An alleged far-right fitness guru who distributed terrorist manifestos online told a court he is "horrified" to have shared videos encouraging violence.
A judge at the Old Bailey will determine whether posts shared by Kristofer Thomas Kearney, 38, were "reckless" as to whether the effect of his conduct was to encourage terrorism or whether the evidence is consistent with an intent to encourage terrorism. Kearney, who used the name Charlie Big Potatoes on Telegram, has pleaded guilty to two offences of disseminating terrorist publications.
Kearney, originally from Liverpool but based in Alicante before he was extradited, is a self-described fascist and part of the right-wing group Patriotic Alternative. Prosecutor Naomi Parsons yesterday took Kearney through a series of "incredibly violent posts" and asked if it was an "accident" they had appeared on his channel.
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The court heard the posts encouraged violence against black people, Jews and Muslims. Kearney claimed he does not encourage violence and said "it is recklessness on my part". He added he is not "sidestepping" the fact the material appeared on his channel - and he would not have circulated the material if he had known there was a risk of it promoting violence.
The defendant, a former soldier in the parachute regiment, regularly appeared on right-wing podcasts and set up a channel to hand out exercise and fitness tips. The court previously heard how he told Telegram users Adolf Hitler "showed people the way" and "did nothing wrong".
Kearney yesterday denied his intentions was to promote anyone who saw material he posted to go on to seriously injure people or damage property. He told the court the point of setting up his channel was to "spread the right-wing and the fascist world view".
The offences relate to two Telegram posts on January 23 and March 8 2021 which disseminated dozens of documents encouraging extreme right-wing terror attacks, including the manifestos of Christchurch mosque killer Brenton Tarrant and Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway.
Two other far-right extremist manifestos related to Texas Walmart mass killer Patrick Crusius and John Earnest, who shot people at a California synagogue in 2019. In 2021 he posted a numbered list and links to 89 extreme right-wing documents.
Ms Parsons submitted that Kearney’s channel included "propaganda with a particular purpose" and it had a "sheer volume of material that indicates violence". Ged O’Connor, defending, told the court that Kearney’s views could not be described as “attractive”.
Mr O’Connor said Kearney had published a library of material "but the fact that he had not looked at it all or its contents – therein lies his recklessness". He also told the court that Kearney had reposted a vast amount of material from other people and he did not necessarily agree with all of their views.
A decision on whether Kearney’s actions were intentional, as far as terrorism was concerned, or if it was merely reckless is set to be made later this week, ahead of sentencing on June 23.
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