Stand Up to Racism can exclusively reveal that a neo-Nazi party is central to organising the anti-refugee protests that have led to riots in Epping. See details of the counter protest here.
Activists from the Homeland party are administrating the main Facebook group where protests are planned and advertised and also produce the promotional graphics for the protests.
Homeland is a neo-Nazi organisation founded by former officials from the fascist British National Party (BNP). Its leader is Kenny Smith, a former senior official in the BNP when the party was led by Nick Griffin. Smith was convicted of firearms offences in 2022.
Despite Homeland activists also leading chants and giving speeches at the rallies, they have sought to systematically conceal their involvement from local people.
Callum Barker, Adam Clegg and Andrew Piper – all members of the fascist Homeland party – are the only administrators of the Epping Says No! group on Facebook alongside Craig Kitts, the director of a local business called Trade Price Recovery and Transport Ltd.
Image caption: Piper (right) and Clegg (centre) distribute Homeland leaflets in Hampshire with former BNP candidate Roger Robertson (left).
Barker has been central to organising the demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where he leads chants while standing on a platform truck provided by Kitts. Photos show him with other Homeland activists holding placards branded with the logo of the Nazi group. Barker has also made speeches at the protests.
Fascist connections deliberately hidden from local people
Although some local people have attended and even spoken at the demonstrations, the main organising core appears to be the neo-Nazi activists associated with Barker. These fascist connections have been deliberately hidden from local people.
Barker is a hardened neo-Nazi who has posted images that reference the numerical code “1488”. This code was invented by the US neo-Nazi terrorist Eden Lane, who was involved in the murder of a Jewish radio host in 1984. The “88” represents the phrase “Heil Hitler”, because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. The “14” refers to 14 words: “We must secure a future for the white race and also for white children.”
Despite claims that the protests are organised solely by local people, the Homeland activists appear to have been sent in from faraway areas.
Piper is a parish councillor in Market Deeping, a small town in Lincolnshire. Market Deeping is around 85 miles away from Epping. In January 2024, Piper posted a series of tweets that claimed it is “factually true” that “the Jews” run “banking and government”. Other posts cast doubt on the facts of the Holocaust.
Clegg was previously a Conservative Party candidate for Lincoln City Council, but he has since become a member of Homeland. When he was a member of the Conservatives, he was part of a fringe anti-Islam faction called the Orthodox Conservatives, which had connections to Tommy Robinson.
Homeland is a dangerous Nazi organisation that was founded on Hitler’s birthday (20 April) in 2023. It has been central to campaigns of intimidation and violence against refugees in various areas, including Erskine in Renfrewshire.