BRITAIN: Nazi Planned Machete Attack At Pride Event

The BBC reports:

A neo-Nazi’s plan to attack people with a machete at a gay pride event was foiled after he told people about it on Facebook, a court heard. Police were tipped off about Ethan Stables’ plan to attack the New Empire pub in Barrow, Leeds Crown Court heard. The 20-year-old from Barrow denies preparing an act of terrorism and threats to kill.

Prosecutors said the “white supremacist” had a “deep-seated hatred” of minorities, especially gay people. Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford, who described Mr Stables, of Egerton Court, as a neo-Nazi who supported Adolf Hitler, said the defendant intended to “launch a murderous attack” on various communities.

The Guardian reports:

The prosecutor told the jury of seven men and five women how Stables became enraged when he heard about the event at the New Empire pub. Stables spent seven months researching firearms and explosives, and had begun to acquire material to build an improvised explosive device, the jury heard.

“His purpose in these acts of preparation was to launch a murderous attack on members of these communities. In particular, the prosecution suggest, people who were gay,” the prosector said. Patrick Upward QC, who is defending Stables, told the jury that his client was not a white supremacist, but more a “white fantasist”.