How CST helped to track down far-right extremist
Gabriel Budasz of Weston-super-Mare convicted of terror-linked online offences
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
A far-right extremist convicted of terrorism offences was brought to justice with key help from the Community Security Trust over more than a year, it has been revealed.
Gabriel Budasz, of Weston-super-Mare, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court last Thursday. He had shared online videos relating to the making of explosives, and when police raided his home in August 2023, they found.books, masks and memorabilia of an extreme right-wing nature, as well as a 3D-printed firearm.
Budasz, 24, was found guilty of one count of dissemination of a terrorist publication, four counts of encouraging terrorism and one count of sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety. He will be sentenced on October 25.
In a detailed post on social media, CST described how it had first become aware of Budasz in September 2022, on the encrypted messaging platform, Telegram. “He was operating anonymously in extreme right-wing Telegram channels, as well as across other platforms. We quickly ascertained that he was UK-based and held deeply antisemitic views.
“This sparked an investigation lasting more than a year, during which CST became increasingly concerned about his posts and livestreams promoting violence against Jews and other ethnic minorities, alongside his right-wing extremism”.
Among the material that Budasz was sharing, captured by CST, were “a copy of the Christchurch mosque terror attacks livestream, instructions for 3-D printed weapons and posts indicating his proximity to a synagogue”.
Other concerning matters emerged, as Budasz’s posts showed that he himself had “access to weaponry, including a knife and a suspected firearm”.At this point, CST began referring his posts to the Counter Terrorism Police.
The next step was to identify Budasz and where he was based, because he was anonymous online.
“A breakthrough came when CST discovered a video Budasz uploaded to Telegram at an undisclosed beach location. By analysing the short video, we were able to identify some key features which provided us with leads. These included the specific sea wall, the distinctive white building in the background and other identifiers.
“CST crosschecked these identifiers with several locations in the UK, finally arriving at a match on the beach in Weston-super-Mare”.
All that CST had uncovered was shared with Counter Terrorism police and in August 2023 Budasz was arrested, leading to his conviction.
Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), said: “The [online] material contained his extreme right-wing views, encouraging violence to further the hateful ideology which he espoused.
“Making this kind of content available online spreads and encourages terrorist ideology, and is incredibly dangerous to those vulnerable to radicalisation.
“Unfortunately, the harm that can be caused by those who seek to provoke violence online to further their cause has been only too evident across the country in recent weeks.”
He added that the case should “serve as a warning” that police would “take robust action against those who commit these serious and harmful offences”.
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