A few moments ago a trial finished at the Old Bailey. Now that it is over, we’re able to finally tell the full story of how HOPE Not hate smashed the banned nazi group National Action and foiled a murder plot.
While there has been lots of news coverage of the smashing of National Action, most of it focuses on the nazis who made up this vile organisation. But I don’t want to talk about them, I want to talk about Robbie Mullen.
Robbie was our source inside NA. The information he provided saved two lives, of an MP and a police officer. The information he provided ensured that a dangerous nazi terror group was smashed.
Robbie didn’t do it for thanks, but he deserves our gratitude. So we’ve set up a page where you can leave a message for Robbie and we’ll be presenting everyone’s thanks to him when things have calmed down a bit in a few days.
Leave a message of thanks for Robbie
Like some young men in his position, Robbie felt totally let down by the political system. He was angry and resentful about his life and he looked for someone to blame. He found National Action online, and some answers to his anger. He became an active member, and came to hold hardcore nazi views.
National Action were the sort of group HOPE not hate exists to combat. We track and disrupt these groups, and to be blunt, we make life hard for these people because they’re working to destroy what is good about this country. But we also know that inside these groups, there are conflicted people who at some point will look in the mirror and start to question their choices.
Robbie took a brave and difficult decision. It cost him his job, his home and it turned his life upside down. He did what he did because, in that moment, listening to hardened nazis talk about launching violent attacks targeting Jews, Muslims and women, he decided to ensure they didn’t succeed in their murderous plans.
Robbie came to HOPE not hate when he realised that things were going in a dark and dangerous direction. He came to us because we’d never stopped going after NA. He thought that if he gave us information, that was the best way of stopping the violence he knew was coming. And he knew that if he came to us, whatever else might happen, we’d protect him.
He didn’t do it for rewards or recognition. But Robbie deserves our gratitude. Please share your thanks on this page we’ve created and I’ll make sure he knows that hundreds of HOPE not hate supporters appreciate what he did.
We’ll have a lot more to say about the smashing of National Action. It’s taken a lot out of us all. It’s been expensive and it’s been stressful. So I’ll leave it there for now but I do just want to thank every one of you for standing with us, especially HOPE Action Fund members who sustain the work of our research and intelligence teams.
