The leader of a secretive far-right network that plastered antisemitic stickers in cities around the world has been unmasked as a British neo-Nazi, an investigation by anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate has revealed.
Hope Not Hate named Sam Melia, a former member of a number of far-right and fascist organisations and supporter of the now proscribed organisation National Action, as the leader of the shadowy propaganda network ‘100 Handers’.
The Hundred Handers are an anonymous network that seek to provide a “faceless” avenue for far-right activism “whilst avoiding public consequences” for members, which first appeared in May 2018.
The group has become best known for its stickers, many of which include antisemitic imagery and messaging, which have been plastered across cities in the UK, Germany, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands and the United States.
Mr Melia, Hope Not Hate said, is currently working with far-right group Patriotic Alterative, but had been affiliated in the past with fascist organisations such as National Action, which is now proscribed as a terrorist organisation, the far-right party For Britain, and Generation Identity.
Hope Not Hate said that despite Mr Melia’s affiliation with diverse far-right groups his “goals remain the same: promoting extreme racial hatred and spreading his propaganda to as many people as possible”.
Hope Not Hate said that the Hundred Handers claimed to have “hundreds of activists worldwide” and added that its stickers had been seen on “lampposts, walls, and even primary schools”.
Slogans and imagery that specifically targeted Jews included: “America is Under Occupation” printed over a Star of David and “Antisemitism is Caused by Semitism”.
In July 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered an investigation into the group’s activities after a small town was blanketed in white supremacist and racist stickers.
Hope Not Hate wrote that despite the Hundred Handers’ “supposedly impenetrable anonymity, Melia insisted on giving interviews and posting photos that revealed a wealth of personal information about himself and his family members”.
In one interview, Melia stated that he was concerned that Islamophobia was detracting the British far-right from fully embracing his own "Nazi inspired antisemitic agenda".
Melia also stated that he concealed his views - that included wanting to “gas” Jews - from newly inducted members.
He also said that he preferred plastering stickers along “school routes”.
