The BBC has confronted a neo-Nazi in Finland who shared online instructions on how to commit arson with UK rioters during the summer.

The 20-year-old was an administrator in the Southport Wake Up group on the Telegram messaging app, where he was known as “Mr AG”. He posted the arson manual, which was pinned to the top of the group chat.

In late July and early August, the group was key in helping to organise and provoke protests that turned to violence in England and Northern Ireland.

We tracked Mr AG - whose real name is Charles-Emmanuel Mikko Rasanen - to an apartment on the outskirts of the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

It was from here, more than 1,000 miles away from Southport, that the neo-Nazi took a prominent online role during the UK riots.

“What we have here is a case of a young man sitting behind his keyboard in a different country starting racist violence in Britain,” they say. “It exposes the transnational nature of the far-right in the world today.”

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Am I crazy or does that guy look not white? The irony is too much. Also lmfao at him immediately calling the cops

    • Stamau123@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      My uncle is half Mexican, does not look full white, and gave himself a swastika tattoo

      People can grow up to be real fucking crazy

      • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        There are a lot of half whites that hate their non-white part. They literally feel more superior than their non-white relatives.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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      3 months ago

      My man, you’re living in a world where an American politician just got exposed calling himself a “black Nazi” in a porn site’s comment section.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Nope, I love Chappelle’s show. 20 some odd years later and I still find it astounding.

    • OpenStars@discuss.online
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      3 months ago

      They’re not sending their best and brightest folks. And some I assume are good people, but…

    • matti@sopuli.xyz
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      3 months ago

      Yeah he definitely has foreign roots but does speak perfectly fluently.

      He knew to expect this, the Finnish broadcaster already did an article on him this summer, but without disclosing a name or face, citing that he is not charged with any crime.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    So either he’s what he claims to be - a brown-skinned White Supremacist - or he’s a russian disinfo troll working out of next-door Finland. Both are possible, I guess.

    The disease of social media is so easily solved, it’s rigorous insanity we still read these kind of current news articles.