Jack Renshaw, a neo-Nazi and convicted pedophile in the United Kingdom, was sentenced Friday to life in prison over his plot to murder a member of Parliament.
Renshaw, 23, was convicted in April after he bought a 19-inch knife to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper, who was investigating him for child sex crimes, according to HuffPost UK.
As he was sentenced, Renshaw held up his arm in a Nazi salute as some of his supporters looked on in the audience.
“I believe today justice has been served,” Cooper said in a statement Friday, according to The Guardian. “Not for me personally, but for every MP and public servant, and for our democratic way of life which affords us the privilege of free speech without fear of violent retribution.”
Renshaw’s plot was revealed by whistleblower Robbie Mullen, a former member of the neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action who leaked info to the anti-racism group Hope Not Hate. Mullen heard Renshaw ― an alleged member of National Action ― announce his plot to kill Cooper in 2017. Mullen has since received multiple death threats for his work, though he continues to speak publicly about neo-Nazi terrorism, according to The Independent.
Last year, Renshaw was slapped with two sentences for two separate offenses. He was sentenced to three years for hate violations after calling for the genocide of Jewish people. He later got another 16 months over allegations that he used fake Facebook accounts to groom two boys, ages 13 and 14, soliciting graphic photos from them and offering them money to stay with him.
Hope Not Hate chief executive Nick Lowles scolded authorities for not getting Renshaw sooner, saying they failed to keep “their eye on National Action,” HuffPost UK reported.
“Former National Action members are still active, successor organizations are being formed, and a threat still clearly remains,” he said.