Last week, the British government designated the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen
Division (AWD) and its successor group, the National Socialist Order (NSO),


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U.K. Cracks Down On White Supremacist Extremism, Bans Atomwaffen Division And
Successor Movement

 

(New York, N.Y.) – Last week, the British government designated
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the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) and its successor group, the
National Socialist Order (NSO), as terrorist organizations. Under the ban,
membership or invitation of support into the group will be considered a
criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The AWD is the first
U.S. group to be added to theUnited Kingdom
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which currently includes more than 70 international terrorist organizations and
14 from Northern Ireland.

 

The terror group proscription is the latest action by British government
officials to outlaw membership in far-right neo-Nazi movements, following bans
onNational Action <[link removed]>,
Feuerkrieg Division
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Sonnenkrieg Division
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claims of disbanding, AWD has influenced the creation of sub-movements of the
neo-Nazi group that continue to promote violent, radical ideologies in both the
United States and Europe. AWD has inspired a number of terror acts, including
at least five murders in the U.S.

 

In December 2016, Home Secretary Priti Patel’s predecessor, Amber Rudd, banned
the neo-Nazi group National Action, officially outlawing membership and support
of the group and classifying the group as a terrorist organization. The
classification marked the first time that membership of a far-right group had
been prohibited in the U.K. In July 2020, the government banned AWD’s British
offshoot, the violent, white supremacist group Sonnenkrieg Division. Also in
July 2020, the U.K. banned Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), an Estonia-based European
offshoot of AWD created in approximately 2018. Far-right extremist activity
continues to pose a threat to the U.K., however, and homegrown groups such as
Patriotic Alternative continue to operate in the country.

 

To read the CEP’s Atomwaffen Division / National Socialist Order resource,
please clickhere
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.

 

To read CEP’s United Kingdom: Extremism and Terrorism resource, please click
here <[link removed]>.

 

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