A Stockport man has been jailed for posting racist and antisemitic videos that ‘intended to incite racial hatred’.
Damion Bennett (30) of Hall Street, Offerton, posted material that included Nazi salutes and ridiculed the Holocaust on his GAB account.
He pleaded guilty to three offences of distributing, showing or playing a recording intending to stir up racial hatred.
He was jailed for 22 months when he appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday, following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW).
Judge Tina Landale ordered that two mobile phones and a computer tower containing offending material be destroyed.
Bennett posted three videos in January and February 2023 on the online platform GAB, an alternative mainstream social media platform.
The defendant accepted when he was arrested in April 2024, that the videos he had posted were ‘threatening, abusive and insulting’.
Detective superintendent Ben Cottam, senior investigating officer for CTPNW, said: “GAB was founded in 2016 and launched publicly in 2017 and claims to promote free speech and individual liberty; however researchers and journalists have found that antisemitism is prominent in the site’s content.
“Bennett created a GAB account in November 2022, where he began posting images, memes and videos which were assessed to be extremist material synonymous with a far-right mindset.
“The content of Bennett’s account was extremely threatening, abusive and insulting, and was intended to stir up racial hatred.
“During the search of his home address officers and online accounts officers found a number of leaflets supportive of a mindset promoting conspiracy theories, antisemitism, racism and extreme right-wing beliefs.
“Distribution of material inciting racial hatred, particularly on the internet and in public, has far-reaching consequences and implications, and anyone posting will be dealt with.”
The public can report incidents related to terrorism online and in confidence at www.gov.uk/ACT.
