Neo-Nazis were caught celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday at a pub in Oldham, Greater Manchester, prompting a series of dawn raids by police. The group, believed to be members of the far-right extremist group British Movement, displayed a swastika-decorated cake and racist flags at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Royton on April 19.
Police executed search warrants in Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Urmston, Southport, and Merseyside, recovering an imitation AK47 rifle, a suspected grenade, a crossbow, fake handguns, and swords, one bearing a swastika. A 'Zyklon' gas canister, similar to those used by Nazis in the Holocaust, was also found but deemed non-viable. The grenade was declared safe by Army bomb disposal officers.
Nine people, aged from their 20s to their 60s, were arrested on suspicion of a Section 18 public order offence, which prohibits threatening, abusive, or insulting displays intended to stir up racial hatred. Pub staff claimed they were unaware of the group's activities and reported the matter to police.
Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker of Greater Manchester Police stated: 'Due to the nature of the materials we recovered, we have liaised with colleagues at CTPNW. This is a matter of course, and it very much remains a GMP-led investigation. We do not believe there to be a risk to the wider public.'
The investigation follows an exposé by the Manchester Evening News, which revealed video footage of the group unfurling flags emblazoned with swastikas, SS bolts, and the Iron Cross. A post on the group's Telegram feed read: 'On a gorgeous sunny afternoon in Greater Manchester, a platoon of Northwest British Movement met up to celebrate the 136th Birthday of Uncle A.'
