{"id":110686,"date":"2020-11-21T13:18:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T11:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thefreethinker\/?p=110686"},"modified":"2020-11-22T16:31:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T14:31:19","slug":"uk-man-who-blames-jews-for-covid-19-wears-swastika-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thefreethinker\/2020\/11\/uk-man-who-blames-jews-for-covid-19-wears-swastika-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"UK man who blames Jews for COVID-19 wears swastika to court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A JUDGE at the Old Bailey in London ordered a man accused of stirring up racial hatred out of his courtroom this week after he noticed the accused was wearing a Nazi armband.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Image via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this report<\/a>, Matthew Henegan, 35, faces seven charges of publishing, distributing and possessing anti-Semitic coronavirus hoax material on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Henegan is also\u00a0 accused of distributing\u00a0 leaflets around St Neots in Cambridgeshire where he lives, as well as possessing a document entitled How To Make Armour Piercing Bullets<\/em> containing information likely to be useful to terrorism.<\/p>\n

The defendant, who is on bail, appeared before Mr Justice Sweeney wearing dark glasses, a hairband and a red swastika armband. The judge asked lawyer Harry Grayson: \u201cCan you see what he\u2019s wearing?\u201d, before sending the defendant out of the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Henegan\u00a0 complained:<\/p>\n

I have a right to freedom of expression, freedom of dress, freedom of religion. They are rights not for debate.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Henegan was allowed to return after donning a large blue padded jacket that hid the swastika.<\/p>\n

He stood in the dock to confirm his name and date of birth.<\/p>\n

Mr Justice Sweeney set a pre-trial hearing date of March 12; with a provisional trial at the Old Bailey on November 8 next year.<\/p>\n

The defendant was granted continued bail.<\/p>\n

Speaking outside court<\/a>, prosecutor Julia Faure-Walker said that Henegan\u2019s posts relate to a conspiracy theory blaming Jewish people for the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Please report any typos\/errors to barry@freethinker.co.uk<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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