Three individuals associated with a neo-Nazi group have been sentenced to 29 years in prison for planning a terrorist attack on a mosque. Brogan Stewart, Marco Pitzettu, and Christopher Ringrose were apprehended just before they could execute a racially motivated assault in Leeds. The trio, part of an online extremist faction glorifying Nazis, possessed a cache of 200 weapons, including crossbows, axes, machetes, swords, knuckle dusters, and knives, discovered in raids across Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire. Authorities also uncovered an almost finished 3D-printed assault rifle, the FGC-9 Mk II.
The individuals were in the process of acquiring the remaining components for the weapon and had connected through social media platform Facebook with intentions to incite a racial conflict. Planning to target the al-Amin Islamic Educational Centre in Leeds, they had arranged a training session in Derbyshire woods. Law enforcement intervened when they suspected the group was progressing with their plot involving firearms, explosives, and bladed weapons.
Although the men had never met in person, they were under surveillance after counter-terrorism officers infiltrated their circle. Counter Terrorism Policing North East officers raided their residences last year and discovered plans to attack mosques, Islamic centers, and synagogues. The group expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, shared extremist content from provocateur Tommy Robinson, and discussed assaults on migrant facilities. Gang leader Stewart, residing with his mother in Tingley, West Yorks, directed the operations, while Pitzettu and Ringrose, referred to as his “engineers,” were responsible for acquiring gear such as body armor, gas masks, and riot equipment.
Pitzettu, a mobile mechanic in Derby, had obtained an illegal stun gun, and Ringrose, a married father working in a car factory in Cannock, constructed the 3D gun. Following a trial earlier this year, all three were convicted of preparing acts of terrorism and gathering information useful for terrorist activities. Ringrose faced an additional charge of manufacturing a banned weapon at Sheffield Crown Court.
Det Chief Supt James Dunkerley of Counter Terrorism Policing North East commented that the group promoted abhorrent racial ideologies and advocated violence. He expressed a belief that had intervention not occurred, a catastrophic global incident could have transpired.
