White supremacist who shared livestream of Christchurch terror attack and threatened to kill n*****s and Jews is jailed for 12 years
A white supremacist who shared a live stream of the Christchurch terror attack and acted out the killing of George Floyd while threatening to murder n****** and Jews has been jailed for 12 years.
A white supremacist who shared a live stream of the Christchurch terror attack and acted out the killing of George Floyd while threatening to murder n****** and Jews has been jailed for 12 years.
Gabriel Budasz posted extreme right-wing material under different usernames on a number of social media platforms - including Telegram, Omegle, and Odysee - which expressed extreme racist views and encouraged audiences to direct action against others, a court heard.
The 24-year-old, who was born in Poland but lived in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, also posted step by step instructions on how to make explosives from readily available, often household objects, and built a plastic gun using a 3D printer, which he then used as a prop in online video posts.
Judge Brian Forster, passing sentence at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, told the defendant, who appeared with black, shoulder length hair: The mindset evidence reveals that you had a clear interest in white supremacy, other terrorists including Brenton Tarrant, and massacres, including the Christchurch shootings.
You also posted on Twitter: To any current or future state agents investigating me: I meant everything I said and more.
White supremacist Gabriel Budasz, 24, has been jailed for 12 years with an additional three on licence after he was convicted of several offences, including encouraging terrorism
I am a genuine unhinged threat to you and your society. Im going to build a bomb.
You disseminated instructions on how to make a bomb intending to encourage terrorism.
You persisted in your conduct which often involved young people for a significant period of time.
The court heard that among the materials posted online by Budasz was a video in which he donned clothing meant to replicate the outfit worn by his hero Tarrant on the day he livestreamed the fatal shooting of 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019.
Budasz broadcasted the original livestream and commented: Isnt it beautiful? Hes murdering all of them.
Tarrant, described as a white supremacist and member of the alt right live-streamed the shooting on Facebook and published an online manifesto.
The court heard Budasz - copying Tarrants outfit which featured sunglasses - shared the harrowing and graphic footage originally produced by the shooter.
In another, he super-imposed himself as cop Derek Chauvin so he could physically play the part of him kneeling down on the neck of Mr Floyd, a court heard.
Chauvin was convicted of Floyds death and sparked widespread protests against police brutality towards black people all over the world.
Ms Syed KC continued: This defendant has been motivated by a very wide hostility - it was not just limited to race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
The scale and breadth of the hostility goes just beyond the definition of terrorism. It was extensive and varied.
Judge Forster said: During your internet exchanges, you said things such as Kill the n******, kill the Jews, kill the political leaders.
You also suggested that it was necessary to take action.
An online post of Budasz, shared by Jewish charity CST, shows how he expressed extreme racist views and encouraged audiences to direct action against others
His posts included a live stream of the Christchurch terror attack and in another instance he acted out the killing of George Floyd
A post by CST, which began investigating Budaszs activities, showed the 24-year-old holding a knife and a suspected firearm
Prosecutor Maryam Syed KC told the court Budasz had shared a document titled Praise Allah, bomb-making tutorial very interesting.
She told the court an expert from Porton Down had deemed it to provide credible information on making a viable explosive.
The court also heard Budasz recorded his exchanges to produce a series of 21 episodes uploaded during the course of 2022, which featured him often wearing a swastika or a black sun with backgrounds featuring Auschwitz concentration camp.
In some of these episodes, Budasz used harrowing and graphic footage that contained instructions on how to torture, mutilate, and eventually kill a living victim with a knife.
The third section (of the footage) showed the detonating of a bomb and the killing of a man who was made to carry it, the judge told the court.
Ms Syed KC said: The defendant made clear choices to broadcast, disseminate and encourage this material.
Its clear he put in a great deal of thought disguising his true identity.
There were props used, particularly a gun which was printed by the defendant in his bedroom having paid for a 3D printer.
Ms Syed KC said it was not merely a hollow shell of a gun and he was looking into constructing a real and working gun.
This was a constructed set of broadcasting where the defendant wore a particular outfit which was to replicate his hero Brenton Tarrant, she added.
She said the court could not shut its eyes to the real world consequences of encouraging terrorism.
Jewish charity Community Security Trust (CST) posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it had started investigating Budaszs online activity from September 2022.
The charity said it gathered evidence from Budaszs social media accounts which they shared with counter-terrorism police in the summer of 2023.
Budasz was arrested on August 1, 2023.
A jury found him guilty of one count of dissemination of a terrorist publication and four counts of encouraging terrorism after a 14-day trial at the same court earlier this year.
He was also found guilty of sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety, and previously pleaded guilty to six counts of possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
During his trial, Budasz, who is diagnosed with autism and Aspergers syndrome, claimed the videos he posted online were meant to be funny and from the point of view of a comedic far-right character.
In mitigation, Tim Forte said Budasz was a troubled man who was severely mentally disordered and had shown no remorse.
CST took screenshots from Budaszs online activity and matched it up with a location, in this case the beach at Weston-Super-Mare, in an effort to discover his identity
An image of the 3D printer found inside Budaszs bedroom, which was used to print parts of a 3D gun that he used as a prop in his broadcasts
Of Budaszs intent, he said: There is no intention for him to provide assistance - there is no intention for him to leave his room, in reality.
He wasnt even going out to get food - he was having breakfast, lunch and dinner delivered.
He added that the fact he had just 44 followers were a thankful drop in the ocean and the gun he had was merely a prop.
Mr Forte said the tweet was a taunt from a keyboard warrior sitting in their bedroom hammering their keyboard and ranting.
However, Judge Forster said there was no direct connection between Budaszs mental disorder and his offending, citing two expert witnesses who determined Budasz was able to form an intent.
Judge Forster told the defendant: You have no interest as to how your actions could have affected others.
Your lack of insight is underlined by your description of your trial as being a comedy show, and your inability to understand the verdicts reached by the jury.
Judge Forster sentenced Budasz to 15 years with 12 to be spent in jail, and three on licence.
Dressed in a grey tracksuits in the dock, Budasz reacted to the sentence by shaking his head.
He was also made subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order for 30 years.
After his sentencing, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, said: Budasz spread hateful content online including racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic statements.
He would have known how harmful spreading his extreme right-wing views would be.
A video he sent online contained step-by-step instructions on how to make a viable bomb with readily available household items and had been extracted by Budasz from a longer video found online showing the mutilation and torture of a person.
He had also used a 3D printer to print parts of a 3D gun and had been having conversations about how a viable gun could be manufactured.
Budasz tried to explain away the material he posted online by claiming that it was comedy.
He attempted to hide his true identity with the use of props, including Nazi and other extreme right-wing paraphernalia.
He did this while he made some of his most harmful and offensive statements; however the jury saw through this defence and instead convicted him of serious terrorism offences.
The kind of content Budasz made available online stirs up dangerous and extreme right-wing ideologies among those who access it, with all sorts of harm to communities in this country.
His sentencing will now prevent him from spreading this hate online, and we will continue our work to deal with others who would do the same.
