Italian anti-terror authorities have reportedly thwarted a plan by a far-right, neo-Nazi extremist group that allegedly included planting a bomb and detonating it at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base.
Italy’s Carabinieri law force conducted a raid against 12 alleged members of the white supremacy-oriented “Roman Aryan Order” extremist group on Monday following a two-year investigation into their activities, Politico reported.
The agency uncovered images of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, images of swastikas and a book that allegedly contained Jewish surnames that the group would have used to attack certain individuals, according to Politico.
Italian police have broken up an online neo-Nazi group dedicated to antisemitic and racist propaganda.
The group was in the early stages of planning an attack on a NATO facility.https://t.co/yvgisYsjtJ
— DW News (@dwnews) June 7, 2021
Police conducted the raid after a WhatsApp chatroom, discovered by authorities, allegedly revealed members sharing bomb-making instructions and a plot to detonate the explosives at a NATO base, the outlet reported.
The 12 individuals have not yet been formally charged and must report to the local police station weekly until a decision regarding charges is made, according to Politico. (RELATED: 5 More Men Charged In Animal Sacrifice At White Supremacist Camp)
Investigators reportedly began monitoring the group’s activities in 2019 during a probe into far-right movements in the country with ties to white supremacy. Investigators also found that the group was “dedicated to publishing racist and discriminatory, Nazi-inspired, anti-Semitic and Holocaust-denying content, videos and images on social media,” according to Politico, adding that the group used Russian social media site VK to exchange material.
“We want to keep political attention high on the new orbit of the extreme right which together with jihadism represents a serious threat to the country,” Member of Parliament Matteo Perego told Politico regarding far-right extremism in Italy.
“VK does not tolerate incitement to violence and extremism or allow content that promotes racial, national, or any other form of discrimination,” VK’s press office said in an email to the Daily Caller following the publication of this article. “We delete such content and block communities and profiles that distribute it.”
Last December, a raid in Spain against arms dealers uncovered numerous illegally trafficked firearms and a “museum” of Nazi memorabilia owned by a suspect who had ties to Neo-Nazi organizations.