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A Neo-Nazi who inspired gun massacres by white supremacists in the US while under probation ‘supervision’ has been jailed for 11 years for racism offences.
Daniel Harris, 19, had been ordered by a judge to wear an electronic tag and work with the youth offending service after he sprayed racist words on a mural to the murdered black security guard George Floyd.
But despite the court order Harris spent up to 14 hours a day on the internet at home.
He posted hate fuelled messages and videos calling for an armed uprising and celebrating white supremacist murderers including Norwegian Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant who killed 51 people outside two mosques in New Zealand.
Harris’ videos were viewed by Payton Gendron, a 19-year-old who killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack in Buffalo, New York, last May. The following November Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who also viewed the videos was arrested after five people were killed and 17 others were wounded during a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs.
Daniel Harris a teenage Neo-Nazi who was able to inspire gun massacres by white supremacists in the US despite being under ‘supervision’ by probation officer
Pictured is Harris when he vandalised the George Floyd mural in a racist attack under probation
Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said today: ‘Daniel Harris sought to encourage others to commit terrorist acts through his violent, antisemitic and racist videos which would have been watched by many.
‘These videos were not harmless entertainment – in them he glorified mass murderers, including the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019.
‘We will always work with Counter-Terrorism policing to prosecute those like Harris who break the law.’
In messages to Gendron, Harris then 18 and writing under the alia BookAnon said: ‘I can’t always add more to my manifesto but what actually matters is going out and carrying out the action. I have loved these 18 years on earth and have learnt quite a lot.’
In response Gendron, using his alias Jimboboii, shared and commented on at least two of Harris’s videos, writing to him four weeks before the mass killing: ‘Thank you for your service.”
Police uncovered Harris’ activities following a ‘sting operation” at a motorway service station when officers spotted messages the teenager had left celebrating the Buffalo attack. Police searched his home in Glossop, Derbyshire and found a 3D printer which had been used to make the component parts of a firearm.
Pictured is the George Floyd Mural which Daniel Harris vandalised in his vile racist attack
Payton Gendron killed 10 black people in a racially-motivated mass shooting in May last year
It emerged Harris who posted all his videos from his grandfather’s spare bedroom had enrolled on the Prevent programme to help ”de-radicalise” him following the attack on the mural but he lied and carried on with his hate rhetoric online. He denied knowing that he knew anything about what the terrorists planned and of ‘what he planned.’
At Manchester Crown Court he was found guilty of five charges of encouraging terrorism relating to his creation and uploading of material to the internet between February 2021 and March 2022. A jury also found him guilty of one count of possession of material for terrorist purposes which related to the possession of the 3D printer.
The court heard London-born Harris had been sent to live with his grandfather in Glossop after being expelled from school in 2011 when he was just seven. He was home schooled following the expulsion but was regularly watching neo Nazi videos on a home PC in the the spare bedroom by the age of 11.
In June June 2019 aged 15 Harris was arrested and accused of attacking four people during the attempted robbery of a mobile phone. He was convicted of common assault in 2020 but in January 2021 he was back in court and given a youth supervision order after he was found guilty of possessing prohibited images of children.
Gendron carried out the horrific attack after watching Daniel Harris’s white supremacist content online
Pictured: Colorado gay club shooting suspect Anderson Aldrich. Footage of Aldrich before the attack links to a site showcasing one of Harris’s videos, the court heard
Despite being monitored by probation officers, just a month later Harris used spray guns to damage the art work to George Floyd in Manchester city centre. He was chased away from the installation by a passer-by but after the artwork was restored the following July, he returned to the £500 mural and again scrawled ‘ni..a’ over it – plus the words ”kill invaders” over a nearby wall.
He was pursued by a police patrol who spotted him and he was detained shortly afterwards.
In August 2021 at Manchester youth court, Harris then 17 and said to be a ”gifted artist and photographer with an above average IQ” – appeared smartly in a grey three piece suit with his mother supporting him and he admitted racially aggravated criminal damage and attempted criminal damage.
He was too young to be named at the time but was ordered to be tagged as part of a 7pm-to-7am curfew and was was placed under the supervision of the Youth Offending Service for 18 months.
He was not ordered to pay any compensation and when asked to pay a 22 pound victim surcharge he replied: ”What me?” At the time a district judge told him: ‘The purpose of the youth justice system is to prevent people like you from offending again.
”These offences paint a picture of a troubled young man. I have read that since volunteering at at a food bank, your behaviour has improved and you now have the support of your mother. I have also heard that you are remorseful for what you have done.’
But prosecuting Joe Allman told the latest hearing: ‘Payton Gendron was inspired by the material the defendant uploaded onto his discord server. In the bio for the Brenton Tarrant video, the defendant wrote that it was a ‘biographical film about the Aussie Saint.’
‘He uploaded his video to a website called World Truth Vids. In the comments section for this video was a comment by an unknown user that said: This video moved me, I used to be on the fence but now I am committed to my race.’
‘Harris replied by saying: you are not alone my friend. These comments were screenshotted by Gendron and placed on his Discord page.’
On the 27th March 2021, Gendron and the defendant began a correspondence.
The court was told Gendron viewed the Brenton Tarrant video soon before he carried out his attack in Buffalo. He also live-streamed in his car on the website Free Speech Tube also frequented by Harris minutes before the attack.
In mitigation for Harris, James Walker said: ”The defendant was withdrawn from school at a very young age and had been expelled at a young age. He was expelled from school in 2011 for an assault.
‘He admits he has a mental disorder but has repeatedly refused to be assessed for autism.’
‘This young man has no concept of what is appropriate, he was watching these videos from the age of 11 and when he was being home schooled he was left to his own devices. He spent up to 14 hours a day on the internet.’
After the case Det Insp Chris Brett of the East Midlands Counter Terrorism unit said: ‘Due to his age and previous offending, we initially attempted to engage with Harris through the Prevent programme, but it soon became clear he was pretending to be deradicalized whilst encouraging terrorism online. The threat he caused meant we had to act in order to ensure the safety of the wider public.
‘The videos he produced, clearly demonstrated a distain for law enforcement and public order, as well as an admiration for those who had committed atrocities in terrorist attacks overseas.
‘By posting these videos online, Harris’ toxic rhetoric could have had untold influence on countless people across the world. Such actions will not be tolerated.
‘In a search of Harris’ house, the rather chilling discovery of attempts to make component parts of a firearm printed from his 3D printer, showed a clear intent to create a deadly weapon.’
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