National institutions and infrastructure
The police
179. The police may be considered by some Extreme Right-Wing Terrorists to be part of the system they wish to change, and may justify their targeting of the police services on this basis:
- On 25 August 2018, a UK-based member of the 'White Supremacist' group Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) distributed a poster on the social media website Gab urging sexual violence against female police officers.
- In September 2019, West Midlands Police was the subject of a 'doxxing' attack (the publishing online of personal identifiable information) by the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD)—this included posting the addresses of the district police headquarters, stations, learning facilities, offices and detainment centres on the FKD's Telegram web portal.
180. In September 2020, written evidence noted that there had been *** UK police ***, and that *** other subsets of the population (such as politicians and minority groups).[1] Nonetheless, it remains *** Extreme Right-Wing Terrorists will target the police as noted earlier in this Report—National Action member Jack Renshaw was arrested on 5 July 2017 for a plot to kill a named police officer as well as Rosie Cooper MP.[2]
UK national infrastructure
181. In January 2020, conspiracy theories began to circulate alleging a connection between Covid-19 and the introduction of 5G masts, and it was reported that ERWT groups had started posting messages online encouraging their supporters to conduct attacks against 5G masts. Within some XRW circles, it is possible that national infrastructure is seen as a legitimate target in order to accelerate the fall of a modern Western state (and thereby instigate a 'race war' in order to create a fascist, white ethno-state).
182. In April 2020, a 5G mast in Birmingham was set alight in what is believed to have been an arson attack inspired by the 5G/Covid-19 conspiracy theory. Videos of the attack have been shared on multiple Right-Wing Extremist online groups supporting the action and calling for further attacks. It is unknown whether these attacks were terror related— ***. In September 2020, the threat assessment in relation to the electronic and broadcast communications sector ***.[3]
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