of the British Movement is not currently illegal. The British Movement (BM) is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968. It was born from the National Socialist Movement (NSM), founded in 1962. The BM is on the fringe of far-right extremism with a long history and association with violence and extremism.
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Post
Tesla owner, investor doubles down after receiving hateful Nazi-themed hate mail at her home: ‘I bought our 5th Tesla'
A Tesla owner and investor received Nazi-themed hate mail at her California home last week — but instead of being afraid, she defiantly bought a brand new shiny red car from the electric automaker. Alexandra Merz, 58, the owner of several Teslas and a retail investor in the Elon Musk-owed company since March 2020, recently became the target of handwritten hate mail executed with a graphic design flourish that insinuated she was a Nazi supporter, SWNS reported. The letter, which was sent from Boston, contained a greeting card with a Nazi salute incorporated into the Tesla logo, in a reference to Musk's awkward hand gesture during a speech at President Trump's inauguration in January that some construed as a fascistic homage. 'History has its eyes on you' was handwritten on the inside of the unwelcome greeting card received at Merz's Santa Barbara abode on April 17, the outlet reported. Merz, an investment analyst and immigration consultant, according to her LinkedIn, immediately reported the malevolent missive to the FBI — and now feels a renewed vigor for her love of the electric car innovator. 'This atrocious behavior motivates me even more to stand up for Tesla, Elon, and DOGE,' Merz told The Post Wednesday night. 'I bought our fifth Tesla last Saturday, a beautiful red Model Y, the best car out there. And it drives itself,' she added. 3 The hateful message sent to Merz's California home from Boston. Alexandra Merz / SWNS 3 'I bought our fifth Tesla last Saturday, a beautiful red Model Y, the best car out there,' the defiant Merz told The Post. Alexandra Merz / SWNS In previous comments, Merz was at a loss for the hate being directed at Musk and his once-beloved company since he took the helm of President Trump's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 'Tesla is employing more than 140,000 employees worldwide, building the most American cars in the US, and building the European Model Ys in Berlin,' the retail investor told SWNS. 'I often wonder whether these protesters have thought through what they are doing,' she added. The hate mail incident is being investigated by the FBI, which has its hands full of vandals who have targeted Tesla dealerships and harassed car owners since DOGE began its work. UMass Boston student Owen McIntire, 19, was charged last week for allegedly firebombing a Tesla dealership in Missouri and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to two Cybertrucks and charging stations, according to the Department of Justice. 'Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us,' Attorney General Pamela Bondi warned in a statement. 3 'This atrocious behavior motivates me even more to stand up for Tesla, Elon, and DOGE,' Merz said. Alexandra Merz / SWNS 'You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.' Minnesota state employee Dylan Bryan Adams, 33, was caught on the security cameras at several of the tech-apt cars as he went on a paint-scraping spree. Gov. Tim Walz's employee will not face criminal charges for the alleged $20,000 of damage he caused to half a dozen Teslas, the Hennepin County District Attorney announced Tuesday. Last week, a Tesla driver in Utah said a car tried to intentionally push him off of Interstate 80 as the two vehicles reached speeds of 100 mph — with the road raging maniac allegedly slamming into the Tesla on purpose. Hard financial times have also set upon the electric car behemoth — with Tesla's net income plunging 71% in the last quarter, setting off alarm bells as Musk's time running DOGE comes to an end. 'I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,' Musk said at the close of the financial markets Tuesday.
Al Jazeera
06-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
How Musk ushered 4chan into US politics
In the past few days, US media have been reporting that billionaire Elon Musk will step back from his leading role in President Donald Trump's administration. This is after his highly publicised stint as unofficial head of the nongovernmental agency DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and various political initiatives – most recently, his campaign for the election of a conservative judge to a vacated Supreme Court seat in the state of Wisconsin – backfired. How and when Musk will make his exit remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: He will leave behind lasting damage that goes way beyond the disruptive work of his invention, DOGE. Through his behaviour online and offline, Musk has introduced incredibly toxic and cynical politics from the obscure fringes of the internet into the chambers of power in the world's foremost superpower. His Nazi gesture at an event following Trump's inauguration on January 20 was a perfect illustration. Musk immediately weighed in on the accusation that he made a Nazi salute with a mix of denial and humour, making a slew of Nazi-themed jokes on his X account. Doing something outrageous and then denying the obvious is a clear case of 'trolling' – a favourite practice in fringe internet spaces where toxic and cynical political views dominate. Among them is an infamous website called 4chan, which Musk is believed to frequent. Just at the start of this year, he decided to change his X account name to 'Kekius Maximus' and his profile picture to a Pepe the Frog image – memes taken straight from 4chan. He has also openly referred to the site on his X account. Although many have heard of the website 4chan, there is still very little public understanding of what it is and how it is connected to the rise of the far right in the US. Simply put, it is a website where people can share text and image messages anonymously with no registration or login for users. It is a space for discussions, humour and the creation of an online community. Founded in 2003, 4chan reached 8.2 million visitors monthly in 2010 and 22 million in 2021. Due to the anonymous cover afforded by the website's structure, users feel confident to express problematic and fringe political views usually mixed with a veil of humour. This irony-laden form of political expression has come to define the website. Often you would see racist, sexist and/or homophobic slurs posed as jokes. Anyone who calls these out is mocked even further for their naivety or sincerity. The disclaimer under the main forum on 4Chan, /b/, states: 'The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.' This is exactly why journalists and commentators who took Musk's denial of his Nazi salute at face value completely missed the point. To those far-right fans of Musk, the appeal of his actions was in fact reinforced by the very denial, by the fact that he did a fascist gesture so brazenly and then 'got away with it'. Musk engaged in a transgressive act against what he describes as the 'woke mind virus' or more traditionally 'PC [political correctness] culture'. By adding humour to the equation, Musk and his fans were able to further obfuscate and derail any serious discussion about the implications of normalising Nazi symbols. All of this is the primary function of 'trolling'. Posed as merely a form of play, a way of pushing people's buttons 'for the lolz' (laughs), far-right actors are able to use this technique to shift the Overton window – or the range of acceptable terms or opinions – to the right. Immediately after Musk's salute, far-right figures such as Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, mimicked the same salute and used the same distancing excuses that Musk employed. These are people who have gained tremendous amounts of social and political capital through online subcultures. However, it is not only the far right that employs memes and other expressions developed online to further its political goals. In fact, some may argue that these subcultures emerged as a response to what is described as the 'memefication' of politics. In her book Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right, Angela Nagle traces the origins of these subcultures to the US election cycle of 2008. Many will remember the 'Hope' posters of Barack Obama's presidential election campaign, which went viral across the internet. To Nagle, this was a crucial turning point in the use of memes, which at that point were a fresh and exciting new medium, in US politics. Despite the rhetoric of hope and change, the Obama administration did not deliver on its vague, utopian promises. This mismatch between the messaging and the reality spurred online debates that promoted mistrust as a healthy response to the insincerity of the political class. Thereafter, on 4chan and other platforms, anyone who expressed strong support for any one party, cause or movement became the object of ridicule. This essentially formed a type of cynical, nihilistic view of the world and our place in it. Fast forward to the 2024 election cycle, these dynamics were very much present again. Kamala Harris's campaign relied on a rebranding of the Obama campaign and used the same empty memes, instead of focusing on policy or anything else rooted in reality. Not only did she rely heavily on celebrity endorsements, but also had her X account banner written with the same font and colour as the 'brat' meme, a trend inspired by pop star Charli XCX's Brat album cover. The liberal political establishment in the US, which has further revealed its deep flaws over the past year and a half with its disregard for the struggles of poor Americans and triumphalist support for Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, has not learned the lessons of the past decade and a half. Relying on hollow messaging while issues compound for most Americans – from skyrocketing inflation to growing inequality to climate collapse – does not invigorate voters. Politics is not simply a meme battle. This is a lesson that should also be heeded by the wider public, especially those who re-shared the infamous Musk salute as a form of satire or ridicule. Even though many may have believed they were disparaging him by adding insults or jokes to it, in fact, they helped spread and legitimise the act itself as a spectacle. It is time to acknowledge that we cannot meme our way out of fascism. The only way to defeat fascist trolls is to refuse to enter the arena, to refuse to play on their terms. That is, to insist on grounding discussions and actions in reality, to reject any of their obfuscations and to build actual (offline) power to resist the rise of the far right. It is definitely no easy task, especially when the far right has entered the highest chambers of power in the US and has made strong gains in South America and Europe. The marriage of far-right discourse and symbolism matched with an unprecedented capture of wealth by the billionaire class and the rising authoritarianism within these countries has thrown many into hopelessness and despair. In response to the rise of the likes of Musk, we need a kind of repoliticised hope to combat the intentional despair feeding the far right. We need a sincere hope that is rooted in an acknowledgement that we cannot afford to do nothing and that there is a way to resist through collective action, to build new alternatives and to embrace new visions of the future. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
