National Socialist Movement
|
|
- This article is about the British group - for information about the American political party see National Socialist Movement (US).
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is a British neo-Nazi group, best known in the UK for its association with David Copeland, the London nailbomber, who was a member. Copeland received six life sentences for his April 1999 bombing campaign against London's black, Asian, and gay communities, which killed three people and injured 129.
The group splintered from Combat 18 in 1997 and is believed to have around 80 supporters. Two of its members, Charlie Sargent and Martin Cross, are serving life sentences for murder. The group's publications include Column 88, White Dragon, and The Order. Prominent members include leader Tony Williams, founding member Steve Sargent, and David Myatt, the group's first leader.
Mike Whine of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has described the NSM as a "very small but very violent neo-Nazi group. Their whole programme is one of terrorism ... against Jews, against blacks and against Asians." [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_30_06_00.txt)
| Contents |
History
An earlier group of the same name was started in 1962 by Colin Jordan on Adolf Hitler's birthday. The group was supported by George Lincoln Rockwell. Jordan also formed the World Union of National Socialists with the American Nazi Party.
The NSM tried to organize an armed wing, Spearhead, which was shut down by the police when Jordan and John Tyndall were imprisoned.
The NSM was further weakened in May 1964 when Tyndall formed the Greater Britain Movement, objecting to the non-British flavour of the NSM, and bearing a personal grudge against Jordan and Françoise Dior. As a result of race-relations legislation, Jordan was arrested several times, and the NSM collapsed in 1967. The remnants of that group were reconstituted as the British Movement in May 1968. The present NSM is not directly related to the British Movement.
References
- "The Nailbomber" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_30_06_00.txt), transcript of BBC Panorama documentary, aired June 30, 2000