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Three Nazi extremists who amassed an arsenal of 200 weapons and discussed targeting mosques and synagogues in England have been convicted of planning a terrorist attack.
Among the haul of weapons was a 3D printed gun that was almost ready to be fired. The planned attack was averted when an undercover officer infiltrated the self-styled Nazi cell.
The three men were Christopher Ringrose, 34, from Cannock, Marco Pitzettu, 25, from Derby, and Brogan Stewart, 25, from West Yorkshire, who formed a virtual cell and had never met.
They admired Adolf Hitler and spouted anti-immigrant rhetoric, shared material from the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and discussed attacking places housing migrants to Britain.
They were convicted by a jury at Sheffield crown court of multiple terrorism and firearms offences and warned by the judge they faced lengthy jail sentences.
Among their weapons were deactivated guns that they were trying to restore, crossbows, hunting-style knives and a tomahawk.
The 3D gun was built from instructions found on the web and needed only a firing pin, bolt and barrel to be turned into a lethal weapon.
They identified an Islamic centre in Leeds to attack, and discussed abducting and torturing an imam, the route they would take, how they would avoid detection and their escape.
Stewart chose himself as the “Fuhrer” or leader and laid down uniform rules for members to be clad in Nazi-style clothing.
He called the group Einsatz 14, referencing Nazi paramilitary death squads, and appointed Pitzettu and Ringroseas “armourers”.
The group members, who believe in a race war, criticised other extremist far-right groups for not taking action.
Using the messaging app Telegram, Stewart wrote that other far-right groups just “sit around and talk”.
“I want to get my own group together because action speaks louder than words,” he wrote.
Stewart added: “I would love to beat faggots up too” and “I want to storm the government buildings and hang the politicians. The government are full of Jews and other enemies.”
The men were arrested on 20 February 2024 after the group was infiltrated by an undercover officer called Blackheart.
Targets they had discussed for harassment and attacks included mosques, Islamic education centres and synagogues.
Ringrose, a manager at a car parts supplier, posted a photo of his one-year-old son wearing a skull mask and the words “choose violence” while Pitzettu, a mechanic, shared videos of the Christchurch mosque massacre.
Stewart, the self-appointed leader, had never had a job and lived with his mother.
In a group telephone call on 5 February, two weeks before their arrest, Stewart laid out an attack plan to “cruise around” looking for “human targets” near an Islamic education centre, “do what whatever we do then back at mine for tea and medals and a debrief”.
Stewart said he wanted the members to “hang out, bring ourselves closer together and just cement that brotherhood”. But the meeting was cancelled because of bad weather.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said: “The defendants had identified potential locations and targets and it was the imminent threat of an attack that led to the defendants being arrested.”
The court heard Stewart said of the group’s ideology: “Personally, I’ve taken inspiration from the SS,” and added: “I also hope that we can extort political rivals and potentially plan operations to meet migrants landing on our beaches and deal with them.”
DCI James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme rightwing mindset.
“All three took real-world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.”
Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division, said: “These extremists were plotting violent acts of terrorism against synagogues, mosques and an Islamic education centre.
“By their own admission, they were inspired by SS tactics and supremacist ideology.
“Had Christopher Ringrose managed to completely finish building the 3D-printed semi-automatic firearm that he had started to, it could have been used leading to devastating consequences.”
They will be sentenced on 17 July.
