Derbyshire teen's far-right videos 'inspired' US terror attack

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Manchester Crown CourtImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

Daniel Harris is due to be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday

A 19-year-old who posted far-right videos and tried to make a firearm on a 3D printer has been linked to suspects in two mass shootings in the US.

Daniel Harris, from Glossop, Derbyshire, uploaded material calling for armed insurrection and praising white supremacists.

Manchester Crown Court heard the videos were seen by Payton Gendron, who then killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York.

Harris was found guilty of terrorism offences after a trial last year.

He is due to be sentenced on Friday for five counts of encouraging terrorism and one count of possession of material for terrorist purposes.

During the hearing on Thursday the court heard videos produced by Harris, about the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, were shared online by Gendron in January and February last year.

One of them referred to Brenton Tarrant, who carried out the attacks in New Zealand, as an "Australian saint".

Gendron has pleaded guilty to murdering 10 black shoppers and workers at a supermarket in May last year.

The prosecution claimed he was "inspired" by Mr Harris's material.

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

Payton Gendron pleaded guilty to a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York

Links between Harris and Anderson Lee Aldrich, the only suspect in a shooting at a gay bar in Colorado, were also made while Harris was on trial.

Harris's video was posted on a website with links that appeared to show Aldrich preparing to carry out the attacks, in which five people were killed and 25 were injured.

The court was told Harris, of Lord Street, had been withdrawn from mainstream school aged seven and that there had been "disgraceful failings" by his family and the local authority.

It also heard Harris had refused to be assessed for autism but it was clear there were "ongoing social problems".

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