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Far-right fitness guru jailed after saying Hitler 'did nothing wrong' by killing Jews
Kristofer Thomas Kearney also shared posts encouraging violence against Jews and Muslims
June 28, 2023 15:00
Kristofer Thomas Kearney also shared posts encouraging violence against Jews and Muslims
June 28, 2023 15:00A far-right white supremacist who claimed Adolf Hitler "showed people the way" and "did nothing wrong" after millions of Jews were killed in the Holocaust has been jailed.
Kristofer Thomas Kearney posted on an open Telegram channel where he shared posts encouraging violence against Jews and Muslims.
Kearny, 38, also shared dozens of documents encouraging extreme right-wing terror attacks in January and March 2021 to his own Telegram channel where he goes by the username “CharlieBigPotatoes”.
The documents further included a large collection of white supremacist texts, manifestos and recordings. The Old Bailey heard how these included the manifestos of Christchurch mosque killer Brenton Tarrant and Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway.
Kearny was based in Alicante before he was extradited from Spain to face charges last September. He is originally from Liverpool.
The court heard that Kearney was said to be a member of Patriotic Alternative, an extreme right-wing group where he was understood to be the ‘Head of Fitness’. He is also believed to have previously been affiliated with National Action before it was proscribed.
The Old Bailey heard how he regularly featured on right-wing podcasts and had set up a channel called Fascist Fitness to hand out exercise and fitness tips.
He told the court that the point of setting up his channel was to "spread the right-wing and the fascist world view". In addition, he claimed he was "horrified" to have shared videos which encouraged violence.
Kearny also stressed that some of the phrases used on his channel were just a "rallying cry" for people to get involved in community groups and denied they were aimed at promoting violence.
But Judge Richard Marks KC determined that Kearny shared the posts recklessly and with the intention of encouraging terrorism. However, Marks accepted that Kearny may not have familiarised herself with all the postings.
He told Kearney: “In this country, we have lived for many years in a multicultural society which most people regard as being enriching.
"Right-thinking members of any society regard tolerance, kindness, understanding and inclusivity to everyone regardless of their background as being of absolutely fundamental importance.
"Much of the material that you posted entirely negates those values and is extreme, vile, inflammatory, divisive and deeply offensive.”
Kearney admitted to two counts of disseminating a terrorist publication (under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2000).
He was sentenced to four years and eight months' imprisonment, with a two-year extended licence period.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Kearney brazenly posted abhorrent extremist material online, advertising it to hundreds of people who followed his account. He may have thought that, being in Spain, he could act with impunity.
"However, he was wrong - our officers travelled to Spain to arrest Kearney, and had him extradited so he could face these charges. As part of our investigation, we worked with the Spanish Police and their assistance was invaluable.”