John Carroll says his nighttime rounds are protecting the community. Critics say his “abhorrent” views on Hitler, the Holocaust and race are incompatible with his adopted role.
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John Carroll says his nighttime rounds are protecting the community. Critics say his “abhorrent” views on Hitler, the Holocaust and race are incompatible with his adopted role.
A self-described Nazi who has expressed racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Hitler views conducts late night “patrols” in a Scottish village, The Ferret can reveal.
John Carroll walks the streets of Forth, South Lanarkshire, in the early hours, and claims his volunteer group is watching over the local community and deterring crime.
But he has published a series of YouTube videos in recent months in which he describes his ideology as “national socialist” – or Nazi – and ends each one with a Sieg Heil salute.
The man is one of two administrators of the Forth Sentinel Facebook group, founded in November last year, where he posts videos of his walkabouts.
On his own Facebook page, Carroll has described Asian people as “racial aliens”, shared a quote attributed to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and an image which features a skull and crossbones symbol often used by anti-Semites and neo-Nazis who celebrate the Holocaust.
In a video published on YouTube in November, Carroll encouraged viewers to set up their own patrols “if you’re really concerned about immigration and crime, and the deterioration of your community”.
Jamie Mann
MSPs and anti-racism campaigners described Carroll’s views as “abhorrent”. They said Scots who died fighting the Nazis would “be ashamed to know this man was using their legacy for such hatred”.
Carroll rejected claims of racism and anti-Semitism, and defended his Nazi ideology as a belief in “the preservation of a functional civilised society” for all.
The martial arts enthusiast, who posted a picture of himself apparently receiving a black belt in Judo, has also made repeated references to the Führer – the German word for leader, which was adopted by Hitler – in comments he defended as satire.
“When I'm the Führer, Fiona Hyslop the transport minister for Scotland today is getting 10 years in one of my work camps!”, he said in a rant about potholes last December.
Criticising Britain's support for Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia, Carroll said in March that the UK was fighting “another Jew war”. He said “[Volodymyr] Zelensky is a Jew, boo hoo the Jews!!”, and added: “When I'm Führer it will be different”.
Police visit
In one video, Carroll claimed that in October last year, two officers from Police Scotland's intelligence division doorstepped him in light of pro-Hitler posts he had made on Facebook.
He commented on the race of the officers, describing one as Middle Eastern and another as white European. “And race is important,” he added, claiming that those who disagreed had “a naive outlook”.
Jamie Mann
He claimed there was “a look of shock” on one officer’s face when he said “I am pro-Hitler”. “My political views are National Socialist, which is a Nazi,” he clarified.
But he described himself as “pro-immigration”, and claimed he had friendships with people from all races and backgrounds.
Police Scotland said it could not confirm the visit based on this information.
‘Shameful anti-Semitic, racist views’
One source accused Carroll of being “a dangerous man” who “spouts his venom freely”.
Another described him as a “delusional” Holocaust denier. “Anyone who commences a video with a fascist salute demonstrates an historical ignorance that beggars belief”, they added.
Labour MSP Carol Mochan said: “Nazis and anyone who thinks they can hide their fascist views behind other names are the only ‘aliens’ in South Scotland.
“These kinds of views and behaviours are abhorrent and we will not simply watch as ordinary people are threatened and intimidated by people who are no better than thugs.
“There are war memorials across South Scotland dedicated to people who lost their lives preventing the spread of fascism across Europe. They would be ashamed to know this man was using their legacy for such hatred.”
Conservative MSP Brian Whittle added: “These kinds of shameful anti-Semitic, racist views have no place in Scotland.”
Billy Briggs
In its 2021 report, the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights’ (CRER) warned of the rise of the far right in Scotland. The charity is now urging all political parties to commit to improving community cohesion in a manifesto launched ahead of this May’s election.
Kaushik Mistry, its executive director, added: “The fact that self-professed Nazis are intimidating local residents in this way, and encouraging others to do the same, is abhorrent.”
Carroll told The Ferret that Forth Sentinel aimed to compensate for a lack of police presence and tackle an increase in “attempted break-ins, break-ins and car thefts”. These crimes had since stopped and the group had been welcomed by most in the community, he claimed.
“National Socialist views are the preservation of a functional civilised society for the people who created [or] contributed to that society and the progressive movement to better society for all with it,” he argued.
Carroll added: “If politicians want to see a thirst for the truth on historical events, an openness to communicate different ideas and free speech as spewing hate-filled venom, anti-Semitic, racist etc., so be it”.
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