Neo-Nazis have been caught putting up white nationalist posters around the south side of Glasgow.
An activist associated with the far-right Highland Division group was sent away from Clarkston Road in Netherlee on Wednesday after being caught putting up signs with a QR code linking to a racist chat group. The group uses the symbol of the otherwise unrelated Highland Division – a British Army squadron that fought the Nazis during World War II – embedded in a Nazi-style eagle emblem.
The poster bears the slogan "White Lives Matter" and depicts a man dropping the insignia of the anti-racist movement Antifacist Action in a litter bin. One local man tweeted that he chased off a man after spotting him fixing a laminated poster to a telephone exchange box beside a bus stop at the entrance to Linn Park.
He wrote: "I removed the laminated poster and asked if he was a Nazi. He said yes and 'we will soon be a minority' as in me, 'white people'.
"I subsequently informed him that he is in fact a minority as we don't have Nazis here. At this point he made a swift exit in his car."
He has since told the Record that he believes the extremists were trying to attract youngsters to their group by targeting a bus stop that takes pupils to a nearby high school. Locals reacted with shock to the news that fascists appear to be operating across Glasgow's south side.
One said on Twitter: "This is very close to home for me. Fascism and racism is not welcome."
The incident has since been reported to the police. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We received a report of offensive posters being displayed on Clarkston Road, Glasgow, around 10pm on Wednesday, 9 November, 2022.
“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting incident 3929 of 9 November, 2022.”
In clips seen by the Record, Highland Division describes itself as an "independent" and "leaderless" group, but its behaviour is not dissimilar to other vile neo-Nazi organisations. It is not the only hate group operating under the cover of anonymous, unmoderated and encrypted chat apps such as Telegram and Signal.
Patriotic Alternative, set up by a former BNP member, was slammed after sending leaflets out to Scots filled with inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric. It recently staged an event at a Stirling hotel that later distanced itself from the group's messages.
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