Hey, right wing, racist, xenophobic terrorists aren’t just an American phenomenon anymore. Case in point: Neil Lewington of Reading, Berkshire who had constructed a bomb factory in his parents’ home to take out all those he considered not British enough.
Neil Lewington, 43, had developed a bomb factory at his parents’ home in Reading, Berkshire, targeting those he thought “non-British”, jurors heard.
The Old Bailey heard he was carrying bomb parts when arrested at Lowestoft, Suffolk, for abusing a train conductor. […]
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said Mr Lewington was found to be carrying the component parts of two “viable improvised incendiary devices”.
Later searches of his home revealed a notebook entitled “Waffen SS UK members’ handbook” which contained drawings of electronics and chemical mixtures, jurors were told. […]
He also had an “unhealthy interest” in the London nail bomber David Copeland, America’s Unabomber and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, said Mr Altman.
Mr Altman said: “The effect of these finds is to prove that this man who had strong if not fanatical right-wing leanings and opinions was on the cusp of embarking on a campaign of terrorism against those he considered non-British.”
Sounds like the Brits dodged a bullet a few IED’s from a guy who was not a Muslim and who allegedly planned to “take out” anyone not white enough for his tastes. Yes, racist right wing terrorists are a now going global. Another American cultural export? The BBC reports. You decide. But from where I sit, it sure looks like that. I mean, when one of his heroes is Timothy McVeigh, you have to ask whether our right wing extremists are influencing other like minded members of the lunatic fringe to act out their violent, racist fantasies in real life. The Brits were luckier than we were. At least they stopped this guy before he could put his plan into action. the question remains, however: how many more are there like him, not only in the UK but across Europe? After all, France, Germany and Italy all have Neo-Nazi and Neo-fascist groups, and even political parties dedicated to the eradication expulsion of foreigners, especially Turks, Arabs and other brown skinned folks. Not to mention their long history of hatred for the Jews.
I wish I could offer them some good advice, but America isn’t doing very well eliminating our own right wing terrorist threats. If anything we’re behind the curve in that regard. Way behind the curve based on what’s happened here over the last year with the assassinations of George Tiller, that poor security guard at the Holocaust Museum, Stephen Tyrone Johns, Bill Gwatney, the Democratic party chairperson in Arkansas, and the liberal church goers gunned down by David Adkisson in Knoxville, Tennessee. Not to mention the aborted assassination plots against Obama, the guy in Maine who was assembling a dirty bomb until his wife killed him because he abused her, or the recent radical fringe anti-immigrant Minuteman members in Arizona who murdered two people, including a nine year old girl.
Maybe they can give us a few tips, however, on how to stop these freaks. God knows we need all the help we can get.
