Who is Daniel Harris? Teen who inspired Payton Gendron by sharing white supremacist content to be extradited to US
Warning: This content contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion is advised.
DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND: A 19-year-old teenager from Derbyshire, Daniel Harris, will be extradited to the US after being found guilty of six terrorism offenses after uploading extreme right-wing videos to the Internet. This content inspired Payton Gendron, a mass shooter who killed ten black people in Buffalo on May 14, 2022
According to Daily Mail, the manifesto shared by Payton contained a screenshot of the extreme right-winged material posted by Harris online. The video shared by Harris stated white Europeans should use violence to stop a "genocide" against them. The authorities are yet to release the mugshot of Harris.
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He will now face up to 12 years in prison and will be extradited to the US, reported The Times. According to the official statement, "The jury found the 19-year-old guilty of five counts of encouraging terrorism (contrary to Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006) relating to his creation and uploading of material to the internet between February 2021 and March 2022."
The statement further read, "They also found him guilty of one count of possession of material for terrorist purposes (contrary to Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000) which related to the possession of a 3D printer, which he had tried to use to make parts of a firearm. He was found not guilty of a single count of encouraging terrorism." He will remain in custody until January 16, 2023, after which he is due to sentence for the charges. During the trial that occurred on Wednesday, November 30, prosecutor Joe Allman said that Payton had been "encouraged and in part motivated" by Harris's content. He added, "What we do not say is the defendant was necessarily aware of this." Harris was educated only till the age of seven. Meanwhile, in one of the videos of Harris, Payton also left a comment before the mass shooting in Buffalo, "You are not alone, my friend :)."
In the official statement, CTP EM Detective Inspector Chris Brett claimed, “Due to his age and previous offending, we initially attempted to engage with Harris through the Prevent program, but it soon became clear he was pretending to be deradicalized whilst encouraging terrorism online. The threat he caused meant we had to act in order to ensure the safety of the wider public."
Further, he added, “I’d like to thank our team of dedicated and skilled colleagues involved in this complex investigation into an individual who, in the videos that he produced, clearly demonstrated a disdain for law enforcement and public order, as well as an admiration for those who had committed atrocities in terrorist attacks overseas."
Chris also stated, "By posting these videos online, Harris’ toxic rhetoric could have had untold influence on countless people across the world. Such actions will not be tolerated. In a search of Harris’ house, the rather chilling discovery of attempts to make component parts of a firearm printed from his 3D printer, showed a clear intent to create a deadly weapon.”