the times | Monday July 27 2020 2GM 17
News
Neo-Nazi terrorist groups are using a
UK-registered “free speech” alternative
to YouTube to recruit foot soldiers.
Bitchute, a video-sharing website,
has been accused of hosting hateful
content that could lead to the violent
radicalisation of its users.
An investigation by The Times found
videos promoting banned far-right
terror groups that encourage viewers to
The mother of a black boy who
drowned when a white teenager
pushed him into a river has accused
prosecutors of treating his life as
“having no value” after they refused to
bring a manslaughter case.
Christopher Kapessa, 13, died in July
last year after he was pushed from a
bridge over the Cynon river in Rhond-
da Cynon Taf, south Wales. The Crown
join them in taking up arms in a Nazi
revolution to “purge the weak”.
A recruitment video for Feuerkrieg
Division, banned in the UK last week,
flashes the words, “Soon, very soon we
will corner you in your major cities, we
will set Europe ablaze,” before telling
viewers to join up.
Videos in support of Atomwaffen Di-
vision, an international neo-Nazi group
whose members have been convicted of
murder and plotting terror, featuremasked gunmen burning books and
running military training exercises.
The words “Race war now” appear
with a link to a website. These videos
have been viewed thousands of times
and have remained on the platform for
more than a year in some cases.
Joe Mulhall, a researcher for Hope
Not Hate, an anti-fascist body that has
released a report on Bitchute, said that
extreme or terroristic online content
had clear real-world effects. He saidTom Ball that people who carry out attacks such
as in Christchurch (New Zealand) and
El Paso (Texas), “are not lone wolves”.
“They emerge out of an ecosystem
where they consume this sort of con-
tent, which often motivates and en-
courages their actions, and lauds them
once they’ve engaged in these acts.”
Bitchute, based in Newbury, Berk-
shire, was founded in January 2017 by
Ray Vahey, a tech entrepreneur, in re-
sponse to a clampdown on harmful
content by social media giants such as
Facebook and YouTube, and states that
its aim is to “provide [users] with a ser-
vice that they can use to flourish and
express their ideas freely.”
Hope Not Hate found 114 videos in
support of banned terror groups. Mr
Vahey told The Times: “Freedom of ex-
pression isn’t always pretty but it is a
universal human right and the best tool
for maintaining an open and healthy
society. We must not forget that.”Free speech website criticised as recruiting ground for neo-Nazis
A lecturer who was sacked for saying
that Jewish people were among the
cleverest in the world has accused uni-
versities of taking an “anti-intellectual”
stance in trying to protect students
from perceived offence.
Stephen Lamonby, 73, said that he
was kept awake at night by the “outra-
geous injustice of it all” after he was dis-
missed as a part-time lecturer at Solent
University, in Southampton.
The mechanical engineer and special
effects expert was sacked for gross mis-
conduct for comments he made in a pri-
vate conversation with Janet Bonar, his
course leader, in March last year.
He said that Germans were good at
engineering and also that he had a “soft
spot for young black males” as they
“need all the help they can get” because
they were underprivileged.
After praising the intelligence of Jew-
ish people and saying that many of his
heroes in the world of physics were
Jewish, he asked Dr Bonar if she was
Jewish. He said that she accused him of
being a racist and stormed off.
Mr Lamonby conceded that some of
his observations were poorly expressed
and said that he was willing to apologise
and accept a letter of warning but this
option, he says, was not explored. “By
sacking me, the university has ensured
Stephen Lamonby
has worked on
Hollywood filmsMother alleges racism after manslaughter case is ruled out
Fiona Hamilton Crime Editor
Poppy Damon, Manveen Rana
Brenna Daldorph
My sacking is
outrageous,
says lecturer in
‘clever Jews’ row
that I will never be able to teach any-
where again,” Mr Lamonby, who
worked on films including Saving Pri-
vate Ryan and Gladiator, told The Mail
on Sunday.
“It was all very spiteful. I still wake in
the night, angry at the outrageous
injustice of it all. How has it come to
this? It’s unbelievable.”
In an email to the university, Dr
Bonar accused him of “totalitarianism”.
Despite requests from Mr Lamonby,
he was not given the opportunity to dis-
cuss the incident with his colleague and
was instead dealt with by a panel of six
university governors.
“I gazed out of the window into the
courtyard and reflected that if this was
300 years ago, they’d build a bonfire
and stick me on it as a heretic,” he said.
“It’s very anti-intellectual, this idea that
different views must be stifled. I believe
that freedom of speech has limitations,
but what is happening in our colleges
and universities is very sad.”
An employment tribunal in Bristol
found that the university had a duty to
protect its “multicultural, predomi-
nantly young student body” from
potential racism and rejected his claims
of unfair dismissal and breach of con-
tract. Judge CH O’Rourke said: “A Jew
told they are good at physics, because
they are a Jew, may well consider that as
demeaning their personal intellectual
ability/hard work.”
Dr Bonar did not respond to a re-
quest for comment. The university said:
“We are pleased with the outcome of
this hearing and its reflection of So-
lent’s commitment to our university
values and to promoting equality, div-
ersity and inclusivity.”
Trevor Phillips , page 28Tom Ball
P
riti Patel has
criticised Twitter
and Instagram
for being slow to
remove
antisemitic posts by the
rapper Wiley as the
Jewish Board of Deputies
called for him to lose his
MBE (Ben Ellery and
Steven Swinford write).
The home secretary
demanded that social
media companies act
faster on “appalling
hatred”. Messages by the
grime artist, including
one likening Jews to theKu Klux Klan, were
visible for 12 hours before
some were removed.
The Board of Deputies,
the country’s largest
Jewish group, called for
the removal of his MBE,
an honour awarded in
2018 for his services to
music.
Wiley, 41, whose real
name is Richard Cowie,
claimed that 12 police
officers visited his house
at the weekend. Scotland
Yard is investigating
the messages.
Ms Patel
tweeted: “The
antisemitic posts
from Wiley are
abhorrent. They
should not have
been able to
remain on
Twitter and
Instagram for solong, and I have asked
them for a full
explanation.”
Twitter and Instagram
have both banned Wiley
for seven days but some
posts remained on his
Instagram feed last night.
Marie van der Zyl,
president of the Board of
Deputies, called for the
creation of a regulator to
fine social networks.
Wiley, a grime pioneer
in the early 2000s,
accused Jewish people of
being “snakes” and
“cowards”, suggesting
that they were at
“war” with black
people.
He wrote:
“There are 2
sets of
people who
nobody
has reallywanted to challenge
#Jewish & #KKK but
being in business for 20
years you start to
understand why. Red
Necks are the KKK and
Jewish people are the
Law... Work that out.”
His manager, John
Woolf of A-List
Management, who is
Jewish, said the company
had “cut all ties” with the
artist. Wiley said that he
had cut the ties himself.
MPs, celebrities and
campaigners are planning
a 48-hour Twitter
“walkout” over its
handling of antisemitism
from 9am today.Patel takes
on Twitter
over rapper’s
hate posts
The rapper Wiley is facing
calls to be stripped of his
MBE for antisemitic posts
that stayed online for hours,
angering Priti Patelmisinterpreted their own policies. And
we believe that racism plays a big factor
in their decision.”
The family said they had previously
experienced racist incidents including
letters that said “go back to where you
came from”. Christopher had also been
beaten by other children.
The Independent Office of Police
Conduct is reviewing the police investi-
gation after the crime scene was not
secured and at least ten child witnesses
were not interviewed until weeks or
even months after Christopher’s death.Prosecution Service concluded that it
was a “foolish prank”. Prosecutors said
that there was evidence to support a
manslaughter case but it was not in the
public interest to charge the 14-year-
old suspect.
His mother, Alina Joseph, 40, has
told the Stories of Our Times podcast
that she feels “let down” by the justice
system. In an episode to be released on
Wednesday, she says: “The justice
system doesn’t seem to really care,
doesn’t give an ounce of care for Chris-
topher. And that was very emotionallydraining... they’ve weighed it to some
extent, whereby Christopher’s life is of
no value, but this other child’s life does
seem to matter.”
The CPS announced in February
that it would not start a prosecution
and reaffirmed the decision last week
after the family appealed through the
Victim’s Right to Review Scheme.
Jenny Hopkins, of the CPS appeals
and reviews unit, said there was noth-
ing to suggest the suspect intended to
harm Christopher although that was
the “awful consequence”. She said: “Werecognise our decision will be upsetting
for the family, who may feel the sus-
pect’s life has been prioritised over
Christopher’s. I hope they can under-
stand how we came to the decision.”
The family plans to take a further ap-
peal to the High Court. Hilary Brown,
the family’s lawyer, said they believed
racism played a part. Of the large group
of young people gathered at the river
that day, Christopher was the only
black child.
Ms Brown said: “We believe that they
have misapplied the rules [and] they’veYUI MOK/PAIf you work for a company owned
by 2 Jewish men and you challenge
the Jewish community in anyway
of course you will get fired.